Arrangements were made with the General Supply Committee of the Treasury Department to undertake the sale of all models sent to them, as this Committee has facilities for receiving, storing and selling at auction all surplus material from the various Departments.

The boxes are opened about twenty-five at a time and their contents spread out on long tables. The commission then inspects this display and selects such models as are to be placed in the National Museum or in the exhibit which it is later proposed to make in the Patent Office. After these selections are made, representatives of various organizations are allowed to make a selection. These organizations are such as have an interest in the patents either by reason of their having a permanent exhibit of the art dealing with their organization, or are other bureaus of the Government, such as the Bureau of Construction and Repair and the Bureau of Navigation of the Navy Department, the Bureau of Efficiency, and the District of Columbia National Guard.

Before any selections are made, however, these models for the return of which requests have been made by descendants or relatives of the patentees are set aside. These claims will be gone over later to see if any are of such historical interest as to warrant the National Museum taking them, and all those not so taken will when the work of unpacking and listing is finished, be returned to the claimants. In addition to the above, there have been numerous requests from different museums throughout the country for exhibits. When these requests do not identify any particular group of patents by number, they are referred to the National Museum which is undertaking to comply with the requests from the material selected by their representatives.

Many interesting pieces have so far been unpacked and interesting facts developed. It may be of interest at this point to say that the father of Commissioner Robertson was a prolific inventor in the sewing machine art and quite a number of his models have been unpacked. Each

of these models can at the present time be made to work, as they are each carefully constructed and accurately illustrated the mechanism to cover which Mr. T. J. Robertson applied for patent protection. The Commissioner's father's activities as an inventor were not confined to the sewing machine art, as there is an adjustable dating stamp by him which, though dated 1854, prints as well today as our modern rubber stamp of which it is an ancestor.

Another very interesting model is that of a "muzzle loading" machine gun patented in 1829, and another of the same type patented in 1865, show that even at this later date the original principle was still being followed. Even at this later date, 1865, the breech loading cannon was known as shown by several patents, one very good example being dated 1861.

The steam and other engines are well represented and some of these have actually been run at the National Museum by using compressed air.

It is impossible in an article such as this to describe the numerous devices in detail, but it may be stated that almost every field is represented. Among the clocks was found the mystery clock which runs apparently without works. However, a close inspection developed that the works were really concealed in one of the hands. Another peculiar clock is the programme clock, which may be set to time a speaker and will ring when the time is up. Another is one that has a globe on top giving the time all around the world.

The field of electricity is well represented by many models by Edison and other inventors prominent in this line. Mention may be made here of two telephone receivers which on being attached to a modern radio set were found to work very well. One of these receivers was patented in 1880 and the other in 1886, and such use with a radio certainly shows that these old receivers have young ideas.

Another very interesting "model" is a large plug of Navy tobacco deposited in the Patent Office in 1845. This plug is still as strong as the day it was made and is now hard as iron. The old tar who tries to chew this must have the teeth of a gorilla. Nothing as hard as hard-tack was found among the specimens.

There is another phase of the model disposition that is as interesting as the selection and description of the models. This is the disposition of those that are to be sold or destroyed. The selections by the Museum and those otherwise claimed form about one-third of the quantity unpacked and the remainder is sent to be sold. The work of unpacking is about half completed and, therefore, about two-thirds of this half has been sent to the General Supply Committee. The first sale was held December 3, 1925, at which time about one-third of what has been sent to the General Supply Committee was offered in one lot. After a very spirited bidding, which started at $10, this lot was knocked down to the highest bidder for $1550 which is believed to be a very good figure. This was not all, as the boxes in which these were sent to the General Supply Committee sold for $25, making a total of $1575. The work is steadily and rapidly progressing and it is hoped will be completed early in the spring.

EXAMINATION FOR PROMOTION OF FIRST AND SECOND ASSISTANT EXAMINERS.

May 25, 1922, A. M.

Question 1. What persons, if any, may apply for the following, in case of the death of the inventor before making these applications?

(a) An application for patent.

(b) An application for a reissue of a patent. (c) An application for a division of an application. Ans. (a) By executor or administrator. Rule 25.

(b) By executor or administrator, or if assigned as to entire interest, by assignee. Rule 26.

(c) By executor or administrator.

Question 2. What are the provisions of the law defining the right of an application to a reissue?

(b) Who may sign and swear to a reissue application? (c) What order must accompany a reissue petition? (d) What is the procedure in passing a reissue application for issue?

Ans. (a) A reissue is granted when the original patent is inoperative or invalid by reason of a defective or insufficient specification, or by reason of the patentee claiming as his invention or discovery more than he had a right to claim as new, provided the error has arisen through inadvertence accident or mishap, and without any fraudulent or deceptive intention. Rule 85. Rev. Stats. Secs. 4895, 4916.

(b) Reissue applications must be signed and sworn to by the inventor, if he be living; by the executor or administrator if dead and unassigned, or by assignees of entire interest.

(c) An order for a certified copy of the abstract of title, to be placed in the file, giving the names of all assignees owning any undivided interest in the patent. Rule 86.

(d) Interference search should be made same as in any other application, then application must be sent to assignment division for abstract of title of assignees to be brought up to date. The notice of allowance is then made out and application with notice of allowance sent to Issue and Gazette division, which division stamps date of issue on the notice of allowance and mails it to applicant. Order 2729. Place notice in file of original patent to the effect that reissue has been granted. Order 2795. Question 3. A and B file an application as joint inventors. During the pendency of this application it is admitted by B that he had no part in the act of invention, and it appears that he was joined as