In course of Publication, by Order of the Commissioners.

ABRIDGMENTS (in Classes and Chronologically arranged)

SPECIFICATIONS of PATENTED INVENTIONS, from the earliest enrolled to those published under the Act of 1852. These books are of 12mo. size, and as each is limited to inventions of one class only, they can be sold at prices sufficiently moderate to enable the humblest inventor to examine for himself whether his discovery has been previously patented or not.

At the foot of each abstract is given references to notices of the inventions in scientific and other works, and to the reports of law proceedings for infringements, &c. &c. &c.

The classes already published are,

1. DRAIN TILES AND PIPES, price 6d.

2. SEWING AND EMBROIDERING, price 6d.

3. MANURE, price 6d.

4. PRESERVATION OF FOOD, price 6d.

5. MARINE PROPULSION, price 4s.

6. MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL, price 5s.

7. AIDS TO LOCOMOTION, price 18.

8. STEAM CULTURE, price 2s.

9. WATCHES, CLOCKS, AND OTHER TIMEKEEPERS, price 1s. 6d.

10. FIRE-ARMS AND OTHER WEAPONS, AMMUNITION, AND ACCOUTREMENTS, price 6s. 6d.

11. PAPER:-Part I. MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, PASTEBOARD, AND

PAPIER MACHE, price 3s.

12. PAPER:-Part II. CUTTING, FOLDING, AND ORNAMENTING; IN-
CLUDING ENVELOPES, CARDS, PAPERHANGINGS, &c., price 2s.

13. TYPOGRAPHIC, LITHOGRAPHIC, AND PLATE PRINTING, price 78.
14. BLEACHING, DYEING, AND PRINTING YARNS AND FABRICS, price
98. 6d.

15. ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM; THEIR GENERATION AND APPLICA-
TIONS, price 8s. 6d.

16. MANUFACTURE AND APPLICATION OF INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTAPERCHA, &C.; INCLUDING AIR, FIRE, AND WATERPROOFING, price 10s.

17. PRODUCTION AND APPLICATIONS OF GAS, price 78.

18. METALS AND ALLOYS, price 9s.

19. PHOTOGRAPHY, price 2s.

20. WEAVING, price 14s.

21. SHIP BUILDING, REPAIRING, SHEATHING, LAUNCHING, &c., price 78. 22. BRICKS AND TILES, price 4s.

23. PLATING OR COATING METALS WITH METALS, price 2s. 4d.

The following are in the press :—

PREPARATION OF FUEL, AND APPARATUS FOR ITS COMBUSTION.
STEAM ENGINES.

POTTERY.

SPINNING.

RAILWAY SIGNALS.

PRINTED BY GEORGE E. EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE, PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

PUBLISHED AT THE

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF PATENTS FOR INVENTIONS, 25, SOUTHAMPTON BUILDINGS, HOLBORN.

1

PREFACE.

THE Indexes to Patents are now so numerous and costly as to render their purchase inconvenient to a large number of inventors and others, to whom they have become indispensable.

To obviate this difficulty, short abstracts or abridgments of the Specifications of Patents under each head of invention have been prepared for publication separately, and so arranged as to form at once a Chronological, Alphabetical, Subject-matter, and Reference Index to the class to which they relate. As these publications do not supersede the necessity for consulting the Specifications, the prices at which the printed copies of the latter are sold have been added.

The number of Specifications from the earliest period to the end of the year 1866 amounts to 59,222. A large proportion of the Specifications enrolled under the old law, previous to 1852, embrace several distinct inventions, and many of those filed under the new law of 1852 indicate various applications of the single invention to which the Patent is limited. Considering, therefore, the large number of inventions and applications of inventions to be separately dealt with, it cannot be doubted that several properly belonging to the group which forms the subject of this volume have been overlooked. In the progress of the whole work such omissions will, from time to time, become apparent, and be supplied in future editions.

M. M.

a 2

This volume is a continuation of the " Abridgments "of Specifications relating to Plating or Coating Metals "with Metals" already published, and brings the Abridgments to the end of the year 1866. From that date the Abridgments will be found in chronological order in the "Chronological and Descriptive Index" (see List of Works at the end of this book). It is intended, however, to publish these Abridgments in classes as soon as the Abridgments of all the Specifications from the earliest period to the end of 1866 have appeared in a classified form. Until that takes place, the reader (by the aid of the Subject-matter Index for each year) can continue his examination of the Abridgments relating to the subject of his search in the Chronological and Descriptive Index.

As the following paragraphs in the Preface to Part I. apply to this part also, they are quoted here :

"The present series of Abridgments comprises only "those Specifications that relate to processes for coating "metals with metals. Applications in which processes "have not been expressly stated are omitted; but when66 ever any reasonable doubt exists as to whether a Specifi❝cation should be embraced by the series or not, its "abridgment is included; thus the title Plating or Coat"❝ing Metals with Metals' has been strictly adhered to.

"All inventions that specifically relate to pickling or "otherwise preparing metals to be coated with metals are "included in this series. These abridgments also com66 prise inventions that relate to combining metals that are "intended to coat other metals.

"Specifications that relate to electrotyping are not in❝cluded in this series; only those electro-depositing Patents "which refer to coating metals permanently with metals 66 are comprised in this work.