Machine

Machine, ^* A contrivance which serves to apply or regulate moving power; or it is a tool more or less complicated, which is used to render useful natural instruments, Clef. des Lois Rom. h. t.

2. The act of congress gives to inventors the right to obtain a patent right for any new and useful improvement on any art, machine, manufacture, &c. Act of congress, July 4, 1836, s. 6. See Pet. C. C. 394; 3 Wash. C. C. 443; 1 Wash. C. C. 108; 1 Wash. C. C. 168; 1 Mason, 447; Paine, 300; 4 Wash. C. C. 538; 1 How. U. S., 202; S. C. 17 Pet. 228; 2 Mclean, 176.

^* From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 1856 Edition. Please see Bouvier's Legal Abbreviations & Abbreviated References for help with obscure nomenclature & references.