without the aid of the plough, or of any surface-manure.
For a comparative view of the advantages and disadvantages of pasturing and soiling cattle, the reader is referred to pp. 462—3, of our first volume.—See also Grass, and Meadow.
PATENTS, or Letters Patent, are privileges obtained from the King under the Great Seal, in order to convey the title, property, and exclusive right to an invention, discovery, or peculiar establishment, &c.
Letters Patent are usually granted for the term of 14 years, upon condition that the patentee specify his invention or improvement, in such a manner that the public may receive the benefit of it, and may be at liberty to practise or employ such contrivance at the expiration of the exclusive privilege. If, however, it should be found or proved, that the patentee's claims are not supported by originality; or, that he has wilfully disguised his invention, by giving a confused and erroneous specification, the privilege becomes void; and any person is permitted to adopt and make use of it with impunity. Many patents, indeed, are believed to have been surreptitiously obtained by speculative persons; who, from sordid, lucrative motives, swear themselves to be the inventors of things which they have read in foreign books, such as are not in general circulation. These unprincipled adventurers ought to be rigorously examined, whether they have any, and what pretensions to an art or manufacture, of which they profess to be adepts. Thus, it would be easily discovered, that they are plagiarists, and impostors, who evade the provisions made by law, by couching their specifications in terms and phrases, which they themselves frequently do not understand.
PATTENS, are a contrivance serving as a substitute for wooden shoes: they are furnished with an iron ring, and worn by women during wet weather, to protect the feet from moisture.
As pattens formed upon the common construction are liable to break, in consequence of which frequent accidents happen, various expedients have been devised by those who manufacture these articles, with a view to prevent such misfortunes. The following patent only has come to our knowledge: it was granted in 1798, to Mr. Jethro Hornblower, of Whitehall, in the county of Cornwall, engineer, for a method of making pattens (to be worn by women); by altering the composition and clumsiness of their shape; preventing them from breaking; and removing the uneasiness they occasion to the feet.—Not having seen the specification of this contrivance, we cannot state the principle on which it is conducted.
PEA, or Pisum, L. a genus of leguminous plants, consisting of tour species; of which the following are the principal:
1. The maritimum, or Sea-Pea, is a native of Britain; growing on the sea-coasts, and flowering in the month of July or August.—It is eaten by horses, cows, sheep, and goats.
2. The sativum, or Common Pea, which has long been cultivated in this country. There are two sorts of this species, known by the names of Grey, or Hog-Pea, and of the Common, or Garden-Pea. The latter is again divided into many
