text:  In the present universal competition puffing is carried on to such an extent that to give a fair chance of success not only must the first expense of a patent be incurred--no inconsiderable one either even supposing the patentee fortunate enough to escape litigation--but a large sum of money must be invested in advertisements with little immediate return; hence it is that the most valuable patents viewed in relation to their scientific importance their ultimate public benefit and the merits of their inventors are seldom the most lucrative while a patent inkstand a boot-heel a shaving case or a button become rapidly a source of no inconsiderable profit