produced from such a quality of carburet of iron. This process, as might have been expected, proved unsuccessful.

One more incident referring to my relations with Mr. Mushet remains to be chronicled before I close this Chapter. In December, 1866, one of my clerks announced the visit of a young lady, who did not send in her name, but wished to see me personally. She was asked into my private office, and, on my going to her, she gave the name of Mushet. She told me that the gravest misfortune had overtaken her father, and that without immediate pecuniary help their home would be taken from them. She said: "They tell me you use my father's invention, and are indebted to him for your success." I said: "I use what your father had no right to claim; and if he had the legal position you seem to suppose, he could stop my business by an injunction to-morrow, and get many thousands of pounds' compensation for my infringement of his rights. The only result which followed from your father taking out his patents was that they pointed out to me some rights which I already possessed, but of which I was not availing myself. Thus he did me some service, and even for this unintentional service I cannot live in a state of indebtedness; so please let me know what sum will render your home secure, and I will give it you." She then handed me a paper setting forth the legal claim against him; I at once took out my cheque-book and drew for the amount, viz., £377 14s. 10d., and handed it to her. She thanked me in a faltering voice as I bade her good afternoon.

On joining my partner after this interview with Miss Mushet, I explained to him what had occurred; he listened to me with surprise, and with more impatience than I had ever seen him evince. He thought that what I had done was most unfortunate and imprudent, since from Miss Mushet's words it was evident that the idea was abroad that I had in some way taken advantage of her father. He feared lest my cheque should be considered evidence of my indebtedness. I was much distressed to find my friend Longsdon so much annoyed, for a more conscientious and just man I never knew; he was, however, somewhat reassured when I told him that I considered it a purely personal matter, and had, of course, drawn the cheque on my private bankers. He said he was glad it could never appear as an act of the firm, though he thought it would be long before I should hear the last of it.

Events proved that he was right, for not many months elapsed (about 1867) before a friend -- I believe a relation of Mr. Mushet -- wrote asking me to make Mushet a small allowance. I objected to do this at first, but afterwards yielded, though I did not then care to give my reasons for doing so. There was a strong desire on my part to make him my debtor rather than the reverse, and the payment had other advantages: the press at that time was violently attacking my patent, and there was the chance that if any of my licensees were thus induced to resist my claims all the rest might follow the example, and these large monthly payments might cease for such a period as the contest in the law courts might last. The annoyance, if nothing else, would have been very great, and I had neither time nor patience to wage a paper war from year's end to year's end with unscrupulous writers. In the hope that an allowance to Mr. Mushet might have the effect of restraining these attacks on me, I offered to pay him £300 a year, aiming at abating an intolerable nuisance which I had no other means of preventing. While we were paying over £3000 per annum in the form of income tax, the £300 was but a small additional tax on my resources, so I allowed it to drag on until Mr. Mushet's decease, in 1891, having thus paid him over £7000. So, naturally, ends this part of the history of my invention, as far as Mr. Mushet is concerned.