ings for an application were made on a sheet of paper fifteen by twenty inches square. Instead of being all line work and jet black, brush shading, and all the colors of the rainbow were permissible. It was a common practice to show different materials in different colors; for instance, the steel was colored blue, brass, and wood were represented yellow, and if certain parts were shown in more than one position in one figure of a drawing, one of these positions was represented in red. Instead of requiring only one drawing, as at present, the applicant was required to furnish a copy of his drawing on tracing muslin, the latter to be attached to his patent when issued. The specification, instead of being printed, was in manuscript, on paper of the same size as the drawing, namely,-fifteen by twenty inches, making quite a cumbersome document, which was very inconvenient to carry or examine. Commissioner Theaker commenced printing the specifications November 20, 1866, and at the same time reduced the size of patents and drawings from fifteen by twenty to ten by fifteen. The copy of the drawing in tracing muslin to be attached to the patent was still required. In June, 1869, the Patent Office, under Commissioner Fisher, commenced photolithographing drawings of all patents, after which the applicant was not required to furnish a copy of his drawing other than the original, the copy for attachment to the patent being furnished by the Office without expense to the applicant. This change necessitated the abolishing of all colors, except black from the original drawings; but the inventor's name and the title of the invention the applicant placed upon the head of each sheet of his drawings, and all the fancy work both in color and design that the draughtsman could conceive of was lavishly bestowed upon this lettering. In the month of May, 1871, the Office still further reduced the size of patents, and the drawing attached thereto, from ten by fifteen inches to eight by eleven and one half inches. This size has been continued until the present time. The original drawings are still made on a sheet ten by fifteen inches in size, which are reduced by photolitho

graphy to the size of the present patent. About the time of thus reducing the size of the patent, the applicant was debarred the privilege of putting the fancy lettering upon his drawing and compelled to leave it blank, so that the Office might fill in the title and inventor's name with a uniform style of type. Another important improvement resulting from photolithographing is the furnishing of complete copies of the drawings and specifications to public libraries, so that inventors all over the United States can have ready access to them.

In January, 1869, Commissioner Foote commenced publishing a weekly list of claims, which was furnished to subscribers at the rate of $5 per annum. Soon after, Commissioner Fisher added to this list a pamphlet containing Commissioners' decisions which was issued at intervals of from one to two months. These were furnished without further expense to all subscribers for the weekly list of claims. These claims were stereotyped, so that at the close of the year they could be printed in the annual report, but they were not illustrated. Commissioner Fisher advised the discontinuance of the publication of the annual report; and the joint resolution of Congress, dated January 11, 1871, abolished the old form of annual reports. At that time the reports for 1869 had not been published, and the appropriations for the same expired July 1, 1869. It was soon found that the abolishment of these reports was a mistake, and as a substitute there for Commissioner Leggett commenced the publication of the present Official Gazette, containing illustrations of all the patents each week, and they have been published continually since that time. The Gazette is such a great improvement over the old annual reports that we are glad those were abolished, for if they had not been abolished, under a mistaken idea and by an under estimate of their value, we never should have had the present Official Gazette.

The Patent Office was never before in so good a condition as it is to-day, and all this has come not from being a favored child of the government and the recipient of lavish support, but it has come

in spite of neglect and abuse. The office can spend from its own earnings only so much as Congress may be pleased to give it, and in fact it has not even been credited with all of its own earnings. The Patent Commissioner formerly had charge of the Department of Agriculture, and the entire expenses of that department were paid by the Patent Office for a period of twenty-five years. Says Senator Platt:

"The Agricultural Department is the daughter

of the Patent Office; but we have taken the

daughter away from her mother; we have built her a fine house and furnished elegant surroundings; we have given her costly and fashionable clothing; we pet, I will not say pamper her; we pay her every possible attention, while the old lady, her foster mother, still scrubs along in the kitchen of the Interior Department, and is never noticed except when she deposits the surplus of her daily earnings in the Treasury for the benefit of the rest of the family. It is a shame, and the inventors are beginning to regard it as a shame, and they are going to be heard in their demand that the Patent Office shall receive better treatment than it has received."

That demand has been made by every commissioner, for more than fifty years. At the same time, every effort has been made to make the most of the facilities at hand, until the Patent Office has been

brought into as good a condition as possible so long as it cannot use its own money without the permission of Congress. Formerly, inventors had to wait from twelve to fifteen months, and in some classes even eighteen months, before their applications were reached for examination. Now there is not a room in the Patent Office that is six months behind in its work. This condition has not been brought about by reason of a decrease in the number of applications or in the number of patents issued, nor by having more help, more room, or more money; it was done in spite of a great increase in the number of applications, and with the same help, the same room, and the same amount of money as heretofore. In 1888, 20,420 patents were issued. In 1889, there were 24,158 an increase of almost one-fifth. The weekly issue of patents in 1888 was a little less than four hundred. It is now more than five hundred almost every week.

