Adolphe Sax's Final Patent: The Complete English Translation (French Patent No. 139,884, 1880)

This is the complete English translation of Adolphe Sax’s final patent — companion to Adolphe Sax’s Last Patent: A Man Ahead of His Time. The transcription and translation were machine-assisted (Claude, by Anthropic); genuinely uncertain readings are marked [?].

Filed: 27 November 1880, 3:45 p.m., Prefecture of the Seine, Paris Granted: 16 January 1881, for a term of fifteen years Patentee: Adolphe Sax, manufacturer of musical instruments, Paris Agent: Armengaud jeune (Armengaud Jr.), consulting engineer, 23 Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris

About this translation

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Translated from the 23 archival scans FRINPI_1BB139884_001.jpg – 023.jpg (INPI, the French national patent archive). The set contains:

Conventions used here. French note names have been converted to English letters (ut/do = C, ré = D, mi = E, fa = F, sol = G, la = A, si = B). Clef is rendered as key, bec as mouthpiece, anche as reed, pavillon as bell, tampon as pad, baudruche as goldbeater’s skin, spatule as spatula (key touchpiece) and plateau as plateau (padded finger plate). Small musical examples written in the margins of the manuscript are described in [bracketed italics]. A few genuinely uncertain readings are marked [?]. The clerk later renumbered the Plate II figure references in pencil (fig. 1 → 23, etc.); both numberings are noted where they occur.

THE LETTERS PATENT (page 1)

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Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce PATENT OF INVENTION without guarantee of the Government Term: fifteen years — No. 139,884

The Minister of Agriculture and Commerce,

In view of the law of 5 July 1844;

In view of the official report drawn up on 27 November 1880, at 3 hours 45 minutes, at the General Secretariat of the Prefecture of the department of the Seine, recording the deposit made by Mr. Sax of an application for a patent of invention of fifteen years, for improvements to the saxophone and other wind instruments, such as the bassoon and the clarinet,

Decrees as follows:

Article One. There is hereby granted to Mr. Sax (Adolphe), manufacturer of musical instruments, represented by Mr. Armengaud Jr., of Paris, 23 Boulevard de Strasbourg — without prior examination, at his own risk and peril, and without guarantee either of the reality, the novelty or the merit of the invention, or of the fidelity or exactness of the description — a patent of invention of fifteen years, which began to run on 27 November 1880, for improvements to the saxophone and other wind instruments such as the bassoon and the clarinet.

Article Two. The present decree, which constitutes the patent of invention, is issued to Mr. Sax to serve him as title. To this decree shall remain attached one of the duplicates of the description and one of the duplicates of each of the two drawings deposited in support of the application.

Paris, the sixteenth of January, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-one. For the Minister, and by delegation: The Director of Internal Commerce [signed]

Printed in the left margin — LAW OF 5 JULY 1844, EXTRACT. Art. 32. Shall forfeit all his rights: 1° the patentee who has not paid his annuity before the beginning of each year of the term of his patent; 2° the patentee who has not put his discovery or invention into exploitation in France within two years from the day the patent was signed, or who has ceased to exploit it for two consecutive years, unless in either case he justifies the causes of his inaction; 3° the patentee who has introduced into France objects manufactured abroad similar to those protected by his patent. Art. 33. Whoever, in signs, advertisements, prospectuses, posters, marks or stamps, assumes the quality of patentee without holding a patent issued in accordance with the law, or after the expiry of a previous patent, or who, being patented, mentions his quality of patentee or his patent without adding the words without guarantee of the Government, shall be punished by a fine of 50 to 1,000 francs. In case of repetition the fine may be doubled. (Footnote.) The term of the patent runs from the day the application is deposited at the Prefecture, under Article 8 of the law of 5 July 1844. The law gives the Administration no power to grant extensions for the payment of annuities or for the putting into exploitation of inventions. Questions of forfeiture fall exclusively to the civil courts; the Minister can therefore entertain no request for extensions or for relief from a forfeiture incurred.

