the duchy moiety of the manor and waste, sold to Mr. Ivimey for 18,000l. less 487. credited to toll tin account, 20,2961.; sale of Coinage Hall premises at Helston, in 1851, 3767.; sale of Northolt Farm, in Dorset, to the Earl of Ilchester, in 1853, 2695l. 12s. 6d. ; sale of houses in Bradninch Place, Exeter, to Mr. Gard, in 1854-5, 1860.; sale of the manor of Langton Herring, including duchy moiety of advowson, in 1855, 6277. 108.; sale of the manor of Berkhampsted to the guardians of Earl Brownlow, in 1862, 144,540.; sale of mineral rights in Penlyne to Mr. Robartes, in 1862, 1000%; sale of portions of the foreshores and estuaries of Cornwall to various parties, from 1854 to 1862, 4643l. 11s. 7d.; various small sales of detached and waste lands, quit rents, &c., effected during the time of this account, 11,7557. 158. 3d.; to dividends and profits arising from purchase moneys received from estates in which the duchy had at the time of the sale a reversionary interest only, 57814. 68. 11d.; to fines on grants of mines, 450l.; to increase arising from fluctuation in the value of stock, 256l. 16s. 9d.: total, 321,277. 138. 11d.

The creditor side or payments, were as follows:-By purchase of estates, viz. :—Purchase of toll tin lease, including expenses, in 1845, 24,015l. 158. ld.; less repaid up to 1862, 15,015. 15s. 1d.; purchase of lease of the manor of Shepton Mallet, including expenses, in 1846, 4245l.; purchase of other property in Shepton Mallet, in 1846, 1667. 16s. 6d. ; purchase of Frankham Farm, in the manor of Rhyme, Dorset, in 1852, 4952l.; purchase of Brimpts and other estates at Dartmoor, from 1852 to 1862, 12,6841.; purchase of lands at Hermitage, Dorset, in 1853, 3464l. 10s. 1d.; purchase of site of model lodging-houses at Kennington in 1854, 4000%; cost of erecting the same in 1855 and 1856, 11,885l 11s. 9d.; market price of stock paid for redemption of land tax on the same in 1855, 1571. 78. 9d.; purchase of lands at West Harptree, in 1854 to 1860, 1425l.; purchase of the copyhold interest in property at Kennington in 1855, 2100l.; purchase of lands at Fordington, from 1858 to 1861, 41037. 138. 2d.; purchase of lands at Laverton, from 1860 to 1862, 57621. 188. 4d.; purchase of the manor of Ile Brewers, in the county of Somerset, in 1862, 27,600l.; purchase of other lands at Ile Brewers and Ile Abbots, in Somerset, in 1862, 17,400l.; purchase of lands intermixed with Burton Farm, Mere, in 1862, 5250l.; purchase of the Crown estate of Rialton, adjoining the duchy manor of Tregamere, in the county of Cornwall, in 1862, 68,420.; purchase of the Crown estate of Gillingham, in the county of Dorset, adjoining the duchy manor of Mere, in 1862, 29,500l.; various small purchases effected during the time of this account, 710. 1s. 10d.; by expenses attending the purchase and sale of estates, 2,114l. 188. 8d.; by proportion paid by the Duchy of Cornwall of the expenses attending the assessionable manors commission in 1844-5, 26,2721. Os. 4d.; by amount paid for accommodation for the Stannary Court in Cornwall, pursuant to Act 7 & 8 Vict. cap. 65 sec. 40, 1500l.; by balance on 8th November, 1862, viz. :-Cash at the Bank of England, 6197. 58. 9d.; sterling value of capital invested in, 84,256l. 188., 3 per cent. stock, 77,974l. 9s. 9d.: total, 321,2777. 138. 11d.

PATENT LAW.

Report of the Commissioners of Patents for Invention for 1862. THE number of applications for provisional protection, recorded within the year 1862, was 3490; the number of patents passed thereon was 2191; the number of specifications filed in pursuance thereof was 2158; the number of applications lapsed or forfeited, the applicants having neglected to proceed for their patents within the six months of provisional protection, was 1299. The Act 16 Vict. c. 5. enacts that all letters patent for inventions to be granted under the provisions of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852, shall be made subject to the condition that the same shall be void at the expiration of three years and seven years respectively from the date thereof, unless there be paid, before the expiration of the said three years and seven years respectively, the stamp duties in the schedule thereunto annexed, viz. 50l. at the expiration of the third year, and 1007. at the expiration of the seventh year. The patent is granted for 14 years.

Four thousand patents bear date between the 1st October, 1852, and the 17th June, 1854 (being the first 4000 passed under the provisions of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852). The additional progressive stamp duty of 50l. was paid, at the end of the third year, on 1186 of that number, and 2814 became void. The additional progressive stamp duty of 100l. was paid at the end of the seventh year on 690 of the 1183 patents remaining in force at the end of the third year, and 796 became void. Consequently nearly 70 per cent. of the 4000 patents became void at the end of the third year, and nearly 90 per cent. became void at the end of the seventh year. The proportionate number of patents becoming void, by reason of nonpayment, continues nearly the same to the present time.

