An address on the necessity for investigating the operation of the Anatomy Act : with a detail of proceedings as to an invention for facilitating its administration / by William Roberts.

  • William Roberts
Date:
1832-1871
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An address on the necessity for investigating the operation of the Anatomy Act : with a detail of proceedings as to an invention for facilitating its administration / by William Roberts. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    I then placed before him two notices which I had received from the Patent Office, stating that applications had been made for patents to preserve animal substances; I urged upon his attention the unfair¬ ness of keeping me in a state of suspense for so long a period ; he answered my observations by saying, that “ the Government having authorised him to make his report, my putting the secret of the in¬ vention into his hands to enable him to make his report complete, Government were bound in honour to compensate me even if twenty patents were obtained.” In January, 1838, I received a letter from Sir George Sinclair, stating that Mr. Warburton would immediately make his report in favor of my invention to Lord Monteagle; a few days later, Mr. Warburton told me Lord Monteagle was pleased with his report, and only required a short time to search into precedents for making private grants. On the 2nd February, 1838, Sir George Sinclair wrote as follows: “ Sib,—I fear that a letter which I wrote you some time ago must have miscarried. I then intimated to you Mr. Warburton’s opinion, that from the simplicity of your invention a patent would be useless, that he thought so favorably of it as to be willing that it should have a fair trial, that he was prepared to recommend that Government should pay to you one thousand pounds for revealing the process, and a further sum of two thousand pounds if on trial it should meet with general approbation and adoption, I earnestly advise you to close with this proposal. (Signed) “ Yours truly, George Sinclair.” 1 neither accepted or refused this offer—it was at variance with the original agreement—but waited for a direct communication from the Government, when I was surprised by the receipt of the following letter from Mr. Warburton. “Mr, Win. Roberts, “April 9th, 1838. “ Sir,—I am sorry to inform you that I have received a letter from the Home Office, stating that the Chancellor of the Exchequer hav¬ ing referred to that office the question of remunerating you for your discovery of a method of preserving animal substances from putre-
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