CERTAIN IMPROVED MODES OF EXHIBITING SIGNALS FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATING INTELLIGENCE EITHER AT SEA OR ON SHORE
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WILLIAM GRANT, a Captain of the Corps of Bombay Engineers, residing at
Number 1, Saint Alban's Place, Westminster, send greeting.
WHEREAS I did, by petition, humbly represent unto Her present most
Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, that after considerable application and
expence, I had invented "CERTAIN IMPROVED MODES OF EXHIBITING SIGNALS FOR
THE PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATING INTELLIGENCE EITHER AT SEA OR ON SHORE;"
and Her said Majesty, being willing to give encouragement to all arts and
inventions which may be for the public good; was graciously pleased by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westininster, the Twenty-sixth day of
March, (One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight), in the first year of Her
reign, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, to give and grant unto me, the
said Charles William Grant, my executors, administrators, and assigns; Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I or they, by
myself or themselves, or by my or their deputies, servants or agents, or such
others as I or they should agreo with (and no others), during the term of
fourteen years from the date of the said Letters Patent, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend my said Invention within that part of
Her said Majesty's Dominions called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, in such manner as to me, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, shall seem meet, and as that I or they shall enjoy the whole profit
and advantage arising by reason of the said Invention during the said term of
fourteen years, and for that end. Her said Majesty requires and strictly com-
mands all Her subjects whatsoever, that they shall not, neither directly or

page_text: indirectly, make, use, or put in practice my said Invention, or any part thereof,
nor in anywise counterfeit, imitate, or resemble the same, nor make any
addition thereto or subtraction therefrom, whereby to pretend himself or
themselves to be the inventor or inventors thereto; and whereas the said
Letters Patent contain a proviso, obliging me, the said Charles William
Grant, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in Her Ma-
jesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next immediately
after the date of the said 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
Charles William Grant, do hereby declare that my said Invention is described
and ascertained in manner following, and by the aid of the Drawing hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
purpose of communicating
My improved modes of exhibiting signals, for the
intelligence either at sea or on shore consist in using for that purpose (in the
modes herein-after described) a series of suitably formed bodies (herein-after
described), which differ so much in their vertical outlines as to be very dis-
tinguishable one from another, and in combining together two or more such
bodies by appending them one to another in any required diversity of order, so
that such bodies may serve as substitutes for and may answer the purpose of
the signal flags which are commonly used for exhibiting signals at sea, that is
to say, any one of such bodies by itself, or any suitable combination of two or
in
more such bodies appended one from another, being hoisted high enough up
the air to be visible at a distance, each such exhibition will constitute one
signal, the meaning thereof being such as the parties who intend to com-
municate intelligence by such signals have previously agreed to give thereto.
The said bodies, although they differ as before-mentioned in their vertical out-
lines, are all circular in their horizontal outlines; their forms, however various,
being of the nature of what are termed solids of rotation, or, in other words, their
forms, however various, are all similar to those forms which can be produced
by the operation of turning in a turning lathe; and the supposed central axis of
rotation of the several bodies is vertical, or nearly so, when they are hoisted up
in the air for exhibition, as aforosaid, and therefore each body, when so
exhibited, will present the intended form of its vertical outline to spectators
viewing it in any direction, that is to say, although viewed from any point of
the compass, each body will present the same appearance to the spectators, for
they will always see its vertical outline, and that is the same on all sides;

