any other class of inmates. The costs of taking out, renewing, and
protecting patents were formerly so enormous as practically to prevent
any great improvements where capital was short, and scores of our local
workers emigrated to America and elsewhere for a clearer field wherein
to exercise their inventive faculties without being so weighted down by
patent laws. The Patent Law Amendment Act of 1852 was hailed with
rejoicing, but even the requirements of that Act were found much too
heavy. The Act which came into force Jan. 1, 1884, promises to remedy
many of the evils hitherto existing. By this Act, the fees payable on
patents are as follows:--On application for provisional specification,
L1; on filing complete specification, L3; _or_, on filing complete
specification with the first application, L4. These are all the fees up
to the date of granting a patent. After granting, the following fees are
payable: Before four years from date of patent, L50; and before the end
of eight years from the date of patent, L100. In lieu of the L50 and the
L100 payments, the following annual fees may be paid: Before the end of
the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years. L10 each year; before the
end of the eighth and ninth years, L15 each year; and before the end of
the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth years, L20 each year.--If
the number of words contained in the specifications constitutes the
value of a patent, that taken out by our townsman, James Hardy (March
28, 1844), for an improvement in tube-rolling must have been one of the
most valuable ever known. The specifications filled 176 folios, in
addition to a large sheet of drawings, the cost of an "office copy"
being no less than L12 18s! The _Mechanics' Magazine_ said it could
have all been described in 176 words.

~Patriotic Fund.~--The local collection for this fund was commenced
October, 25, 1854, and closed February 22, 1858, with a total of L12,936
17s. 3d.

~Paving.~--A "patent" was obtained in 1319, 12th Edw. II., to "take toll
on all vendible commodities for three years, to pave the town of
Birmingham;" and as the funds thus raised were not sufficient for such a
"town improvement," another "patent" for the purpose was procured in
1333, 7th Edw. III., the toll being fixed at one farthing on every eight
bushels of corn. What the paving was in the early part of the present
century is best told in the following extract from Bissett's
"Magnificent Directory," publish