THE APPLICATION (page 2)

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Letterhead: Industrial Office of M. Armengaud Jr., consulting engineer, founded 1836 — Patents of invention in France and abroad — Technical and legal consultations — 23 Boulevard de Strasbourg, Paris. Stamps: “139,884 — 27 Nov. 80”; “ORIGINAL”; red stamp of the Ministry’s patent office.

APPLICATION for a PATENT OF INVENTION of fifteen years

For: improvements to the Saxophone and other wind instruments, such as the bassoon and the clarinet. By: Mr. Adolphe Sax, manufacturer of musical instruments, in Paris.

DESCRIPTIVE MEMOIR

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My invention has as its object various improvements to the saxophone — improvements equally applicable to the clarinet and to the bassoon. They consist, first, of a new arrangement of keys, with a view to obtaining an easier fingering; and, second, of a particular device which provides the means of lengthening or shortening the tube of the instrument instantaneously, which allows me to obtain modifications of the notes of an absolute accuracy of intonation, without harming the system of temperament.

My improvements further include the suppression of the bell of the clarinet and its replacement by a prolongation of the tube; a greater range is obtained without, however, appreciably increasing the length of the old instrument.

The improvements I have brought to the bassoon consist chiefly of a new arrangement of the fingering, and of the replacement of the ordinary reed of that instrument by a mouthpiece analogous to that of the saxophone.

These various improvements will be readily understood from the description which follows, read alongside the two annexed plates of drawings.

SAXOPHONE — Plate I, figs. 1 to 22

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The modifications I bring to the saxophone are of various kinds.

1° Extension downward to low B♭ and A. The alto saxophone in E♭ — the most favorable key for military bands and the most widespread, representing the alto part in the quartet — is one tone too short to reach, in the low register, the extreme limit of the corresponding member of the violin family. I have lengthened the tube so as to make it gain two semitones, namely B♭ and A, which represent, at concert pitch, D♭ and C. [Margin, example 1: two staves headed “Saxophone / Alto,” showing the written low notes and their sounding equivalents.]

2° Two new high keys. Extending an analogous operation to the high register, I add two new keys to obtain high F♯ and G [example 2: “written effect — real effect”] — the F♯ taken by the right hand, the G by the left. One could moreover, if preferred, employ other combinations.

To facilitate the emission of the high notes, I provide a fourth octave key, with this peculiarity: it is not operated by the thumb, but is brought into play by the keys of the notes themselves. This same operation can be done for all the high keys.

Octave keys — figs. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6

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These keys are fitted on the instrument seen in fig. 1.

A is a key for the greatest length of the tube — B, C, C♯, D — if the instrument has only the ordinary length [example 3: staff of low notes]. The same key serves for the case where the instrument descends to A natural [example 4]; it would then additionally serve A♯/B♭.

B is a hole closed by the thumb, giving C natural and permitting the trill without any additional key [example 5: trill on C] (fig. 3).

B′ is a key for closing the hole B, seen from the front and from the side (figs. 2 and 4).

Fig. 1 represents an arrangement of the keys making it possible, by the pressure of one of the fingers of the right hand on its ordinary place, to produce G♯, B♭ and C natural [example 6].

Figs. 7 and 8 represent two combinations that I can likewise employ to obtain B♭ and C [example 7] by pressing one of the fingers of the right hand on its ordinary place, the G♯ being taken in the ordinary way.

In the case of fig. 7, the fingering is taken as follows (letters a, b, c are the right-hand plateaux; d, e, f the left-hand):

The fingering of fig. 8 is taken as follows:

The fourth octave key serves only for the high notes from E natural to G [example 8: high E, F, F♯, G]. As the keys which produce these notes have no role to fulfil other than that one, they communicate with the octave key and cause it to open.

The notes A, B♭, B natural, C, C♯ within the staff [example 9], not having all the facility of the notes of great tube-length — since they belong to the shortest length of the tube — are obtained as harmonics of the fundamental notes by means of the octave key A (fig. 2). These notes may therefore be produced in two different ways.

