MEANS OR APPARATUS TO FACILITATE THE ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO OBTAINING VARIOUS CHANGES IN MUSICAL COMBINATIONS, AND TO OTHER PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, UTILITY, AMUSEMENT, OR DIVERSION
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Long, of 3, Aylesbury Terrace, Walworth, in
the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "MEANS OR APPARATUS TO
FACILITATE THE ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO OBTAINING
VARIOUS CHANGES IN MUSICAL COMBINATIONS, AND TO OTHER PURPOSES OF
EDUCATION, UTILITY, AMUSEMENT, OR DIVERSION."
Sealed the 15th November 1864, and dated the 4th August 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Long at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 4th August
. 1864.
I, ALFRED LONG, of 3; Aylesbury Terrace, Walworth, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "MEANS OR
APPARATUS TO FACILITATE THE ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO
OBTAINING VARIOUS CHANGES IN MUSICAL COMBINATIONS, AND TO OTHER PURPOSES OF
EDUCATION, UTILITY, AMUSEMENT, OR DIVERSION," to be as follows:-
The object of the Invention is, first, to effect various changes in the com-
binations of words or parts of sentences, so as by variety in the use or com-
bination of a limited number of words or parts of sentences to obtain familiarity
with a large number of expressions in a language. According to this system
words or parts of sentences are arranged in relation to each other so that any
one of them may be changed, and another substituted for it having corre-
sponding relations to the remaining portion of the sentence, without thereby
prejudicing sense or grammatical construction.

page_text: In carrying out the Invention in its practical application, I propose to
employ mechanical arrangements or apparatus so constructed as to present to
the eye a series of interchangeable surfaces marked with or carrying words,
notes, or signs. For this purpose a sentence or other series of words being
given, I divide or cut it up into parts, and provide for each a series of equiva-
lents or parts capable of being used in substitution thereof with other of the
parts of the sentence or series of words, and the separate words or parts of
sentences are applied to tables or surfaces which are capable of being brought
into a line, or it may be a series of lines, to form sentences or combinations of
words. It is desirable that only the words or parts of sentences for the time
required to form a sentence or part of a sentence may be present to the eye of
the learner, and that all the others be for the time excluded.
A convenient form of apparatus for the purpose of the Invention consists of
a polygonal or other shaped vessel, which is divided horizontally and vertically
into separate compartments or chambers, each of which is provided with a
series of words or parts of sentences, and each of such words or parts of
sentences is adapted to combine with the words or parts of sentences of
adjoining chambers in the same Fow or line of chambers, and each chamber
has an opening, or is otherwise capable of presenting one word or part of a
sentence of its series in a line to be read consecutively with words or parts of
sentences of other of the chambers. Then, supposing the words presented at
the several openings of a row of chambers to be "He sent his servants home,"
and the blocks or forms in each of such chambers to have four sides or faces,
then the first chamber of that row would be provided with a series of pronouns
or other words changeable with "He," the next chamber would be provided
with a series of verbs changeable with "sent," and so on. And in like
manner may other sentences have the equivalents of them to produce other
expressions.
I prefer for convenience to apply the words or parts of sentences of each
chamber to the faces of a cube or other form, so that there will be one or
there may be more than one of these cubes or other forms loose in each
chamber, so as to be capable of changing their relative positions by the
rotation or partial rotation or other shaking of the series of chambers, so that
a different face may be obtained at each change from that last presented.
And to facilitate changes of the surfaces presented and consequent variety in
the sentences or combinations of words obtained after each rotation of the
series of chambers, I apply studs or projections to the chambers to act on the
cubes or other forms employed to ensure change.
In applying the system to music, musical notes or signs will be substituted

