when additional information is required of them, notwithstanding the warning of the respective local authorities, either do not present themselves at all, or answer very reluctantly to the questions put to them on the subject; and that sometimes it is very difficult, and even impossible, to find out their place of abode, seeing that they change their residence; these circumstances, depending on the petitioners themselves, having caused several matters relating to privileges to remain for a long time undecided at the Ministry of the Interior; and as it may happen in the meanwhile that other persons may seek to obtain privileges for the same objects, the Minister of the Interior, to prevent delay in the decision of the said matters, and not to injure others in obtaining privileges for similar objects, has presented to the Council of the Empire, a proposal for an addition to the imperial manifesto on privileges.

This day the Secretary of State, Martahenko, performing the functions of Secretary of the Empire, having communicated the opinion of the Council of the Empire on this subject, which received the supreme sanction on the 24th April last, and having demanded the required depositions, in order to publish the said opinion, of which a copy was annexed, he was ordered to forward printed copies of the said opinion of the Council of the Empire, sanctioned by His Imperial Majesty, to all the viceroys, judges, &c. in the kingdom.

Made the 16th May, 1839, pursuant to the opinion of the Council of the Empire, confirmed by His Imperial Majesty, relative to an addition to the supreme manifesto of the 17th June, 1812, as to privileges granted to divers persons for inventions.

Report from the Commissioner of Patents of the United States, showing the operations of the Patent Office during the year 1842.

(From the Franklin Journal for March.)

PATENT OFFICE, Jan. 1843.

SIR,

In compliance with the law of Congress, the Commissioner of Patents has the honor to submit his annual report.

Five hundred and seventeen patents have been issued during the year 1842, including thirteen re-issues, and fifteen additional improvements to former patents, of which classified and alphabetical lists are annexed.

During the same period, three hundred and fifty-two patents have expired.

The applications for patents during the year past amount to seven hundred and sixty-one, and the number of caveats filed was two hundred and ninety-one.

The receipts of the office for 1842, amount to 35,790.96 dollars, from which 8,086.95 dollars may be repaid on applications withdrawn.

The ordinary expenses of the Patent Office for the past year, including payments for the library and for agricultural statistics, have been 23,154.48 dollars, leaving a net balance of 5,264.20 dollars to be credited to the patent fund.

For the restoration of models, records, and drawings, under the act of March 3, 1837,-14,060.02 dollars have been expended.

The whole number of patents issued by the United States, previous to January, 1843, was twelve thousand nine hundred and ninety-two. The continuance of the depression of the money market, and the almost universal prostration of all business, operate very disadvantageously on the receipts of this office, as many hundred applications are delayed solely from the want of funds or difficulty of remittance. The patents granted for the year, however, exceeded those of the year previous by twenty, though there have been less applications by eighty-six.

The Digest of Patents, continued and brought down to January, 1842, has been printed, and 700 copies distributed to the respective States, and 200 copies deposited in the library, in compliance with the resolution of Congress directing the same.

The accommodations granted during the last year for the reception of the articles received through the exploring expedition, intrusted to the National Institute, must seriously thwart, if not suspend, the design of Congress in the reorganization of the Patent Office, which enacts, section 20, act of July 4, 1836, "that it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to cause to be classified and arranged, in such rooms and galleries as may be provided for that purpose, in suitable cases, when necessary for their preservation, and in such manner as shall be conducive to a beneficial and favorable display thereof, the models, and specimens of composition and fabrics, and other manufactures, and works of art, pa2 R

VOL. XXII.

tented or unpatented, which have been, or shall hereafter be deposited in the said office."

It is a matter of sincere congratulation, that the Patent Office has so far recovered from its great loss in 1836, by the conflagration of the building, with all its contents. A continued correspondence with 11,000 patentees, and untiring efforts on the part of all concerned with this bureau, have accomplished much; indeed, to appearance, the models are better than previous to the fire. Although something yet remains to be done, enough has been accomplished to remove the past embarassment, and afford applicants the means of examination as to the expediency of applying for a patent.

The loss to the library, sustained by the fire, is not yet fully repaired; and, since the law of 1836 makes it a duty to examine all applications for patents, with reference, also, to foreign inventions, it is absolutely necessary that the library should be extended.