Figs. 5 and 6 represent, in two views, an arrangement which allows key A to be operated at will by means of either of the spatulas p and q. These various arrangements — like, indeed, all those which figure in this patent for the other instruments — may be employed together or separately, and are applicable to the entire family of each instrument without exception. The arrangements described further on for the clarinet are all established on the saxophone as well, as represented on Plate II [figure references renumbered in pencil to 23–34].

Three new low keys (B♭, A, A♭) — fig. 9

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I add to the saxophone three keys intended to give B♭, A and A♭ (see fig. 9, Pl. I). In this way the alto saxophone in E♭, the most widespread of all, can double the viola of the orchestra. Here is the description of this new mechanism. These three open keys 1′, 2′, 3′ are placed on a prolongation of the tube of about one quarter of its length. They are moved by three spatulas 1, 2 and 3 placed under the fingers of the right hand. To give those fingers back their independence, a key 4 placed under the left thumb moves a rocker mechanism which closes the three keys over which the fingers of the right hand lie. The fingers, thus made independent, can thenceforth act on the three spatulas corresponding to the new keys.

I likewise apply the double C♯ key of the clarinet to the saxophone.

The membrane (mirliton) key — fig. 10

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Fig. 10 is a partly sectioned view of the top of the saxophone, showing the adaptation to this instrument of a membrane m, analogous to that of the mirliton [kazoo], fixed at the bottom of the hole of a key n. If key n is opened, the membrane m vibrates and modifies the sound of the instrument, producing a kind of buzzing rasp, with a view to obtaining particular effects; I can change or multiply the placements of this membrane.

Rounded touches and rollers — figs. 11, 12, 13

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To avoid too much adherence of the fingers to the spatulas, I substitute for the flattened parts rounded, roughly half-cylindrical projections, as narrow as possible, allowing the finger to roll — sliding, so to speak, with very little friction. Figs. 11, 12 and 13 show examples of this arrangement. In fig. 12, small horn rollers r have been placed on the spatulas 1 to reduce the friction still further.

Trill key — figs. 14, 15

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With a view to facilitating the trill between F natural and F sharp, I arrange (see figs. 14 and 15) a key which, when lowered by the button b, partly closes the F♯ hole. This arrangement changes nothing in the ordinary fingering. It can also be applied to the trill from B to C, and for the A♭.

Automatic octave coupling — figs. 16, 17

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Figs. 16 and 17 represent, in front and profile views, an arrangement which makes it possible to open the octave key at the same time as the keys which produce the notes D, E♭, E natural, F — and the new F♯ [and] G, when I employ them. This result is obtained by arms l fixed to the pads, which lower the rod t through the intermediary of the lugs g, g′. The rod t transmits the movement to the rod t′ by the cross-piece x, and thus causes the octave key to open.

Metal-plated wooden mouthpiece — figs. 18, 19

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Figs. 18 and 19 show a saxophone mouthpiece made of wood, which I electroplate with copper and then with gold, silver or nickel. This metallic coating, applied inside and out, has the advantage of preventing the warping and deterioration of the wood caused by the alternation of humidity and dryness.

I also apply this kind of metallic coating to the walls of the bore and of the tone holes of all wooden wind instruments.

Ring for the B hole — fig. 20

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Fig. 20 represents a ring intended to uncover the opening of the B-natural hole — for example, when I use the double B♭ key. It is equally applicable to the C, when I use the new fingering.

CLARINET — Plate II (figs. renumbered 23 onward)

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Suppression of the bell

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Clarinets present a notable inconvenience in the presence, at their extremity, of the piece called the bell (fig. 1, A, traced in red), which is nearly useless and which, moreover, increases the length and the weight of the instrument, harms the evenness of the notes, and finally adds to the market price of the instrument. I propose to suppress this piece (from B to C); I lengthen the tube of the body of the instrument a little at the bottom and finish it with a sort of slightly flared ring. As for the interior of the bore, I continue it cylindrical either to the very bottom of the tube, or to within one or two centimetres of the end, where a slight flare may be made — which will give the same results as the flare which begins 3 or 4 centimetres above the B-natural key and continues, as is well known, to the bottom of the bell.