While our patent system is not what it would be with better facilities, we may point with pride to the fact that even in its crippled condition we have the best and most perfect patent system of any country in the world.

W

T is possible that some critics, glancing at the title of this article, as they cut the pages of this magazine, may smile, and comment: "Yes, that is very suggestive of Artemus Ward's lecture on Snakes in Iceland.' Are there any Canadian artists?"

There are some good artists in Canada, and a great many more of Canadian birth living and working abroad, where there is a wider field, a definitely existing market for good work, and more generous appreciation than in their native land.

A few years ago, English art critics were much inclined to raise their eyebrows when American artists were spoken of, and if one had ventured to remark the existence of Canadian artists they would have laughed immoderately. And very likely they were right, for commercial

communities have to go through several phases before the artistic spirit can assert itself. The men who are prominent as Canadian artists to-day are but pioneers, and they have only achieved. what they have by flying from the suffocating conventionality and utilitarianism of Canada, and getting into touch with the schools of contemporary France and England. The attitude of the English and French critics has changed. Their indifference has changed into curiosity, and many American and Canadian artists have found their warmest and kindliest recognition in Europe. recognition in Europe. But I do not think that the crowds who throng the art galleries of London every year are often aware that there is any other art in the world but their own. This is natural. An artist or an author, however wide his

fame, is only thoroughly comprehended, after all, by a certain circle. It is only the art world which has a good memory for artists' names and doings. The out

Robert Harris.

FROM A PAINTING BY HIMSELF.

side public is curious, but as it leaves the theatre, the art gallery, or the library, its recollection of the reputations it has made or unmade is slight indeed. Just across the channel, in the art Mecca of the modern world - Paris, English art is disposed of with a shrug of the shoulders; and as for American artthat is, a distinctively American school of painters the French critics predict its advent as nearer the millennium than is pleasing to American enthusiasts. I confess myself inclined to think that art on this continent will not receive the attention it merits until the genius of the American peoples is released from the present fever of money-getting. I believe this must be felt by any serious per

son who lives in the heart of New York, Chicago, San Francisco, or Montreal or Toronto for a twelvemonth.

In art, all is accomplished by men

with whom art is life. And Canadian and American artists have found that individual merit will tell in Paris sooner than anywhere else. One feels in Paris that living is an art- there is inspiration in walking the streets and jostling the crowds. Nearly all of the successful American and Canadian artists have studied and achieved their first successes in the ateliers of the French masters of today. The greatest difficulty which confronts them is to obtain recognition from their own countrymen. In Canada there is a disposition to poohpooh the productions of all native workers in any form of art. There is the adoration of success and names, which always marks a society but new to the refinements of older civilizations; and, of course, this is accompanied by a prejudice against men without established reputations a prejudice that is almost antipathy, and an entire distrust of local judgments. After all, the indifference at home is a good thing for Canadian artists. It drives them to the art centres of the old world, where only the fittest can survive. It speaks well therefore for the few successful ones that they have gained praise and recognition at the hands of the most artistic and most critical nation in Europe.

It would be useless to deny that art in Canada is still in swaddling clothes. In this article I shall only treat of those artists who have a record of distinct achievement. There is a great quantity of work exhibited every year in the art galleries in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa, which is simply ridiculous. Some critics in Canada may think this a rather brutal disposition of a number of well

known men who take themselves quite seriously; but this fear must not blind one to the glaring faults of these productions. The generality of the Canadian painters barely escape being mere copyists and daubers. Some of the canvasses on the walls at these exhibitions are more or less interesting as academic efforts, but they are not pictures. They are entirely lacking in composition, are prosaic in treatment and tone, and only occasionally possess the merit of photographic effects. They are meaningless as art. They are outside the scope of ordinary art criticism, and can only be regarded as the manifestations of a growing feeling for art in a community for the most part chained to the car of commerce and the common

which they have sprung, and to which they appeal. There is much that is pitiable in the lives of these unfortunates, feeding upon their illusions, and eking out a precarious existence as portrait and landscape painters in the different cities of the Dominion.

One thing that has greatly retarded the development of art in Canada is the lack of patronage. There is no home market for anything but portrait painting, and this branch of art, except in the hands of the masters, pursued alone for bread, is very apt to degenerate into a mere knack. The commercial idea is still supreme in Canada it excludes higher ideals and interests. The Canadians, as a people, despise the arts, either painting,