CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF CAT BLOCKS AND FISH HOOKS, AND IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF
Year: 1826

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LANE HIGGINS, of No. 370, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing dato
at Westminster, the Fourteenth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-six, in the seventh year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said John Lane Higgins, His especial
licence that I, the said John Lane Higgins, my exors, adñiors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Lane Higgins, my exors, adñiors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His said Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF CAT BLOCKS AND FISH HOOKS, AND IN THE APPLICATION THEREOF;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said
John Lane Higgins, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Lane Higgins, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawing hereunto annexed (that is to say) :-
By the common method of catting an anchor, the anchor being once hooked
by the cat-block, the whole process of catting and stopping the anchor,
overhauling the cat-fall, and unhooking the block must be performed before
the anchor can be let go again, hence many ships navigate rivers with the
anchor hanging under water, which materially affects the steering of the ship.
By the adoption of my plan, when the anchor is to be catted the bite of the
stopper may be carried forward to assist in conducting the cat-block to the
ring of the anchor; when hooked the anchor is catted in the usual manner,
and the stopper being passed over a cleet at the end of the cat-head, the slack
of the stopper is taken up and belayed. To let go the anchor nothing
more is necessary than to let go the leading part of the cat-full, which, by
rendering slowly, transfers the weight of the anchor, without surging, to the
stopper, which then unhooks the cat-block. By this plan the anchor may be
let go instantly during any period of catting it, and it may be let go at any
altitude between the water's edge and the cat-head. The blocks may be
made of wood or iron, or any suitable material, and the strop and hook
may be constructed in a variety of ways, or a hook, as shewn at C, with
a strong rope or chain pendant with the purchase worked in board, may be
used instead of the cat-block; but my Patent is for the mode of letting
go the anchor, and not for any precise form of the block, hook, or other
apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lane Higgins, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of January, in the year of our
JOHN LANE (L.S.) HIGGINS.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1827, the aforesaid John Lane Higgins came before
our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fourth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-seven.