Revision of the North American Pocket Mice (open access)

Revision of the North American Pocket Mice

From introductory remarks: "Classification study of the North American pocket mouse based on about 170 specimens. Results of study increased recognized species to 18 and subspecies to 3 as well as shifting several well known names to other forms."
Date: October 25, 1889
Creator: Merriam, C. Hart
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Blind Stop. (open access)

Blind Stop.

Patent for a new and improved blind-stop. This design consists "[i]n blind-stops, the rod, consisting of two parts connected by a thin piece of metal, in combination with a blind provided with a median open-slotted tapering screw and thumb-nut" (lines 49-53).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Warren, Thomas
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Abdominal Supporter. (open access)

Abdominal Supporter.

Patent for a new and improved abdominal supporter. This design "consist[s] of the waist-belt, the abdominal sector-shaped pads hung from the waist-belt by elastic straps, the straps buttoned to the belt behind and to the bottom of the abdominal pads in front, the side straps connecting the abdominal pads with the pieces at the back, and the front strap connecting the two abdominal pads together with the shoulder-straps" (lines 70-79).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Gray, Harriet N.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Corn or Cotton Dropper (open access)

Corn or Cotton Dropper

Patent for corn or cotton dropper in which improvements are made on general efficiency, "simplicity, expensiveness, [and] durability" (lines 12-13).
Date: December 25, 1888
Creator: Brown, William Franklin
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Faucet and Automatic Toy. (open access)

Combined Faucet and Automatic Toy.

Patent for a new and improved faucet with a toy attachment. This design "relates to faucets for soda-fountains and the like; and it consists in providing the same with a jointed figure or automaton adapted to be operated by the escaping fluid" (lines 21-25).
Date: April 25, 1882
Creator: Zanetti, Fortonato Clemente
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Boot Cleaner. (open access)

Boot Cleaner.

Patent for a new and improved boot cleaner. This design "affords facilities for readily and conveniently scraping all parts of the boot or shoe. The heel is scraped on [a] semicircular portion located at the top of the arch, the sides of the sole by the arms, the upper hollow of the foot by the projections, [and] the toe by the lower side of the arch or bow" (lines 38-45).
Date: May 25, 1886
Creator: Scovel, Purley A.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator (open access)

Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator

Patent for an improvement for the Combined Cotton Chopper and Cultivator by removing dirt, weeds, and grass from the sides of the row. Included with this are detailed illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1886
Creator: Flewellen, Anthony, Sr.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Machinery for Irrigating Purposes (open access)

Machinery for Irrigating Purposes

Patent for a machine that irrigates with a water wheel. The water wheel is connected to a float and a rod connected that is connected to a crank on the shaft of the wheel.
Date: September 25, 1888
Creator: Owen, Benajah Dotte
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Fruit Gatherer. (open access)

Fruit Gatherer.

Patent for a new and improved fruit gatherer. This design consists "[i]n a fruit-gatherer, the combination of the pole, the jaws attached to its upper end, the sliding collar, the links connecting the collar and the sleeve, the rods, the jaws, the ring, the tube attached thereto and encircling the pole below said jaws, and the sleeve which supports the ring and is adjustable on the pole longitudinally for the purpose of adjusting the mouth of said tube in the desired proximity to the said jaws" (lines 13-22).
Date: September 25, 1888
Creator: Hall, Francis Asbury
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adding-Machine (open access)

Adding-Machine

Patent for "an adding-machine which, while being constructed of but comparatively few parts, will be so adjusted as arranged as to allow an operator to make rapid and correct calculations; furthermore, to produce an adding-machine in which the operator will be enabled to detect immediately any mistake which he may have made, and, finally, to produce a simple, efficient, and effective adding-machine" (lines 13-22).
Date: June 25, 1889
Creator: Stinson, James C.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Dress-Chart. (open access)

Dress-Chart.

Patent for dress-chart, with illustrations. The purpose of this dress-chart relating to "pattern charts for cutting any and all garments" regardless of man, woman, or child (lines 9-11).
Date: August 25, 1885
Creator: Northen, Mary Eva
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Chopper. (open access)

Cotton Chopper.

Patent for a new and improved cotton chopper. This design consists in "[t]he combination, with the frame and the operating-gearing, of the vertical shaft, supported by the frame and acted on by the operating-gearing, the horizontal plate rigidly secured to the lower end of the shaft and provided with radial grooves, and slots in said grooves, the feet having their upper ends bent at right angles, fitted in said grooves and adjustably secured therein by bolts passing through the radial slots, the lower ends of the feet carrying choppers" (lines 39-49).
Date: October 25, 1887
Creator: Ballard, John J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton Seed Dropper. (open access)

Cotton Seed Dropper.

