Opinion of the Court.

sition, and there allowing each to work out its own effect without the production of something novel, is not invention. No one by bringing together several old devices without producing a new and useful result, the joint product of the elements of the combination and something more than an aggregate of old results, can acquire a right to prevent others from using the same devices, either singly or in other combinations, or, even if a new and useful result is obtained, can prevent others from using some of the devices, omitting others, in combination." Hailes v. Van Wormer, 20 Wall. 353, 368.

"The combination to be patentable must produce a different force or effect, or result in the combined forces or processes, from that given by their separate parts. There must be a new result produced by their union; if not so, it is only an aggregation of separate elements." Reckendorfer v. Faber, 92 U. S. 347, 357.

"In a patentable combination of old elements, all the constituents must so enter into it as that each qualifies every other; to draw an illustration from another branch of the law, they must be joint tenants of the domain of the invention, seized each of every part, per my et per tout, and not mere tenants in common, with separate interests and estates. It must form either a new machine of a distinct character and function, or produce a result due to the joint and co-operating action of all the elements, and which is not the mere adding together of separate contributions. Otherwise it is only a mechanical juxtaposition, and not a vital union." Pickering v. McCullough, 104 U. S. 310, 318.

"It is true that such a fireplace heater, by reason of the fuel magazine, was a better heater than before, just as the outstanding stove with its similar fuel magazine was a better heater than a similar stove without such a fuel magazine. But the improvement in the fireplace heater was the result merely of the single change produced by the introduction of the fuel magazine, but one element in the combination. The new and improved result in the utility of a fireplace heater cannot be said to be due to anything in the combination of

Opinion of the Court.

the elements which compose it, in any other sense than that it arises from bringing together old and well-known separate elements, which, when thus brought together, operate separately, each in its own old way. There is no specific quality of the result which cannot be definitely assigned to the independent action of a single element. There is, therefore, no patentable novelty in the aggregation of the several elements, considered in itself." Thatcher Heating Co. v. Burtis, 121 U. S. 286, 294.

Tested by these principles, we think it evident that there is no invention in the device now before us. It is claimed that its effect is to prevent the grate from being clogged. But this effect only comes from raising the grate and leaving openings beneath it; it is an effect produced solely by the openings beneath, and is not in any way due to the presence of the grate above. Thus, even if the appliance operates as claimed, its operation is the result of no combined action, but is due entirely to the openings below. If there were no grate above the pins but a solid piece of metal or other substance, so that no water could enter the sewer except through the openings left between the pins, the tendency of the flow of the water through those openings would not be affected, and the only result would be to diminish the flow of water into the sewer in a given time by the quantity which would enter above if the place were grated. It seems manifest, indeed, that the only practical operation of this device is to increase the utility of the sewer by elevating the grate, and so rendering it easier for the water to enter. An attempt was made to show by the testimony of a person who had observed the operation of one of these grates made in a circular form, that its use resulted in giving a circular motion to the water, and that the debris was carried to the periphery of the circulating fluid and thereby prevented from accumulating on the top of the grate. But if this be true, it is manifestly a result of leaving the open spaces between the pins and having the grate circular in form. Conceding that the water just before passing through openings thus arranged would acquire something of a circular motion, this would not be by any means.

Statement of the Case.

the result of any combination between the opening below and the grate above. And, moreover, it cannot be contended that the arrangement of a circular grate supported on pins with the open spaces between them constitutes the invention, for it is expressly stated that the grates may be of any form, round or square.

The judgment below, holding that no invention is involved in this arrangement, is, we think, obviously correct, and it is, therefore,

Affirmed.

MARICOPA AND PHOENIX RAILROAD COMPANY v. ARIZONA TERRITORY:

APPEAL FROM THE SUPREME COURT OF THE TERRITORY OF

ARIZONA.

No. 195. Submitted January 28, 1895.

Decided March 4, 1895.

When Congress grants to a railway company organized under the laws of a Territory a right of way over an Indian reservation within the Territory, and the road is constructed entirely within the Territory, that part of it within the reservation is subject to taxation by the territorial government.