Increase of range; evenness of sound

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Since the clarinet, being cylindrical, has no reason to sound the low E — and its twelfth, B — louder than the other notes (A, B♭ or C, for example), the suppression of the bell makes this inequality disappear.

Adopting the new system, I can lengthen the tube of the clarinet by roughly the length the bell used to give it, and I thus make it gain two semitones by boring the holes E, F (figs. 1 and 2). It would be shorter if one confined oneself to the addition of a single semitone — and shorter still, of course, if the clarinet kept its ordinary compass.

The advantage of this addition is this: the B♭ clarinet — of all the instruments of this family the one possessing the finest sonority — descends only to its low E, concert D. If I make it gain one more tone by giving it the written D, which sounds concert C, then the clarinet — whose range at the top already gives it the greatest resource — will be able to double the viola of the violin family. Moreover I obtain, in the middle register, fine B♭s and fine As — the twelfths of the added notes. The clarinet thus modified is in no way changed as to its balance or its weight; and as regards playing, one could even thin the tube towards the end, giving it a still greater lightness.

Addition of twelfth (register) keys

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To obtain full twelfth notes of fine sonority [example 10], I place a twelfth key — the so-called chalumeau key — lower than it is currently bored, at about the height of the chalumeau A key, and furnished with a chimney similar to that of the chalumeau B♭ key.

I thus obtain the notes of the greatest length of the instrument with a fine sonority. In this case a key may be placed which remains open at the G hole of the left thumb, and which will give — despite the mobility of the thumb — great security of closure.

To arrive at the maximum evenness of the notes, I also employ the following arrangement (fig. 2): the lower end of the clarinet is threaded and receives a sort of screwed plug H, of the same wood as the body of the instrument, pierced with a hole G of the same diameter as the hole F. This arrangement can equally be made when the instrument descends only to E natural or to E♭.

Fig. 3 represents, in elevation, the upper end of the lower joint and the lower end of the upper joint of the Boehm clarinet. As may be seen, the upper joint K carries a hole k in the part which penetrates inside the lower joint L. This hole comes opposite the one bored in the latter, which the key L closes. This arrangement makes it possible to bring the key M down from the upper joint.

Absolute intonation

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Musicians are well aware that the enharmonic is only a sort of compromise with absolute intonation, made for the benefit of fixed-pitch instruments governed by the laws of temperament. Temperament is thus the absolute basis on which every combination of instruments of different natures must rest.

It is none the less true that, in spite of this rule and this convention, the natural harmonic laws urge the performer — singer or violinist — despite himself, to infringe that convention. A minor-seventh chord on the dominant resolving to the tonic can never replace the augmented-sixth chord on the [lowered] fifth [?] of the key, modulating to the second inversion of the major triad whose bass is the note a semitone below — or, if you will, the augmented fourth of the preceding key [examples 11–13: staves illustrating the chords].

In these two chords the characteristic note is, for the first, the seventh, F; for the second, the augmented sixth, E♯ [example 14]. Now, for these two characteristic notes the attractions act in opposite directions: F is drawn downward by the note below it, E; E♯ is invincibly attracted by the note above it, F♯. Hence, although on tempered fixed-pitch instruments the same sound must serve to render these two different notes, it none the less follows from their real constitution that nature reclaims her rights whenever she can — and that singers and violinists unconsciously exaggerate the interval in the direction of the attraction, widening it for E♯, narrowing it for F natural. There results from this a roundness, a frankness in modulation which translates into an absolute satisfaction of the musical sense — and of a natural law whose secret science has, to this day, been quite unable to capture.