page_text: wherefore, if the bodies, when hoisted up in the air for exhibition, should
turn or spin round, by action of the wind or other cause, the appearance of
their vertical outlines will not be altered by such turning. But note.-In
situations where the signals can only require to be observed from some
one particular direction, the bodies may be flat planes, those planes being
vertical when the bodies are hoisted up for exhibiting them, which in such
cases must be done within a tall upright frame containing vertical guides; by
which the flat planes of the bodies will be retained with their broad surfaces
opposite to the direction from which they are intended to be viewed, so that
the true form of their vertical outlines will be distinctly visible when they are
viewed from that direction. Or, in situations where such flat bodies may
require to be viewed sometimes from one direction, and at other times from
other different directions, then the said frame within which they are to be
hoisted up may be made to turn round on the ground, so as to present the
broad surfaces of the flat bodies to the particular direction from which they
are required to be viewed for the time being. A series of suitably formed
bodies for exhibiting signals according to one of my said improved modes,
either at sea or on shore, is represented at Figure A of the Drawing hereunto
annexed, wherein five bodies are represented as appended one to another, but
they can be detached and exhibited one by one, or any two, three, or four of
them can be appended one to another in any order that can be required. 1 is
a body exhibiting a triangular outline, the base of the triangle being down-
wards, and its vertax uppermost; 2 is a body exhibiting a diamond or lozenge-
shaped outline, the greatest longth thereof being vertical, its most acute angles
are at top and bottom; 3 is a body exhibiting an oblong square outline, the longest
sides thereof being vertical; 4 is a body exhibiting a circular outline; 5 is a
body exhibiting a triangular outline similar to 1, but inverted, the base of the
triangle being upwards, and the vertex downwards. If it is agreed between the
parties that the said five bodies shall signify the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, the
same as they are severally marked in the Drawing, then the signal exhibited by
hoisting up the triangular shaped body 1 by itself would signify number one, but
if the body 2 is appended beneath the body 1, those two being hoisted up by them-
selves in that order, would signify number twelve; or if the body 3 is appended
beneath the bodies 1 and 2, the exhibition of those three by themselves in that
order would signify number one hundred and twenty-three; or if the body 4 is
appended beneath the bodies 1, 2, and 3, the exhibition of those four by them-
selves in that order would signify number one thousand two hundred and
thirty-four; or if the body 5 is appended beneath the bodies 1, 2, 3, and 4,
then the exhibition of all five bodies together in that order (as is represented

page_text: by Figure A) would signify number twelve thousand three hundred and forty-
five. The said bodies can be appended one to another in any order, for
instance, if the body 1 has the body 5 appended beneath it, the exhibition of
those two by themselves in that order would signify number fifteen; or if the
body 4 has the body 2 appended. beneath it, the exhibition of those two by
themselves in that order would signify number forty-two; or if the body 3
were to have the body 5 appended beneath it, and then if the body 1 were to
be appended beneath the body 5, the exhibition of those three by themselves
in that order would signify number three hundred and fifty-one; and so on of
all other combinations which could be made with five bodies. And in cases
when it may be desirable to have the means of making a greater variety of
signals, two sets of bodies of the forms represented in Figure A may be provided,
but one set must be of a very different, colour from the other, as black and white,
or red and white, or red and black, so that the bodies of each set will be very
distinguishable from those of the other set; then there will be ten bodies
capable of combination; wherefore if the bodies already referred to as signifying
the numeral characters 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are of a red colour, as represented in
Figure A, then the five bodies of the additional set, being of a white or a black
colour, may signify the remaining numerals characters 6, 7, 8, 9, and 0; and
by suitable. combinations of the red bodies with the white or black ones, a very
extensive variety of signals may be exhibited, for instance, if all the five bodies
represented in Figure A were white or black, instead of red, then the exhi-
bition of those five in the order there represented would signify number sixty-
seven thousand eight hundred and ninety; or if the second and fourth bodies
were white or black (the first, third, and fifth being red), then the exhibition of
those five bodies in that order would signify seventeen thousand three hundred
and ninety-five, and so on in like manner of all other combinations which
could be made with ten bodies. But note.-When the same numeral character
occurs twice or oftener in the number which is to be thus exhibited or
signified by some suitable combination of the five or the ten bodies, instead of
having duplicates of those five or ten bodies, it will be more convenient to
employ one particular and distinguishable body to signify a repetition of what-
ever body is immediately above it, for instance, the body represented in
Figure B exhibits a very different outline from any of the five bodies in
Figure A, and if it is agreed that the body Figure B shall signify a single
repetition, then, if it is appended to the body 1, Figure A, the exhibition of
those two by themselves in that order would signify number eleven; or if
the body Figure B were appended to the bodies 1, 2, and 3, the exhibition of
those four by themselves in that order would signify number one thousand two

