ABSTRACT
Aikin's History of Manchester, 4to. London, 1795, pages 170 and 171, says, that Arkwright obtained a patent for the Twist Machine and afterwards sued several cotton spinners for an invasion of his patent; that they joined issue with him, and that, in the event, he was non-suited. That Arkwright finding several improvements not in his first specification, got it extended, and specified in particular the invention of the Crank and Comb. That on the extension of the patent, care being taken to specify the additional improvements, he instituted another suit for the invasion of his patent, and obtained a verdict in the Court of Common Pleas. That the persons concerned got the matter removed in the Court of King's Bench, where, upon trial, it was proved that the Crank and Comb was a prior invention of an ingenious mechanic, Mr. Heyes by name. This account is equally incorrect with the former one given by Aikin and Enfield; there was no extension whatever of the patent after the trial in 1781, when Arkwright was non-suited, and it is apparent from the preceding pages that the Crank and Comb were invented by Hargrave and not by Highs, who had sufficient merit of his own to enable him to dispense with usurping the discoveries of others.