Every instrument aiming at perfection must therefore — while remaining subject to the general laws of temperament — be able, at any given moment and at the performer’s will, to command the real, natural sounds, and to employ them according to the demands of the harmonic sense, on every note of the chromatic scale.

With instruments with tone holes one cannot, as on instruments with six pistons, instantaneously lengthen or shorten a note at a given moment in order to modify its intonation. On the flute or the clarinet there are only fixed, tempered sounds, serving indifferently for sharps and flats, and nothing can appreciably modify them in performance. To remedy this notable imperfection, a means is needed of raising or lowering each note of instruments with tone holes, at will and instantaneously.

First device — spring slide and wedge (fig. 4). For this purpose I place, at the part nearest the mouthpiece N, a small internal spring slide O. A wedge c interposes itself between the two parts of the tube, which are separated or rejoined by the slide. Two small levers P and P′ act on the wedge from either side of the instrument; hence, if the right-hand lever P drives the wedge in, the left-hand lever P′ will drive it out; the two parts of the instrument draw apart or together according to the movement made, all the while obeying the action of the springs R (fig. 4).

Second device — ring, rods and half-moon springs (figs. 4–8). The same result can be obtained by another process — one which I also apply to the saxophone, and which is applicable to all wind instruments.

The part of the clarinet to which the mouthpiece R is fitted, instead of resting immediately on the lower part K, is normally held at a height of about 3 millimetres above it (figs. 4, 5 and 6 [renumbered 26–28]). This 3 mm gap is covered by a ring S, movable at one point S′ and held at the other by a hinge T. At its movable point S″ this ring is raised or lowered by means of a small angle-piece which grips it in a notch K′, moved by a lever-clamp U, to which two key spatulas V, V′ impart the two to-and-fro movements.

The centre of this ring receives, freely inserted on each side at the point X, two small rods e, e′ (figs. 7 and 8, which are horizontal sections), fixed to the upper part of the tube. These two rods separate two half-moon springs Y, Y′, fixed facing one another on the lower part of the tube — one wound tighter than the other so that they do not overlap, and so that they embrace the rods freely — acting on the rods, the one from above, the other from below.

When the lever U acts on the ring S at the movable point S″, the ring rises, pivoting on the hinge T. The rods e, e′, freely inserted in the ring at X, are pushed upward by it, and impart the same movement to the upper part of the tube N, to which they are fixed. This part remains in its new position as long as the finger acts on the spatula V which moves the lever. As soon as the finger releases it, the upper spring Y — fixed to the lower part of the tube but bearing on the rod from above — urges it back down to its normal position. The downward movement is exactly analogous: the descent of the ring always carries the upper part of the tube with it by means of the rods, and when the finger ceases to act on the spatula V′, the lower spring Y′, compressed by the rod, forces them to resume their place, raising the upper part of the tube, to which they adhere, by the same movement. It is thus that the tube is lengthened or shortened. The travel of each spring is limited by a hook Z, fixed, like the springs themselves, to the lower part of the instrument.

A higher twelfth key for the Boehm clarinet — fig. 11

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In the ring-key clarinet known as the Boehm, whose high notes from the C above the staff upward are generally difficult to emit with purity, I place a twelfth key about 38 mm higher (see fig. 11), instead of the single key below. This key gives great facility in the notes in question.

BASSOON

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The fingering system of the saxophone is adapted to the bassoon, in such a way as to play it an octave below its ordinary register, without the difficulties experienced in the execution of rapid passages in the low range.

The bassoon descends to low B♭, but one plays with ease only down to low E. Beyond that note, the movement of the thumb presents difficulties because of the great number of keys. For the second bassoon part the low notes are nevertheless used fairly often — but with circumspection, and at the cost of renouncing a host of effects such as arpeggios, trills, etc.