page_text: hundred and thirty-three; or if the body, Figure B, were appended to the bodies
1, 2, and then the body 3 appended beneath the body Figure B, the exhibi-
tion of those four by themselves in that order would signify number one
thousand two hundred and twenty-three. In like manner, another body, such,
for instance, as Figure C, which exhibits a very different outline from any of
the others herein-before mentioned, may be used in place of Figure B, when it
is required to signify a double repetition of the same numerical character; for
instance, if the body Figure C is appended to the bodios 1 and 2, the exbi-
bition of those three by themselves in that order would signify number one
thousand two hundred and twenty-two. And in case it is required to signify
a triple repetition of the same numerical character, it may be agreed that the
body Figure B (which signifies one repetition as aforesaid) being appended to
the body Figure C (which, as aforesaid, signifies a double repetition,), then both
together shall signify three repetitions of whatever body is immediately above,
both the bodies signifying repetition, for instance, if both the bodies Figures C
and B were appended to the bodies 1 and 2, Figure A, the exhibition of those
four bodies by themselves in that order would signify number twelve thousand
two hundred and twenty-two. For another and last instance, suppose the
body 1 had the body Figure B appended to it, and then the body 2 appended
to Figure B, and then the body Figure C appended to the body 2, the
exhibition of those four bodies by themselves in that order would signify
number eleven thousand two hundred and twenty-two. But note.-The niode
which I have described as aforesaid of representing or signifying numbers by
exhibition of such bodies is no peculiarity of my Invention, and instead of such
bodies being taken to signify numbers, they may (by previous agreement
between the parties who intended to communicate intelligence by means of
them) be taken to signify certain letters of the alphabet; or the several bodies,
or some of them, may be taken to signify particular words or particular
sentences, according as one or other kind of significations may be most suitable
to the intelligence which is to be communicated; or the said bodies may be
sometimes taken to signify numbers, and at other times to signify letters, words,
or sentences, according to the agreement between the parties, and some prefa-
tory signal may be exhibited, such, for instance, as hoisting up the body Figure
B or Figure C by itself or by themselves, to denote which sort or class of
significations is to be adopted for the succeeding signals which are about to be
exhibited; or, instead of always giving the same numeral character or letter to
each of the particular bodies, they may sometimes be used to signify particular
numbers or letters, and at other times other different numbers or letters,
according to the previous agreement between the parties, in order by that

page_text: means to enable them to change the significations of all the signals which are
about to be exhibited whenever such change may be thought desirable for
secresy in the communication of intelligence; and by means of prefatory signals,
it may be announced which of the different significations previously agreed
upon is to be adopted for the succeeding signals which are to be exhibited.
And in order that the bodies may be light and commodious for use, they may
be made of cloth distended and kept out to their intended forms by suitable
skeletons, made with circular hoops and sticks, or laths of wood or of cane, whale-
bone, or of metal, with such braces and ties of cord or webbing or straps as are
requisite. The cloth may be dyed of the required colour, or it may be painted.
The covering of cloth may either be continuous over the whole surfaces of the
bodies, or else openings may be left in the cloth covering to admit the wind to
blow through them, in order that less force may be exerted upon the bodies in
blowing weather, nevertheless, in such case the openings must not be so large
or numerous but that the bodies will appear tolerably solid when viewed from
a distance. The central axis of each body may have a rope through it, of
suitable strength to sustain the force of hoisting up a set of bodies appended
together, as in Figure A, and the rope through the centre of each body must
have some suitable mode of connecting and disconnecting it with the corre-
sponding central rope of any other of the bodies at suitable distances beyond
the uppermost and lowermost end of each body. A simple and effectual mode
is for the central rope to terminate with a loop or eye at a short distance
above the top of each body, and to terminate with a short cross piece of wood,
called a toggle, at a like distance beneath the bottom of each body, see Figure
A, and 3, 4, and 5; then the toggle of one body being introduced endways
(first one end and then the other), through the eye of another body, will hold
therein as a button of a garment does in its button hole, and the two bodies will
be thereby securely connected together, as shewn in Figure A and Figures 3
and 5, and at a suitable distance asunder for exhibiting the vertical outline
of each body quite distinct from that of the others; or, in lieu of such toggle,
each body may have a spring hook of suitable strength, such as is used for sus-
pending the scabbards of cavalry swords to their belts, or a leather strap and
buckle may be used. And in order to avoid entanglement by twisting of the
rope, each toggle or spring hook or strap and buckle may be connected with
the central rope of the body to which it belongs by intervention of a turning
swivel joint, as is shewn at Figures A, and 8, 4, and 5, therefore, if the action
of the wind should cause any of the bodies to revolve, such motions will not
produce entanglement. For portability and convenience of handling the bodies
when not in use, they may be made to collapse in their vertical height, the