Patent for a new and improved planter. This design consists in "the frame, the roller journaled in the rear side thereof and having the crank, the seed-spout, the supporting bars on opposite sides of the frame, the rigid shaft connecting the said bars, the seed-disk rigidly secured to the said shaft and having the curved fingers or teeth, the hopper journaled on the shaft and adapted to oscillate thereon, the said hopper having the discharge-opening in its lower side, through which the lower edge of the seed-disk connects, and the pitman connecting the crank with the hopper" (lines 26-37).
Date: October 25, 1887
Creator: Ballard, John J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Brake for Vehicles (open access)

Brake for Vehicles

Patent for "a brake which shall be easy in operation, cheap in construction, and not liable to get out of order" (lines 13-17).
Date: October 25, 1887
Creator: Bacon, Edward Hamlin
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Combined Seed Planter and Cultivator. (open access)

Combined Seed Planter and Cultivator.

Patent for a new and improved combined planter and cultivator. This design has for its object "to facilitate the planting of seed and the cultivating of plants, and to promote convenience in adjusting the machines for the different kinds of work. The invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of parts" (lines 21-27).
Date: November 25, 1884
Creator: Shannon, Thomas Brandon
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Adjustable Book Support. (open access)

Adjustable Book Support.

Patent for a new and improved book rest. This design consists "of an upright pivoted in a support or base, a sliding lower supporting cross-bar, an upper sliding supporting-bar, both bars having sockets upon their rear sides sliding upon the upright and provided with set-screws, and leaf-clamps consisting of a piece of spring doubled at one end to form slides sliding upon the arms of the upper cross-bar, forming curved yielding portions, forming transverse eyes at the other ends, having flat blocks hinged at the said eyes, and provided with thumb-pieces" (lines 72-83).
Date: November 25, 1884
Creator: Johnson, William Oscar
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Wheel. (open access)

Car Wheel.

Patent for a new and improved car wheel. This design "consists in the combination, with a railroad-car axle having wheel-bearings of equal diameter throughout their whole lengths, of wheels the peripheries of which are provided with central flanges dividing each into two treads, the said wheels adapted to be pressed on the said bearings aforesaid, and to be removed therefrom, reversed, and again pressed thereon whenever the wear of the first tread shall render the same necessary" (lines 12-21).
Date: March 25, 1884
Creator: Melvin, Josiah W. & Clute, William H.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Churn Motor. (open access)

Churn Motor.

Patent for a new and improved churn motor. This design "consists in certain improvements in the construction of [churn motors], having for their object to produce a machine which shall possess superior advantages in point of simplicity, durability, and general efficiency" (lines 10-15).
Date: September 25, 1883
Creator: O'Bannon, William H. & Snider, John J.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Car Coupling. (open access)

Car Coupling.

Patent for a new and improved coupling for railroad cars. With this design, "[w]hen the cars are coupled, the shoulders upon the draw-heads will bear against each other, pressing the spring-bolts forward, which will tilt the free ends of the bails forward over the ends of the opposite draw-heads, thus forming a strong and safe coupling which may be uncoupled in a moment of time" (lines 92-98).
Date: September 25, 1883
Creator: Hathaway, Charles L.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Chopper. (open access)

Cotton-Chopper.

Patent for an improved design for a cotton chopper. The patent includes two sets of blades with opposite rotation and the ability to be stopped by the control of the operator. The design also includes improvements on cultivation and chopping for a more efficient process. Included are instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Busch, William
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bench Clamp. (open access)

Bench Clamp.

Patent for a new and improved bench clamp. This design, "[b]eing made of iron or other suitable material . . . is strong, durable, and inexpensive. It requires no bolts or screws to secure it to the work-bench or other object where its use may be required, and can be put in position and removed easily and quickly. It occupies but little room on account of its compactness, and can be applied to any piece of work without marring it" (lines 72-80).
Date: January 25, 1881
Creator: Murphy, James
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Bale Tie Buckle. (open access)

Bale Tie Buckle.

Patent for a new and improved bale tie buckle. This design is for "bale-tie buckles so constructed that the bale can be easily and quickly tied, that will hold the tie securely, and at the same time can be made lighter and neater than ordinary buckles, while having the necessary strength" (lines 11-16).
Date: January 25, 1881
Creator: Starr, Henry Daniel
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Baling Press. (open access)

Baling Press.

Patent for a new and improved baling-press. This design consists in "the ordinary framing, shell, or case for containing the material and stationary lower platen or bed are used, the upper platen being the movable one to effect the compression. This upper platen is brought down upon the material for its compression by the lowering of screw-threaded rods to which it is attached, such lowering being effected by the rotation of rotating nuts in fixed bearings taking on such screw-threaded rods" (lines 25-35).
Date: January 25, 1887
Creator: Brown, Maurice T.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History
Cotton-Planter Attachment. (open access)

Cotton-Planter Attachment.

Patent for improvements on cotton or other seed planters with a new design that allows for "simultaneously adjusting-i.e., raising and lowering-the plows in front and in rear of the seed-dropping drum " (lines 29-31) including instructions and illustrations.
Date: May 25, 1880
Creator: Willcoxson, Coulmon W.
Object Type: Patent
System: The Portal to Texas History