page_text: for the words or parts of sentences on the sides or faces of the forms employed.
And in like manner may figures or other signs or representations be applied,
so as to be capable of similar change of relation for purposes of instruction,
utility, amusement, or diversion..
Variety of colors may be brought in. aid of the various indications..
Instead of the surfaces to which the indications, or signs, or representations
are applied being placed in chambers, they may be formed to rotate or other-
wise come into position so as to bring any one of. the indications or signs on.
each of them in a line to form a sentence or part of a composition, care being
taken to exclude from view the indications which are not for the time to form.
a sentence.
It is obvious that it is possible to employ various other mechanical arrange-
ments constructed on the principle above described of presenting to the eye a
series of interchangeable surfaces, each bearing or marked with a word, or.
musical note or sign, or other. indication.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Long in the Great. Seal Patent. Office on the 4th
February 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED,
LONG, of 3, Aylesbury Terrace, Walworth, in the County. of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of August, in the year of our Lord.
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto.
me, the said Alfred Long, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred
Long, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alfred Long, executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,.
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "MEANS OR.
APPARATUS TO FACILITATE THE ACQUISITION OF LANGUAGES, APPLICABLE ALSO TO
OBTAINING VARIOUS CHANGES IN MUSICAL COMBINATIONS, AND TO OTHER PURPOSES
OF EDUCATION, UTILITY, AMUSEMENT, OR DIVERSION," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alfred Long, my executors or administrators, by an.

page_text: instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in
the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and inime
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Long, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
The object of the Invention is, first, to effect various changes in the com-
binations of words or parts of sentences, so as by variety in the use or
combination of a limited number of words or parts of sentences to obtain
familiarity with a large number of expressions in a language. The Invention
is particularly applicable to a system of acquiring the colloquial knowledge of
languages as propounded by Mr. Thomas Prendergast in a work by him
entitled "The Mastery of Languages," by which the idiomatical and grammatical
mastery over language is proposed to be obtained. According to this system
words or parts of sentences are arranged in relation to each other so that any
one of them may be changed, and another substituted for it having corre-
sponding relations to the remaining portion of the sentence, without thereby
prejudicing sense or grammatical construction.
In carrying out the Invention in its practical application, I propose to
employ mechanical arrangements or apparatus which I call metabolical
apparatus, so constructed as to present to the eye a series of interchangeable
surfaces marked with or carrying words, notes, or signs, and used in the
manner hereafter more fully described. For this purpose a sentence or other
series of words being given, I divide or cut it up into parts, and provide for
each a series of equivalents or parts capable of being used in substitution
thereof with other of the parts of the sentence or series of words, and the
separate words or parts of sentences are applied to tables or surfaces which
are capable of being brought into a line, or it may be a series of lines, to
form sentences or combinations of words. It is desirable that only the words
or parts of sentences for the time required to form a sentence or part of a
sentence may be present to the eye of the learner, and that all the others be
for the time excluded.
A convenient form of apparatus for the purpose of the Invention consists of
a polygonal or other shaped vessel, such as is herein-after described, which is
divided horizontally and vertically into separate compartments or chambers,
each of which is provided with a series of words or parts of sentences, and

page_text: each of such words or parts of sentences is adapted to combine with the
words or parts of sentences of adjoining chambers in the same row or line of
chambers, and each chamber has an opening, or is otherwise capable of
presenting one word or part of a sentence of its series in a line to be read
.consecutively with words or parts of sentences of other of the chambers.
Then, supposing the words presented at the several openings of a row of
chambers to be, "He sent his servants home," and the blocks or forms of each
of such chambers to have four sides or faces, then the first chamber of that
row would be provided with a series of pronouns or other words changeable
with "He," the next chamber would be provided with a series of verbs
changeable with "sent," and so on. And in like manner may other sentences
have the equivalents of them to produce other expressions.
I prefer for convenience to apply the words or parts of sentences for each
chamber to the faces of a cube or other form, so that there will be one or
there may be more than one of these cubes or other forms loose in each
chamber, so as to be capable of changing their relative positions by the
rotation or other shaking of the series of chambers, so that a different face
may be obtained at each change from that last presented. And to facilitate
changes of the surfaces presented, and consequent variety in the sentences or
combinations of words obtained after each rotation of the series of chambers,
I apply studs or projections to the chambers to act on the cubes or other
forms employed to ensure change.
And in order that the Invention may be better understood I will by the
aid of the accompanying Drawings proceed to describe means employed
by inc.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a front view, Figure 2 an end view, Figure 3 a back view,
and Figure 4 a transverse section of apparatus arranged according to my
Invention Figures 5, 6, and 7 shew parts separately. In each of the views
the sanie letters indicate corresponding parts.
a, a, is a quadrangular chamber or vessel, which by horizontal partitions
a', a', and vertical partitions a, a, is divided into three series or sets of com-
partments A, A, A, each of which is adapted to receive a block b, one of
which is shewn separately by side and end views, and to a larger scale than
the other Figures at Figures 6 and 7. Each of these blocks b is by preference
formed hollow, and with four sides or faces b¹, b, b, b', to each of which is
applied a word or series of words forming a part of a sentence, adapted when
combined in a series with others to form a sentence or other combination.