page_text: oops which constitute the skeleton approaching together, and the cloth
covering folding in between the hoops, as the leather does in a pair of bellows.
In such case the rigid parts of the skeletons should be only in the horizontal
circular hoops, but all the uprights by which those hoops are retained in their.
5 relative positions (when the bodies are extended) should be stays, braces, or
ties of flexible material, such as rope, girt, webbing, straps of leather, or seams
of the cloth covering. The circular hoops must be applied in such number.
and manner as will keep the cloth covering fully distended to the intended.
form of each body, in order that its vertical outlines may not alter by action of
the wind. Thus, the bodies 1 and 5 have each two hoops for their skeletons;
the bodies 2 and 3 have each three hoops; and the body 4 has five hoops, sce
Figure 4. Note. The body 4, although considered as a circle in its vertical
outline, may have its vertical axis rather shorter than its equatorial diameter,
so as to be somewhat elliptical in its vertical outline, whereby it will be more
distinguishable at a distance from the body 2, which is longest in its vertical.
axis. The circular hoops may be made of wood, or whalebone, or of metal.
rod or wire, or of ozier, such as is used for basketwork, or of cane, which is
best of all. Each hoop may be formed of two or three circular convolutions of
small cane or ozier, bound round or sewed over with twine, so as to com-.
bine them into one hoop, which will be very light, and not liable to break.
The larger hoops of the several bodies must be kept expanded by two or three
light wooden laths extended across the diameter of each hoop, and lashed to
it at each end of each lath, the laths being tied together at their common
intersection in the centre, and the central rope passed round that intersection,
and well secured thereto. Note.-The large circular hoops forming the ends
of the bodies 1, 3, and 5 may be left without cloth covering, and will then
allow less action of the wind, but the body 4 should have cloth coverings, over
the smaller circular hoops which form its upper and lower ends, and the centres
of those coverings being sewn to the central rope, will be thereby distended
from the cross laths of their hoops, so as to give the requisite convexity of outline
to the body. The bodies are hoisted up in the air by a hallyard rope, which is
conducted over a pulley, as shewn in Figure A, the hallyard. rope having at
its lower end a toggle or a spring hook, or a strap and buckle, to connect with
the eye of the central rope or thong of the central strap of any one of the
bodies which may be required to be the uppermost of those which are to be
exhibited together as one signal; and a down hauler rope being connected to
the toggle, spring hook, or strap and buckle, at the lower end of. the central
rope of the lowermost of the bodies, will serve to keep them all fully extended.
in their vertical heights, and to retain them from swinging too much by the

page_text: wind whilst they are exhibiting, and will also serve to pull them down again
when required. The pulley block for the hallyard rope may be suspended
from any suitable support, such as an upper mast, or a yard-arm, or a
gaff of a ship at sea, or from any suitable elevated support on shore, such as
the spire, or turret, or tower of a church or lighthouse, or a flag staff thereon, or
a mast or boom set up from any building, or a tall pole or mast erected on
the ground, or from a branch of a high tree, or, for military service, a tall
pole or ladder may be.set up in a baggage waggon, or on a railway carriage
when the bodies are to be used for railway purposes. If the bodies are made
to collapse, as before mentioned, a set, consisting of five or seven, as repre-
sented by Figures A, B, and C, (or of twelve, if there are differently coloured
duplicates of the five bodies, Figure A), may be stowed away into a moderate
space within a suitable case or crib on the deck of a ship, or on the roof of a
watch tower or other building, or in a baggage waggon for military service, or
on a railway carriage. The several bodies may stand side by side in such
crib, edgeways upwards in due order, and the eye or the toggle (or other
means) which is provided for connecting each body with the others, may be
marked with the numeral character, or letter, or word which is agreed for the
time to be signified by the exhibition of that body by itself, and by those
marks each body, although collapsed, will be known and distinguished from
the others, and also that end of it which is to go uppermost or lowermost will
be known. And when the several bodies which are intended to be com-
bined together for exhibition as one signal have been selected and taken
from their. crib,. they are connected together in their intended order by
their several. toggles or other. means of connecting them, that body which
is to go uppermost being connected to the hallyard rope; all which may be
done without extending the collapsed bodies, and they may be all collapsed
together into one bundle, around which the downhauler rope being passed,
will hold them together, and the rope may be retained around them by forming
suitable kinks or false nooses in it; and by including the same in another
kink or false noose of the hallyard rope, the hallyard rope will suspend the
bundle securely whilst it is hoisted up in the air. (Note.-A similar expedient
is well known to seamen for hoisting up a studding sail in a bundle to be shaken
out when aloft). When the bundle is almost high enough, then by snatching at
the downhauler rope, its kinks or false nooses will be pulled out from that of
the hallyard rope, and will then let loose the whole bundle, and the bodies will
drop down and extend themselves by their own weight, so as to appear
appended from the hallyard. rope, and one from another, in due order for
exhibition, as already explained and represented in Figure A; or, the bodies