All the provisional, complete, and final specifications, filed in the office. patents granted under the Act since 1852, have been printed and published in continuation, with lithographic outline copies of the drawings accompanying the same, according to the provisions of the Act 16 & 17 Vict. c. 115. The provisional specifications filed in the office and lapsed and forfeited, have also been printed and published in continuation. Printed certified copies of the specifications filed in the office, as also certified copies of patents, and of the record book of assignments of patents and licences, with copies of such assignments and licences, have been sent, in continuation, to the office of the director of Chancery in Edinburgh, and the enrolment office of the Court of Chancery in Dublin, pursuant to the Act of 1852 and the Act of 16 & 17 Vict. c. 115. The work of printing the specifications of patents under the old law, 13,561 in number, and dating from 1711 to 1852, was completed in 1858, and copies thereof are sold in the office at the cost of printing and paper.

Abstracts or abridgments of specifications, in classes and chronologically arranged, of all specifications of patents, from the earliest enrolled to the present time, are in course of preparation and publication. The classes already published and sold are-1, drain tiles and pipes; 2, sewing and embroidering; 3, manure; 4, preservation of food; 5, marine propulsion; 6, manufacture of iron and steel; 7, aids to locomotion; 8, steam culture; 9, watches, clocks, and other time-keepers; 10, fire-arms and other weapons, ammunition, and accoutrements; 11, paper-Part I. manufacture of paper, pasteboard, and [apier-mâché; 12, paper-Part II. cutting,

folding, and ornamenting; including envelopes, cards, paper hangings, &c.; 13, typographic, lithographic, and plate printing; 14, bleaching, dyeing, and printing fabrics and yarns; 15, electricity and magnetism, their generation and applications; 16, manufacture and applications of indiarubber, gutta percha, &c., including air, fire, and water proofing; 17, production and application of gas; 18, metals and alloys; 19, photography; 20, weaving; 21, shipbuilding, repairing, sheathing, launching, &c.; 22, bricks and tiles; 23, plating or coating metals with metals; and 24, pottery. The following are in the press :-Preparation of fuel and apparatus for its combustion; steam engines; spinning; medicines, &c.; mining and metallurgy; music and musical instruments; railways and rolling stock; hydraulics; oils, animal, vegetable, and mineral; railway signals. It is intended to publish these abstracts at the rate of eight or ten series in each year, completing the work in four or five years. abstracts are sold at prices covering the cost of printing and paper.

The

On the subject of the building of a patent office, public library, and museum, a report was transmitted to her Majesty's Treasury on the 7th August, 1862, to the effect that largely increased accommodation was necessary; that the commissioners of patents were in possession of a collection of very valuable and interesting models of patented machines and implements, as also of portraits of inventors, many of them gifts, and others lent by the owners for exhibition; and that they were now exhibited daily, and gratuitously, in a small portion of the museum at Kensington assigned to the commissioners of patents for that purpose by the Lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade; that a museum of this nature necessarily increases, and the number of models now exhibited may be considered as forming only the foundation of a great national museum; that the great work of printing the old specifications of patents, with the drawings attached thereto, enrolled in Chancery under the old law, dating from 1623 to 1852, and 12,977 in number, was commenced in 1853, and completed in 1858; that all these have been fully indexed in series and subjects, and the indexes printed and published; that these prints of specifications form about 900 volumes (450 imperial octavo volumes of drawings, and the like number of imperial octavo volumes of letter-press); the indexes forming seven imperial octavo volumes; that these valuable works have cost, in transcribing, printing, lithographic drawing, and paper upwards of 90,000l. That notwithstanding this great outlay, the balance sheet of income and expenditure for the year 1857, prepared for the annual report of the commissioners, and laid before Parliament, showed a surplus income from the commencement of the Act, 1st October, 1852, to the end of 1857, of 6000l.; and that the number of applications for patents may be safely estimated at 3000 per annum.

The space required for the proposed buildings may be estimated from the following circumstances:-It is considered by the commissioners of patents to be highly desirable, and indeed necessary, that the patent office museum should be so constituted as to become an historical and educational institution for the benefit and instruction of the skilled workmen employed in the various factories of the kingdom. These persons constitute a class which largely contributes to the surplus fund of the patent office in fees paid upon patents granted for their inventions. Amongst the various things necessary to be done in order to accomplish this object, it is considered to be of great importance that machines and exact models of machines, in subjects and

series of subjects, showing the progressive steps of improvement in each branch of manufacture, should be exhibited. For example, taking the case of steamboats, in order to show the rise and progress of this invention, it is necessary to exhibit in a series of exact models of machines, or by the machines themselves, each successive invention and improvement in steam propellers, from the first engine on the paddle system that drove a boat of two tons burden to the powerful machinery of the present day on the screw system in first-rate ships-of-war. Accordingly the present museum presents a very interesting collection to elucidate this subject. The original small experimental engine that drove the boat of two tons burden above referred to is now in the museum, and stands the first in the series of propellers and models of propellers; and in order to explain how the existence of such a museum is the cause of its becoming daily more perfect, it may be useful to state that in this branch the following valuable and interesting original machines and models of machines have lately been added to the museum, either by the gift of the proprietors or at a very trifling expense:

