purification of gas by means of oxide of iron; and although, owing to the exertion of the Liverpool Gas Company, he failed to have it renewed at the expiration of fourteen years, by a subsequent Patent for the use of the said oxide (after it has been used in the purification of gas) in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, he continues virtually to enjoy that monopoly, and to prevent chemical manufacturers having access to what, under certain circumstances, may be a cheap source of sulphur. And this I would wish you to bear in mind, although the second Patent is undoubtedly invalid. It would detain you too long were I to enter into full detail on the subject, but I may mention that our firm used some 2,000 or 3,000 tons of this gas refuse from the Liverpool Gas Works, when pyrites was high in price; and it was only because of the annoyance and waste of time which a law-suit would have cost that we relinquished its use in our manufacture when the price of pyrites fell. But this case is but a sample, and I have no doubt every manufacturer has experienced similar loss and inconvenience from the action of the Patent-Law. When we consider that there are at the present moment 11,369 Patents in force, most of them as invalid as that to which I have referred, and acting as a restriction on manufacturers, we may form some idea of what the community at large has to pay for the luxury of a Patent-Law. But it may be said these objections are due to the imperfections and mal-administration of the Patent-Law. I would refer you, then, to the Report of the Royal Commission, which, in conclusion, says that “these inconveniences are, in their belief, inherent in the nature of a Patent-Law, and must be considered as the price which the public consents to pay for the existence of such a law.” There is, however, another aspect of the question which must not be lost sight of. The Lower House of the States-General of Holland has, by a large majority, voted the abolition of Patents. In Switzerland they don’t exist; and in Prussia, owing to a very strict preliminary examination, faithfully carried out, they are very few in number. We in this country have to compete with the manufacturers of these countries; and is it fair, I would ask, that we should be thus weighted in the race? I beg to move that a petition be prepared for presentation to the House of Commons, praying for the appointment of a Committee to inquire into the policy of granting Patents for invention. (The motion was unanimously adopted.) CORRESPONDENCE. The subjoined letters, with which I am favoured, will be read with interest and advantage:— FROM SIR WILLIAM ARMSTRONG, C.B.