page_text: may be hoisted up in their extended state, extending and hoisting them out of
the way as fast as they are connected one to another. And note.-The bodies
may be made of air-proof cloth, such as is used for making air balloons, or for air
cushions, pillows, or air beds, the bodies being air-tight bags of the required
forms, which, when collapsed, will be very portable, but when inflated with air
by means of bellows, the air being kept in by suitable stoppers, the bodies will
assume and retain their intended forms, and will have an appearance of
solidity. Each such body must have its central rope, or a girt webbing in lieu
of a rope, but will not require any internal skeleton. These may be useful for
military service, or for surveying, where great portability is of importance, and
where the bodies do not require to be of large dimensions; and in situations
on shore, where lightness, compactness, and portability are not essential, and
where the collapsing of the bodies can therefore be dispensed with, they may
be made in a more permanent manner, of the more substantial wooden
skeleton frames covered with canvas, strained tight and painted, or they may
be covered with light wood or scaleboard, such as is used for making bonnet
boxes; and in situations on shore which will admit of vertical guides being
fixed for guidance of the bodies in going up and down, such guides may be used
in the manner shewn by Figure D, and by retaining the bodies from swinging
about by the wind, they will be more distinctly visible at greater distances by
the aid of telescopes. The frame represented in Figure D consists of two tall
uprights, sustained by sloping struts at their lower ends, and united by
horizontal cross pieces at top and bottom, and they sustain two vertical guides,
rods, wires, or ropes which are strained tight, and situated at a suitable distance
asunder to receive the bodies between them, with rings or eyes on each body
to slide easily up and down the guides, but so as to retain the bodies from
swinging about. The bodies may be constructed in any of the modes herein-
before described, but one of the laths which, as before. mentioned;, is extended
diametrically across one of the largest hoops of the body, being of sufficient
strength, may be prolonged so as to reach out far enough each way beyond the
hoop to apply with forked ends to embrace the two vertical guide rods or ropes,
and cross pins being put through the ends of the prongs of these forks, beyond
the guide rods or ropes, will form them into eyes, or else a clasp may be fitted
with a hinge to each end of the lath or clasp round the guide rods or ropes, the
clasp being fastened to the lath with a staple and pin, or a turning button, or
otherwise, or else a strap or buckle may be used for a clasp, so as by one, mode
or other to form an eye at each end of the lath, which eyes will embrace the
guide rods or ropes, but with liberty to go up and down freely thereon. And
note. It will not always be necessary to have a frame with uprights, as is

page_text: represented in Figure D, for a spar or beam may sometimes be extended out
horizontally from the upper part of a building, such as a tower or lighthouse,
so as to serve for the top horizontal piece, shewn in Figure D, and from that
spar the two guide ropes may be suspended at suitable distances apart, so
as to hang down vertically; and the lower ends of both ropes being fastened to
a short horizontal piece, answering to the lower horizontal piece in Figure D,
that piece may be loaded with stones or other weights, so as to keep the two
guide ropes extended in a suitable manner to serve as guides for the several
bodies in going up and down. When the bodies are formed of bags to be
inflated with air, as before mentioned, each such body may have a strap and
buckle sewed to it at opposite sides of its largest diameter, to form (or connect
to) the clasps or eyes which are to embrace the two guide ropes. Note.-
When a frame with uprights is used, those uprights should be so far asunder
as to keep very distinct from the bodies, in order to avoid any confusion with
their vertical outlines when viewed from a distance; the upright guide ropes
or rods or wires being slender will not be visible at a distance. And in
situations where the signals are only required to be observed from some one
particular direction, and where the bodies are hoisted up within a frame with
guide ropes or rods, as represented in Figure D, which will prevent the bodies
from twisting round, thay may be flat planes, as is there represented. Such flat
bodies may be made of thin boards painted, or of sheet iron or other metal, or
they may be made with light border frames of wood or metal, either in one piece,
as represented at Figure D, or in separate pieces covered with cloth strained
tight, or such border frames may be made with joints for the convenience of
packing. The cloth may be died of a suitable color, or else painted; and at
the upper and lower end of each body there must be some, suitable means of
connexion for appending one body to another, as already explained respecting
the circular bodies, viz, either a toggle or eye, or spring hook and eye, or a
buckle and strap; also at the largest horizontal width of each body it must
have clasp rings or eyes to embrace the guide rods or ropes, those rings or eyes
being made to open and shut very readily by any of the means already
mentioned, in order to connect or disconnect them; or else such rings may be
made of spring steel, so as to be easily forced open, in order to apply them
around the guide rods or ropes, but then they will close by their elasticity, so as
to retain the rods or ropes within them. The hallyard rope and downhauler
rope is the same in Figure D as those already described, and all that bas been
herein-before stated respecting the manner of combining the several bodies to
form varieties of signals applies to the flat bodies shewn in Figure D, as well as
the circular bodies Figure A. The horizontal pieces which form the base of