First, a perfect model of Trevethick's locomotive engine, the first engine that ran upon common roads in 1803. Secondly, an original stationary and pumping engine made on Newcomen's principle, to which Watt applied his important invention for condensing, by the means of a separate vessel and air pump, the steam that had been used and formerly condensed in the cylinder. Thirdly, the original fixed engine made by Watt, in 1788, for converting rectilinear into circular motion, in order thereby to drive mill work by the use of his invention known as the sun and planet motion. These two last-mentioned engines drove for many years the machinery used at the Soho works of Messrs. Bolton and Watt, near Birmingham. Fourthly, the very early original locomotive engine, brought from the Wylam Colliery in Durham; the first engine which moved by the contact of smooth wheels on smooth rails. This engine was worked at the colliery nearly fifty years, commencing in 1813. And fifthly, the original "Rocket" locomotive engine made by George Stephenson, and worked at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad in 1829, which, unfortunately was the cause of Mr. Huskisson's death. These instances are selected from one division of the museum, and are enumerated for the purpose of pointing out, in the first place, the value of such a museum in an historical and social as well as in a scientific point of view; and, in the second place, the large space that must necessarily be required for the purpose of their accommodation, in such a manner as to enable those who wish to study them to be able to do so without difficulty or inconvenience. It is also to be borne in mind that the number of the models and machines will increase rapidly, year by year, and consequently that a large additional space of ground should be secured for the future extension of the museum.

The commissioners are also in possession of a large number of valuable models, which still remain in cases, because room cannot be found for their exhibition in the space assigned to them in the museum at South Kensington; indeed, so limited is that space, that they are obliged to postpone the acceptance of many valuable models offered as gifts by manufacturers and inventors. Several good models of machines have also, for the same reason, been lately removed to afford room for machines of a higher degree of interest.

The site proposed for such a museum was suggested to be Fife House and gardens, in Whitehall; and the proposal was favourably received.

The surplus income of the patent office, applicable to building purposes, amounted in the aggregate to 129,000l. The commissioners of patents did not propose to apply for building purposes any portion of this sum which has already been received and has formed part of the general revenue of the country, but merely that the surplus income of the present year (1862) and that of succeeding years should be applied for the purposes above enumerated.

The surplus income of the current year (1862) was estimated at 40,000l. The commissioners of patents therefore earnestly requested the Treasury to sanction the appropriation of the site proposed by them for the patent office buildings; to give the necessary directions to her Majesty's Board of Works to obtain the proposed site, either by purchase or by a lease from the Crown, and to direct the architects to prepare the necessary plans, elevations, and estimates; and to direct such plans, elevations, and estimates to be laid before Parliament at the commencement of the ensuing session. The commissioners asked the Treasury to apply for a vote for such proportion of the estimated cost of the buildings as might be required for the year 1863-64; and should it be decided to purchase the land for the site, also to apply to Parliament for the sum of money necessary for that purpose, all such monies to be repaid out of the surplus income for the current and succeeding years.

SALMON FISHERIES.

First Annual Report of Salmon Fisheries, England and Wales. THE Commissioners were compelled to limit their inspection to the following rivers-the Severn, Wye, Usk, Teifi, Dee, Ribble, Lune, Derwent, Eden, Tyne, and Tees, the Avon, Teste and Itchen, of Hants, and the Taw and Torridge of Devon. The present value of the fisheries in England and Wales is, without doubt, very small compared with what it might and will be; still the sum total of the fish taken is very considerable. The commissioners were of opinion that, for the development of the salmon fisheries, it is absolutely necessary that a licence system should be sanctioned by the Legislature analogous to the game licences. The commissioners then proceeded to their report upon the different rivers as follows:

BRISTOL CHANNEL.

The great estuary called the Bristol Channel receives the waters of the Severn, Wye, and Usk, the two first of which rivers are second to none in the United Kingdom; and the third, the Usk, is at the head of the English rivers of the second class.

This estuary is fished by means of "putts" and "putchers," and a certain, but very limited, number of stop nets, the first and more objectionable mode of fishing having ousted the more legitimate and once common method. There can be no doubt that putts were fished many years back; reference is made to them in 18 Geo. 3, c. 33, as "the ancient putts, to which, at some places, an inside wheel or diddle is fixed, whereby great quantities of the spawn or fry are taken and destroyed;" and we are led to believe that the putcher, the more destructive and deadly engine of the two, is of modern invention; an improvement, in short, upon the ancient putt.