It is true that the library of Congress possesses some books on scientific subjects, useful for reference in the labours of this bureau, but no permission is given to take out books from that library; and, if such liberty were granted, it would be bad economy to send an examiner to the capital to look up similar cases. If applications are to be examined, it will promote the dispatch of public business, protect against spurious patents, and give public satisfaction, if the Patent Office library is well supplied with necessary books.

Already hundreds of applicants are satisfied by the comparatively imperfect examinations now made by referring to books on hand, not to take out a patent; and when, in the rejection of cases, reference is made to foreign patents, there is an impatient desire to see the description of the invention that is to cut off the hopes of so many years of toil and labour. I would therefore most earnestly recommend an appropriation of 1,200 dollars from the surplus fund, to add to the Patent Office library.

Signed, H. L. ELSWORTH.

Scientific Notices.

REPORT OF TRANSACTIONS OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

(Continued from page 328, Vol. XXII.)

"Description of a Self-acting Signal for Railways."-By Charles Berwick Curtis (of Acton), Assoc. Inst. C. E.

The object of this invention is, that notice shall be given by a marked signal, both by day and night, to the trains on the railway, that they may proceed with safety, and to regulate their speed. The signal being worked by machinery, the policemen would not be required, as at present, to remain on one spot, but could extend their sphere of inspection; and thus, by fixing the apparatus at given intervals along the line, the passage of the trains could be arranged with such precision as to render collision less frequent.

The apparatus consists of a round signal, composed of glass, the upper third part red, and the remainder green, descending into view from a casing of three colours, such as black, green, and red, in equal divisions: upon the signal is a white plate, which projects in front of and through a slit in the casing; and in order that the signal may be used by night as well as by day, a lamp is placed immediately beneath the centre of the casing.

On the near side of the rail, at a suitable distance, and at a proper height to be cleared by the steps of the carriages, is fixed a trigger, which is attached to a horizontal shaft revolving on bearings, with a counterweight, and these are connected by suitable shafts and levers with the signal-field. When an engine passes and depresses the trigger, the signal-field is released, and falls below the casing; by this means the machinery is set in action, and in a given time (which is regulated by clock-work) gradually raises the signal-field up again within the casing, indicating by the coincidence of the coloured compartments of the casing with those of the signal, the length of time which has elapsed since the trigger was depressed. When the signal has returned entirely into the case, the apparatus has resumed its original state, ready to be again acted upon.

Several ingenious modifications of the apparatus are described; and it is stated, that the signals which have been at work for a considerable period at the London and Birmingham and Great Western Railways, have fully answered the expectations entertained of their efficacy. Detailed drawings of the signals and machinery accompany the paper.

"Description of the Harbour of Port Talbot (Glamorganshire).” By Henry Robinson Palmer, V. P. Inst. C. E.

The harbour described in this communication is situated upon the outfall of the river Avon, on the eastern shore of Swansea Bay. The adjacent mountainous district terminates abruptly at about half a mile from the shore, in a tract of marshy land, for the most part composed of sand, with detached beds of clay and peat of various thickness, at about 10 feet below the surface.

The river, which, at its issue from its rocky channel, had been diverted from its course by accumulations of sand, nearly at right angles with its point of discharge into the sea, would appear at some period to have had a direct channel thither. It has been the object of the author, by whom the works were designed and executed, to restore this obvious course for the land water, and by means of embankments, to convert into a dock that portion of the old channel which extends through the marshes. A new channel has also been formed from the outfall to a convenient part of the dock, with a lock 45 feet in width for the passage of vessels.

As the works were undertaken by a few private individuals, every proper economy was enjoined; and in order to diminish the expense of excavating by manual labour, a channel of 100 feet wide and a mile in length, Mr. John Vigurs (whose extensive tin-plate and copper works are situated in the adjoining valley) proposed that the new channel should be formed by the force of the land floods, which descend with great impetuosity. A trench of 20 feet wide by 10 feet deep, was therefore cut in the line of the proposed channel; and a few days after it was finished, a heavy land flood descending from the mountains rushed through it, carrying out to sea from the sides and bottom of the trench an immense quantity of the soil. Every succeeding flood increased the size of the trench, and by judicious guidance of this natural excavator, the channel was formed of the requisite