page_text: the frame, Figure D, may be mounted on trucks or casters, to run upon a
floor or foundation, wherein a central pivot is fixed and stands up so that the
frame can be turned round about that pivot, as a centre of horizontal
motion, in order to present the broad surfaces of the flat bodies to any
particular direction from which they are required to be viewed for the time
being. The mode represented by Figure D, with flat bodies, may be used for
making signals along lines of railways, in which case the direction from which
the signals are to be viewed will be always the same. A frame, such as
Figure D, may be set up at suitable places along the line of a railway, so that
the bodies at each such place will be distinctly visible from each of the other
places which are next to it; and, if required, a set of like bodies may be
carried along with each train of travelling carriages, to enable the conductors
thereof to make signals in case of their progress being stopped by any accident,
or, if required, to make signals whilst travelling, for such purpose a frame,
with uprights and guides, which will answer the purpose of a frame, Figure D,
may be constructed to lay flat along the roof or sides of a railway carriage, and
capable of being elevated by suitable tackle, and retained in an upright position
by means of joints or staples, in a similar manner to the masts of some river and
canal boats which are adapted for lowering down flat along the vessell in order to
pass under bridges and hoisting up again when wanted, in such a frame the
bodies may be hoisted in the manner herein-before described, so as to com-
municate from any place on the line of railway with other fixed signal places
along the line, for which purpose flat bodies will be sufficient; but if it is
desired to render such signals also visible to the surrounding country in all
directions, then round bodies may be used, and for ease of carriage the same
may be made to collapse, as herein-before described, and may be either made
with skeletons to distend them to their intended forms, or they may be air-
tight bags, to be distended by inflating them with air, as already mentioned
respecting military service. And as to the dimensions of the bodies or their
colors, the same must be varied to suit the situations where they are to be used,
and according to the distance at which the signals made by them are expected
to be observed, the bodies must be larger so as to be plainly visible to the
naked eye at moderate distances, and by aid of telescopes at greater distances.
The scales on the Drawings will give the dimensions of bodies which may be
used at sea, but they may be made larger or smaller than those scales denote.
And in like manner, the particular forms of the vertical outlines of the several
bodies are not necessarily confined to those represented in the Drawings, but
they may be varied as may be thought expedient, the only essential con-

page_text: dition being that all the several bodies which are used shall be very distinguish-
able one from another when viewed from a distance.
Having now described my said improved modes of exhibiting signals, I, the
said Charles William Grant, do hereby declare that the new Invention,
whereof the exclusive use is granted to me by the said Letter Patent, consists
in using (for the purpose of exhibiting signals) a series of bodies of the kind
herein-before described, which are very distinguishable, one from another, in
their vertical outlines, and which are capable of being appended one from
another in any required diversity of order (as herein-before described). The
bodies being circular, or of the nature of solids of rotation (as herein-before
described), in cases when they are required to be viewed from various direc-
tions, or flat planes, retained by upright guides (as herein-before described), in
cases when they are only required to be viewed in one particular direction
at a time. And the bodies, which are circular or solids of rotation, being
capable of collapsing (as herein-before described), in order to go into a small
compass in cases when they are required to be portable.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles William Grant, bave hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-eight.
Signed and sealed by the within-named
Charles William Grant, in the pre-
sence of
C. W. (L.B.) GRANT.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-sixth day of September,
in the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
Charles William Grant came before our said Lady the Queen in Her
Chancery, and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing
therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instru-
ment aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the
fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Twenty-sixth day of September, One thousand eight hundred
and thirty-eight.