No. 115.-Affidavit of one who arrived before he

JOHN DOE, being duly sworn, says, that for the continued term of five years last past he has resided within the United States, and that for one year last past he has resided within the state of Michigan; and at the time he so arrived in the United States he had not attained his eighteenth year; that it is bona fide his intention, and has been for the last three years, to become a citizen of the United States, and to renounce for ever all allegiance and fidelity to all and every foreign prince, potentate, state, and sovereignty whatever; and particularly to VICTORIA, the queen of Great Britain and Ireland, of whom he was a subject. JOHN DOE.

No. 116.-Affidavit to prove the Intention of becoming a Citizen, to accompany the preceding Affidavit.

State of Michigan,

County of Wayne, to wit:

JOHN JONES, being duly sworn, says that he is a citizen of the United States; that he is well acquainted with the above-named JOHN DOE, and that the said JOHN DOE has resided within the territory of the United States for five years last past, and for one year last past in the state of Michigan; and that during such period he has behaved himself as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same; that for three years last past it has been bona fide the intention of the said JOHN DOE to become a citizen of the United States, and that at the time the said JOHN DOE arrived in the United States he had not attained his eighteenth year.

Sworn to in open court, this

tenth day of August, 1850.

JOHN SMITH, Clerk.

JOHN JONES.

No. 117.-Proof of Residence, &c., to be made at the time of Admission.

State of Indiana,

County of Jefferson, to wit: }

PETER SMITH and JOHN JONES, being duly sworn, say that they are both of ther citizens of the United States of America; that they know JOHN DOE, and that he has resided within the territory and jurisdiction of the United States for five years last past; that during that time he has behaved as a man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the constitution of the United States, and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the same.

Sworn in open court, this first day of November, 1850, before me, GEORGE GOODMAN, Judge.

PETER SMITH,
JOHN JONES.

No. 118.-Oath to support the Constitution of the United States, &c.

I, JOHN DOE, do solemnly swear that I will support the constitution of the United States of America, and that I do absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty whatever; and particularly to VICTORIA, queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, of whom I was a subject.

Sworn in open court, the first day of November, 1852, before me, GEORGE GOODMAN, Judge.

JOHN DOE.

Be it remembered, that on the first day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, JOHN DOE appeared in the circuit court (the said court being a court of record, having common-law jurisdiction, and a clerk and seal), and applied to the said court to be admitted to become a citizen of the United States of America, pursuant to the provisions of the several acts of the Congress of the United States of America, for that purpose made and provided; and the said applicant having thereupon produced to the court such evidence, made such declaration and renunciation, and taken such oaths as are by the said acts required:

Thereupon, it was ordered by the said court, that the said applicant be admitted, and he was accordingly admitted by the said court, to be a citizen of the United States of America.

In testimony whereof, the seal of the said court is hereunto affixed, this first day of November, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, and in the seventyeighth year of our Independence.

Per curiam.

JOHN SMITH, Clerk.

(Seal of the court.)

PATENT LAWS AND REGULATIONS.

THE laws now in force relative to patents are those approved July 4, 1836 March 3, 1837, March 3, 1839 August 29, 1842, May 27, 1848, and March 3, 1849. The forms resting upon these are fixed, and can not, of course, be varied without the intervention of Congress; but rules, having their origin in the commissioner, can be revised or modified at his discretion.

For what Patents may be granted.-By the act of 1836, section 6, patents were granted for any new and useful art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement on any art, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, not known or used by others before the applicant's discovery or invention thereof, and not, at the time of his application for a patent, in public use, or on sale, with his consent or allowance, as the inventor or discov erer; but, by the act of the 3d of March, 1839, no patent is held to be invalid by reason of the purchase, sale, or use of the invention, prior to the application for a patent, except on proof of abandonment of such invention to the public, or that such purchase, sale, or public use, has been for more than two years prior to such application for a patent.

By the third section of the act of 1842, patents are also granted for new and original design8 :

1. For a manufacture, whether of metal or other material.

2. For the printing of wollen, silk, cotton, or o her fabrics.

3. For busts. statues, or base iefs, or como i ion in alto or basso relievo.

4. For any impression or ornainen (wh her complete in itself, o.) to be placed on any article of manufacture in marble or other material.

5 For any new and original pattern, or print. or picture, to be either worked into or worked on, or printed or painted, or cast or otherwise fixed on, any article of maf.cture.

6. For any new shape or configuration of any article of manufacture. All such designs not being previously known or used by others

To whom Patents may be granted.-Patents are granted to citizens of the United States; to aliens who shall have been resident in the United States one year next preceding, and shall have made oath of their intention to become citizens thereof; to one or more assignees of entire patent-rights; to administrators and executors, and to foreign inventors or discoverers: but the law makes no provision for granting to the latter patents for new and original designs.

In case of the decease of an inventor before he has obtained a patent for his invention, "th right of applying for and obtaining such patent shall devolve on the a ministrator or executor of such person. in trust for the heirs at-law of the deceased, if he shall have died into state; but if otherwise, then in trust for his devisees, in as ful and ample manner, and under the same conditions, limitations, and restrictions, as the same was held, or might have been claimed or enjoyed, by such person in his or her lifetime; and when application for a patent shall be made by such legal representatives, the oath or affirmation shall be so varied as to be applicable to them."

Joint inventors are entitled to a joint patent, but neither can claim one separately.