The question whether it is so subject to taxation is one within the jurisdiction of this court, when properly brought here, irrespective of the amount involved.

The

AFTER the organization of the Territory of Arizona certain land situated within its geographical limits was set apart as an Indian reservation for the use of the Pima and Maricopa Indians. Act of February 28, 1859, c. 66, § 3, 11 Stat. 401. The tract is known as the "Gila River Reservation." Maricopa and Phoenix Railroad Company owns and operates within the Territory of Arizona 24.16 miles of railroad track, all of which lie within the geographical outlines of the Territory, as named in its organic act, but 6.24 miles are within the reservation just mentioned. This portion was constructed under the authority of the act of Congress of January 17,

Statement of the Case.

1887, c. 26, 24 Stat. 361, which provided that the railroad should be "authorized, invested, and empowered with the right to locate, construct, own, equip, operate, use, and maintain a railway and telegraph and telephone line through the Indian reservation situated in the Territory of Arizona known as the Gila River Reservation, occupied by the Pima and Maricopa Indians."

"SEC. 2. A right of way one hundred feet in width through said Indian reservation is hereby granted to the said Maricopa and Phoenix Railway Company, and a strip of land two hundred feet in width, with a length of three thousand feet, in addition to said right of way, is granted for stations for every ten miles of road, no portion of which shall be sold or leased by the company; with the right to use such additional ground, where there are heavy cuts or fills, as may be necessary for the construction and maintenance of the road-bed, not exceeding one hundred feet in width on each side of said. right of way, or as much thereof as may be included in said. cut or fill; And provided, further, that before any such lands shall be taken for the purposes aforesaid, the consent of the Indians thereto shall be obtained in a manner satisfactory to the President of the United States."

This act moreover contained a stipulation reserving the right to amend, alter, or repeal its provisions. The tax laws of the Territory of Arizona provide as follows:

"The president, vice-president, general superintendent, auditor or general officer of any corporation operating any railway in this Territory shall furnish said board, on or before the first Monday in June in each year, a statement signed and sworn to by one of such officers, showing in detail the whole number of miles of railroad in each county, also the whole number of miles owned, operated, or leased in the Territory by such corporation making the return, and the value thereof per mile, with a detailed statement of all property of every kind, and the value located in each county in the Territory; second, also a detailed statement of the number and value thereof of engines, passenger, mail, express, baggage, freight, and other cars or property owned by such railway, and on

Statement of the Case.

railways which are a part of lines extending beyond the limits of this Territory. The returns shall show the actual proportion of the amount and full cash value of the rolling stock in use on the corporation's line which is necessary for the transportation of the freight and passengers, and the operation of the railroad in this Territory, during the year for which the return is made. The return shall also show the amount and value of property hereinafter designated in this section, and such further information shall be furnished as the board may in writing require. If said officers fail to make such statement, said board shall proceed to assess the property of the corporation so failing, and shall add thirty per cent to the value thereof as ascertained and determined by the said board. The said property shall be valued at its full cash value, and assessments shall be made upon the entire railway within this Territory, and shall include the franchise, right of way, roadbed, bridges, culverts, rolling stock, depots, station grounds, buildings, telegraph lines, and all other property, real and personal, exclusively used in the operation of such railway. In assessing said railway and its equipments, said board shall take into consideration all matters connected with said road necessary to enable them to make a just and equitable assessment of said railway property. On or before the third Monday in June in each year said board shall transmit to the board of supervisors of each county, through or into which any railway may run, a statement showing the length of the main track of such railway within the county, and the assessed value per mile of the same as fixed by a pro rata distribution per mile of the assessed value of the whole property herein specified, with a description of the whole of said assessed property within the county by metes and bounds, or other description sufficient for identification. And the said assessment and pro rata shall be made with reference to the value of the property belonging to said railway other than the main track, situ-. ate in each county and municipality through or into which said railway extends. Where the railroad of a railroad corporation lies in several counties, its rolling stock must be apportioned between them so that a portion thereof may be assessed in