page_text: The separate rows of blocks may form part of one continuous sentence, or
separate and independent sentences. These blocks when placed in their
respective chambers A are retained therein by means of the cover a², whilst
on the opposite or front side they are prevented from falling out by means of
the parts a, a, of the vessel a, and between these parts as I prefer to apply
a slip of glass a, a, a, as the media through which to view indications on
the blocks b, and it will be understood that only one face of each of the
blocks will when in the apparatus be visible at any one time, viz., that which
for the time is next the parts a³, and a change of faces presented is obtained
by shaking or giving a rotation to the series of chambers A, so as to bring up
fresh faces of the blocks b. To facilitate this rotary or shaking motion in the
arrangement shewn, the vessel a is formed with necks having knobs a', a',
which are supported with capability of freely revolving in the upper parts of
the standards c, c, from the base d; d', d', are feet to the base d. By the
action of one of the hands of the operator or one of the knobs a the chamber
may be readily caused to revolve in the direction of the arrow, the effect of
which will be to cause the blocks to present fresh faces to view, the
succession of which will be mostly irregular, and to facilitate these changes of
position to the blocks b each chamber A is formed with a projection a³, and
each of the blocks is formed at its angles with projections 62, by which when
the chambers A are caused to rotate in the direction of the arrow, in place of
the blocks simply sliding, as they would otherwise have a tendency to do
without turning in their chambers A, one of the projections 6s of each of the
blocks 6 will catch against a projection a³, and cause the blocks to be canted
or turned over, or partially round, and generally to varying extents. To
facilitate the application and removal of indications to faces 6' of the blocks b,
the projections 6 thereof may be formed with grooves to receive the edges of
pieces of paper, cardboard, or other suitable material e, as indicated by a
dotted red line in Figure 7, and which pieces of material may have the
required indications on them; or I paint the surfaces of the blocks with
white lead paint, or other suitable paint, which I coat with varnish, by
preference white hard varnish, when the surfaces of the blocks so prepared
may be written upon with ordinary writing ink, which when no longer
required may be removed by moist rubbing, and the surfaces repeatedly used
in like manner.
Sentences harmoniously combined have a reproductive power, whereby
they yield an astonishing number of variations obtained by interchanges of the.
words, and this increase is in geometrical progression, the result being in
proportion to the length of the sentences, that is to the number of inter-

page_text: so as to be capable of change of relation for instruction, utility, amusement,
or diversion.
By applying figures to the surfaces, those figures may indicate various
arithmetical or mathematical propositions; as, for instance, figures in several
rows above each other will represent an operation of addition when the sum
total may be either stated as a mental process, or it may be put on paper, or
otherwise represented by the operator; and then by turning or otherwise
changing the surfaces presented other figures may be brought into corre-
sponding relations, and treated in like manner.
For subtraction, the figures of one row may be deducted from those of
another, and the difference expressed or represented, and fresh propositions
may in like manner be obtained by rotation or shaking of the indicating
surfaces.
.
For multiplication, the multiplicand may be represented by figures of one
row and the multiplier by a right hand series below, all which will be
changeable by the rotation or shaking of the series of chambers. And in
like manner other arithmetical or mathematical propositions may be readily
obtained.
Various diversions or amusements of a changeable character may be pro-
duced by suitable applications adapted to the surfaces. Amongst these, one
which I call the the game of "prefixes," suitable to be played by any number of
persons, one of whom may be designated the machine keeper, is as follows:-
The "machine keeper" selects a sentence containing a verb with a prefix,
which, for the sake of illustration, may be taken to be im, in, com, con,
inter, &c., and he then writes on a surface of each block required the terminal
portions of verbs adapted to the prefixes, as parting, tending, mends, tends,
rupted, to the extent of the capabilities of the sentence, and he then proceeds
to fill up the remaining sides of all the blocks with pronouns, nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and especially prepositions.
Names of individuals may be in-
troduced, most of which may be altered by taking away the first part of the
word. Blocks with the words or parts of words on their faces are then placed
in the compartments of the machine irrespectively of any method or arrange-
ment, and upon the machine being turned there will be presented to view a
confused mass of words and parts of words, out of which may be obtained a
great variety of amusing and instructive sentences, depending upon the
ingenuity of the operator.
The peculiar character of the sentences selected will be varied and governed
according to the fancy or judgement of the person who as "machine keeper
"