Applications for Patents.-In presenting an application for a patent, much disappointment and delay will be avoided by attending to the following direc tions: 1. The petition should be made to the commissioner, praying that a

* Of the propriety of making an application for a patent, the inventor or his agent must be the sole judge. The patent-office is open; the records and models may be consulted during office-bours; and the applicant can personally, or by attorney, satisfy himself of the expediency of filing his papers. Further than the facilities thus afforded, the office can yield no assistance, until the case is regularly before it in marner prescribed by law.

patent may be granted for the invention. 2. The specification shonld be filed, describing, as clearly and concisely as possible, the improvement made. 3. The onth or affirmation should be made to the originality of the invention. 4. Drawings, when the nature of the case admits of them, should accompany the application. 5. The model or specimen, as the case may be, clearly representing the improvement, should be deposited. 6. The fee required by law should be paid, and in manner hereafter pointed out.

All the papers and the fee in each application must be filed in the patent-office at the same time, whether they be delivered by the applicant or his agent, or forwarded by mail; and in those cases where the party or his agent is in Washington, then the model must be delivered at the same time. If the party or his agent is not on the spot, the model can be forwarded at their convenience until these requirements are faithfully and minutely fulfilled, according to the instructions hereafter given, can any case receive the action of the office.

Not

1. The Petition.-The inventor, having made a useful invention or discovery, must make application in writing to the commissioner, signifying his desire of obtaining an exclusive property therein, and praying that a patent may be granted therefor. The usual form is annexed. The petition must be signed by

the applicant.

No. 120.-Form of Petition.

To the Commissioner of Patents:

The petition of JOHN FITCH, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania—

be

RESPECTFULLY REPRESENTS, That your petititoner has invented a new and improved mode of preventing steam-boilers from bursting, which he verily believes has not been known or used prior to the invention thereof by your petitioner. He therefore prays that the letters-patent of the United States may granted to him there for, vesting in him and his legal representatives the exclusive right to the same, upon the terms and conditions expressed in the act of Congress in that case made and provided; he having paid thirty dollars into the treasury, and complied with the other provisions of the same act.

JOHN FITCH.

2. The Specification. He must then deliver a written description of his invention or discovery, and of the manner and process of making, constructing, using, and compounding the same, in such full, clear, and exact terms, avoiding unnecessary prolixity, as to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it appertains, or with which it is most clearly connected, to make, construct, compound, and use the same; and in case of any machine, he shall fully explain the principle, and the several modes in which he has contemplated the application of that principle or character by which it may be distinguished from other inventions; and shall particularly specify and point out the part, improvement, or combination, which he claims as his own invention or discovery.

It is important, in all cases, to have the specification describe the sections of the drawings, and refer by letters to the parts. The following is the form adopted by the office:

No. 121-Form of Specification.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Be it known that I, JOHN FITCH, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia, and state of Pennsylvania, have 'invented a new and improved mode of preventing steam-boilers from bursting; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof -reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon

The nature of my invention consists in providing the upper part of a steamboiler with an aperture in addition to that for the safety-valve; which aperture is to be closed by a plug or disk of alloy, which will fuse at any given degree of

heat, and permit the steam to escape, should the safety-valve fail to perform its functions.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proeeed to describe its construction and operation: I construct my steam-boiler in any of the known forms, and apply thereto gauge-cocks, a safety-valve, and the other appendages of such boilers; but, in order to obviate the danger arising from the adhesion of the safety-valve, and from other causes, I make a second opening in the top of the boiler, similar to that made for the safety-valve, as shown at A, in the accompanying drawing; and in this opening I insert a plug or disk of fusible alloy, securing it in its place by a metal ring and screws, or otherwise. This fusible metal 1, in general, compose of a mixture of a lead, tin, and bismuth, in such proportions as will insure its melting at a given temperature, which must be that to which it is intended to limit the steam; and will, of course, vary with the pressure the boiler is intended to sustain. I surround the opening containing the fusible alloy by a tube B, intended to conduct off any steam which may be discharged therefrom. When the temperature of the steam, in such a boiler, rises to its assigned limit, the fusible alloy will melt, and allow the steam to escape freely, thereby securing it from all danger of explosion.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by letters-patent, is, the application to steam-boilers of a fusible alloy, which will melt at a given temperature, and allow the steam to escape, as herein described; using for that purpose the aforesaid metallic compound, or any other substantially the same, and which will produce the intended effect. JOHN FITCH.

Witnesses,{

JOHN SMITH,
JOHN JONES.

When the application is for a machine, the specification should commence thus:

Be it known that I, JOHN FITCH, of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia, and state of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful machine for[staling the use and the title of the machine; and if the application is for an improvement, it should read thus: a new and useful improvement on a, or on the, machine, &c.]; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same; reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which figure 1 is a perspective view, figure 2 a longitudinal elevation, figure 3 a transverse section, &c. [thus describing all the sections of the drawings, and then referring to the parts by letters. Then follows the description of the construction and operation of the machine, and ending with the claim, which should express the nature and character of the invention, and identify the part or parts claimed separately or in combination. If the specification is for an improvement, the original invention should be disclaimed, and the claim confined to the improvement.]

3. The Oath or Affirmation." Every inventor, before he can receive a patent, must make oath or affirmation that he does verily believe that he is the original and first inventor or discoverer of the art, machine, manufacture, composition, or improvement, for which he solicits a patent; and that he does not know or believe that the same was ever before known or used; and also of what country he is a citizen." In every case the oath or affidavit must be made before a person having general powers to administer oaths. Justices of the peace have not, in all cases. this general power.

The oath required from applicants for patents may be taken when the appli cant is not, for the time being, residing in the United States, before any minister plenipotentiary, chargé d'affaires, consul, or commercial agent holding commission under the government of the United States, or before any notary public of the foreign country in which such applicant may be.

If the applicant be an alien, and have resided one year in the United States next preceding the application, and have given legal notice of his intention to become a citizen of the United States, he must make oath to these facts before he can apply for a patent for the same fee as that paid by a citizen.