Instead of taking the closed F with the little finger, I transpose my fingering and produce low C. The instrument keeps the same length, but I transpose the fingering to the fourth below. From then on I have a very easy fingering. For agility one returns to the same conditions as the ordinary bassoon: the B♭ [fingering] would give the F. One can see from here the immense advantages that could be drawn from this system for ordinary bassoon parts; for the performer transposing at the fourth there would occur a phenomenon analogous to the illusion of those who use, without knowing the reason for it, the fourth (transposing) piston of the bass saxhorn.

A single-reed mouthpiece for the bassoon

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The bassoon reed has been the object of much research. This reed presents numerous inconveniences: composed as it is of nothing but two facing blades of cane, it is very capricious. Their vibrations, which occur transversely and in opposition to one another, can never be in perfect concordance. This assembly, made exclusively of porous bodies, is extremely sensitive to every atmospheric influence. It is to these conditions that the coarse tone of the bassoon is due when it is not played by a virtuoso. The numerous works of which this reed has been the object have come to nothing.

I believe I have found the means of employing the single reed, by way of a mouthpiece analogous to the saxophone mouthpiece, offering very nearly the same interior disposition as to width, in larger proportions than the ordinary double reed — except for the upper part, which is less square; consequently the opening of the mouthpiece and of the reed is somewhat fan-shaped (figs. 9 and 10, Pl. II [renumbered 31 and 32]).

This means is much easier both in tone production and in apprenticeship.

PADS

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There is a great defect in the closing of large tone holes by pads, owing to the porosity of the lambskin employed, which does not permit a hermetic closure.

Everyone knows how short a time pads last — above all those of the large instruments with big tone holes — whether from the humidity produced by the condensation of the breath from the lungs, or, above all, from rain.

Furthermore, the skin, which is highly hygroscopic, hardens, flattens and deforms; it dries out, often prevents proper closing, and produces a disagreeable noise in playing when the openings are closed — all of which forces frequent renewal of these little cushions (pads).

To avoid the blistering which occurs after a certain time in ordinary pads, I fit a screwed peg, held by a small nut — already patented by me — which retains the pad; and I can then glue a goldbeater’s skin over it, either by means of collodion applied with a brush, or with the membrane gummed in advance.

This membrane has another advantage: it is smoother than lambskin, and is consequently less harmful to the emission of the notes which set the greatest lengths of the tube in vibration — above all the low notes, which have the greatest number of holes to keep closed.

To fix the pads on the keys, they are glued cold, without heating — as one does postage stamps or labels; and wherever there is a tear, a goldbeater’s skin prepared for the purpose is superposed on it by the same means. Here collodion would be preferable, but I may employ any other adhesive material.

In this way the artist or the amateur will be able, without recourse to the manufacturer or to a specialist workman, to replace some or all of the pads of his instrument.

These pads are manufactured in the following manner. As may be seen in figs. 21 and 22, rounds of cloth, felt or skin d are cut out and covered with lambskin or goldbeater’s skin — or, dispensing with the lambskin, covered with goldbeater’s skin alone. It would be more practical still to glue up strips in advance and then cut them out with a punch to the various sizes required, so that nothing remains to be done but to set them into the pieces destined to receive them.

One may also have gummed goldbeater’s skins, which need only be moistened to glue them onto any kind of pad; or again lambskins covered with glued goldbeater’s skin, likewise needing only to be moistened to make them adhere to the old pad — whether a worn pad or a new one.

To make use of ordinary pads I shall employ the same method of gluing. One may also, on this same pad, glue the goldbeater’s skin before placing it, or glue it once the pad is fixed in its key-cup.

PARIS, 26 November 1880 By power of attorney of Mr. Sax — Armengaud [signature]

Certification (purple stamp and manuscript, page 19): Seen, to be annexed to the patent of fifteen years taken out on 27 November 1880 by Mr. Sax. Paris, 16 January 1881. For the Minister and by delegation: the Director of Internal Commerce. [signed]

Clerk’s tally (margin): Nine sheets forming a total of six hundred and twenty-three lines. Ten insertions containing in all fifteen words and three letters. Eighteen deletions comprising [fifteen [?]] words and three letters.