page_text: makes the original selection. Each player may select one or more prefixes,.
as the case may be, and I will assume that he only selects one, but having.
made his selection, he is allowed to use only that and no other during the
game in the formation of words. He who forms the longest sentence in a
5 given time is assumed to have won the game. Those who fail to make a
sentence for themselves may yet detect errors in those formed by others, and
such as succeed in doing so in any experiment to the end of the game are.
entitled to occupy the same position in it as those whose errors are detected,
and to take their sentences to complete them if they are able so to do, and
they are also entitled in doing this to employ any of their own words or parts
of words with which they had failed to make sentences for themselves.
I have, however, given this only as an illustration, which may be varied at
the discretion of the players, and when used as means of instruction foreign
languages may be called in aid.
Another game; which I call the game of "birds," is as follows:-The
keeper should put letters upon each of the blocks, and the spelling of the.
names of birds should be the game.
The same is applicable also to beasts, fishes, trees, plants, the names of:
males and females, noted warriors, statesmen, and others, &c.
And another game, which I call the game of "figures," is as follows:-The
keeper should put upon each of the blocks a number not exceeding forty; and,
the company should be asked in turns to make such a figure as 45, and a
person is asked to make that number in some way or other by multiplying,
dividing, adding, or subtracting. And in this way it will readily be under-
stood may other games, patterns, or other representations be adapted. The
metabolical apparatus thus employed suggests series of questions or pro-
positions in such form that the previously acquired information is applied in
detail to the minor propositions and variations evolved therefrom (as in
language), and thus the "mastery of a principle is attained, and made
habitual by practical application thereof. In arithmatic the apparatus aids
the teacher, whose province it is to charge the machine with propositions
arranged in such a way as to bring about the elucidation of some principle.
The beginner is made to learn the principle in such form as the teacher may
think fit, and he is then made to work out a series of problems or applications
presented by the machine.
"
The apparatus may also be used as a medium for presenting to view
changeable advertisements in a shop window or other place where it may be
kept in motion by clockwork or otherwise. In this case the surfaces of the
blocks may have upon them different advertisements, indications, or state-

page_text: ments relative to the different articles for sale, or to which attention is desired
to be drawn, and a succession of constantly changeable indications will thus
be obtained.
Variety of colors may be brought in aid of the various indications.
Instead of the surfaces to which the indications or signs or representations
are applied being placed in chambers, they may be formed to rotate or other-
wise come into position, so as to bring any one of the indications or signs on
each of them in a line to form a sentence or part of a composition.
It is obvious that it is possible to employ various other mechanical arrange-
ments constructed on the principle above described of presenting to the eye a
series of interchangeable surfaces, each bearing or marked with a word or
musical note or sign, or other indication, but the arrangement above described
is one which I prefer as being convenient and suitable.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that what I
claim is, the adapting or combining means for facilitating the acquisition
of languages, and the obtaining changes in musical and other combinations,
applicable to purposes of education; utility, amusement, or diversion, by the
use of mechanical arrangements or apparatus constructed on the principle of
presenting to the eye a series of interchangeable surfaces, substantially as
explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Long, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
ALFRED LONG. (L.S.)