THE PLATES

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Plate I — Saxophone (page 20; page 21 is its reverse). Marked “Echelle variable” (scale varies). Fig. 1: an alto saxophone in side view with the tone holes labelled by note name (G, F♯, F, E, D♯, D, C♯, C♮, B, B♭, A, G♯, G♮, F♯, F♮, E♮ descending). Figs. 2–4: the octave keys A, B, B′ and the thumb hole. Figs. 5–6: the two-spatula (p, q) control of octave key A. Figs. 7–8: the two alternate key-system layouts whose fingerings are tabulated in the memoir. Fig. 9: the extended bow/bell with the three new open keys 1′, 2′, 3′ for low B♭–A–A♭ and their spatulas. Fig. 10: section of the crook showing the mirliton membrane m in key n. Figs. 11–13: rounded touches, incl. horn rollers r. Figs. 14–15: the F–F♯ trill key with button b. Figs. 16–17: the automatic octave coupling (arms l, rods t, t′, lugs g, g′). Figs. 18–19: the plated wooden mouthpiece. Fig. 20: the uncovering ring. Figs. 21–22: pad blanks (tinted red in the drawing).

Plate II — Clarinet and bassoon mouthpiece (page 22; page 23 is its reverse). Fig. 1: a clarinet without bell, the suppressed bell A outlined in red from B to C, with details labelled “Haut” (top), “second key / old key,” and “key for the high notes D, E, F.” Fig. 2: elevation showing the long added keywork and, at the foot, the threaded plug H with hole G. Fig. 3: the Boehm-clarinet joint detail (K, k, M, L) and “application of the ring key.” Figs. 4–6: the tube-lengthening mechanism (mouthpiece N, ring S, hinge T, levers/spatulas U, V, V′, rods e, e′ at X, half-moon springs Y, Y′, stop hooks Z). Figs. 7–8: horizontal sections of the ring and rods. Figs. 9–10: the single-reed bassoon mouthpiece, front and profile. Also: “new arrangement of the G♯ and A keys” and “double twelfth key, fig. 11,” with the 38 mm dimension marked.

Translator’s notes

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1. Note names. The manuscript uses solfège names throughout: ut/do = C, ré = D, mi = E, fa = F, sol = G, la = A, si = B; dièze = sharp, bémol = flat, bécarre (♮) = natural. Sax writes for the E♭ alto as a transposing instrument: written low B♭/A = concert D♭/C, exactly as he states.
2. Glossary. Clef = key; clef octaviante = octave (register) key; clef de 12e = twelfth key, i.e. the clarinet register key (the clarinet overblows at the twelfth); chalumeau = the clarinet’s low register; spatule = spatula/touchpiece; plateau = padded plate; bascule = rocker/see-saw linkage; pavillon = bell; bec = mouthpiece; anche = reed; tampon = pad; baudruche = goldbeater’s skin (a fine membrane of ox intestine); mirliton = kazoo-type buzzing membrane; coulisse = slide; coin = wedge; vergette = small key rod.
3. Corrections in the manuscript. The memoir is a clerk’s fair copy with scribal corrections, marginal reinstatements (“également,” “les vergettes,” etc.), and a formal tally of insertions and deletions on the last page, as French patent practice required. The figure references to Plate II were renumbered in pencil at some later point (fig. 1 → 23 … fig. 10 → 32), presumably when the two plates’ figures were numbered in one continuous series (1–22 on Plate I, 23–34 on Plate II). The tables and translation above keep the manuscript’s original numbers with the renumbering noted.
4. Uncertain readings. They are few and marked [?]: one word in the harmonic essay (page 12, the degree on which the augmented-sixth chord stands), and details of the clerk’s deletion tally (page 19). Neither affects the technical content.

Translated from the manuscript by Claude (Anthropic), July 2026, for Matt Stohrer. Source: INPI archive scans FRINPI_1BB139884_001–023.