In the Circuit Court a decree was rendered granting an injunction, 120 Fed. Rep. 672; upon appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit this judgment was reversed, and the cause was remanded to the Circuit Court with directions to dismiss the bill. 123 Fed. Rep. 869.

The case was brought here upon writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Louis C. Raegener for petitioners.

Mr. Henry Schreiter for respondents.

MR. JUSTICE DAY, after making the foregoing statement, delivered the opinion of the court.

The patent in controversy has been frequently sustained in the Federal courts (95 Fed. Rep. 474; 108 Fed. Rep. 82; 115 Fed. Rep. 498 and 507), and its validity is not contested here. The question presented to us is one of infringement. The invention which is the subject matter of the controversy relates to machinery for unhairing pelts, and particularly and perhaps, exclusively, so far as practical use is concerned, sealskins or "coney" skins. The latter are skins of French or Belgian rabbits, which, under the name of "electric" sealskins, have been put upon the market, and have been largely sold and used as substitutes for the genuine sealskins. It is said that only an expert can tell the difference between the finished coney and the genuine sealskin.

It is disclosed in the testimony that sealskins, before they are fit for the market, are required to be submitted to a process by which the long hairs, sometimes called "water hairs," are separated from the fur and clipped or plucked from the pelt. Up to about the year of 1881 the removal of such hairs was effected by hand, the pelt being stretched over the finger; by blowing down on the fur a part was made, and the hairs were clipped out by means of scissors. This was necessarily a slow

and laborious process. An improvement was made in this art by the Cimiottis, predecessors of the petitioner, by the introduction of an air blast for the purpose of separating the fur, which invention was the subject of a patent to them, number 240,007, under date of April 12, 1881. In 1888 the Sutton patent in suit was issued, in which was introduced a rotating brush apparatus for the purpose of separating the fur, as will be hereinafter more particularly shown. Of his invention, Sutton said in the specifications:

"This invention relates to an improved machine for plucking sealskins and other furs, so as to remove the stiff waterhair therefrom without injuring the soft hair or wool of the

same.

"The machine is more especially designed with a view to overcome some of the defects and insufficiencies of the pluckingmachines heretofore in use, and produce the plucking of the skins at the lower parts of the neck and shoulders, where the hairs point outwardly and backwardly and are the most difficult to pluck, as they lie down close to the skin when the same is drawn over the stretcher-bar.

"My invention is further designed to dispense with a blastfan or other air-forcing devices, and produce the removing of the water-hairs entirely by mechanical means, which are operated by power, so that a quick and uniform plucking of the skin takes place.

"The invention consists of a machine for plucking seal and other skins, which comprises a fixed stretcher-bar, means for stretching and intermittently feeding the skin over said stretcher-bar, a fixed card above the stretcher-bar near the edge of the same, a rotary separating-brush that is intermittently moved up in front of the stretcher-bar, an oscillating guard below the stretcher-bar, a rotary cutting-knife and a vertically-reciprocating cutting-knife working in conjunction. with the rotary knife for cutting off the stiff projecting hairs, said rotary cutting-knife being provided with a card supported back of the knife, all of which parts are operated from a comVOL. CXCVIII-26

mon driving-shaft, so as to produce for each rotation of the same the cutting off or plucking of the hairs projecting from that part of the skin in front of the stretcher-bar."

The invention was illustrated by certain drawings, some of which are here given, which, together with the description, illustrate the operation of the machine, so far as necessary for the purposes of this case.

Referring to the drawings, the inventor says (in part): "A represents the supporting-frame of my improved machine for plucking seal and other skins. On the frame A is supported a fixed transverse stretcher-bar, B, which is tapered to a narrow edge, over which the skin to be plucked is stretched. The skin is applied by tapes to the rollers B1 B1, which are intermittently actuated by gear-wheels operated by a pawland-ratchet-wheel mechanism from the driving-shaft S, as customary in plucking machines of this class. By the gearwheels and the pawl-and-ratchet mechanism the skin is fed intermittently for a small portion of its length over the front edge of the stretcher-bar, it being unwound from the upper and wound up on the lower feed-roller. Below the edge of the stretcher-bar is arranged a vertically-reciprocating knife C, which moves in slots or ways of fixed guide-plates C1, and which is operated by fulcrumed levers C2, the rear ends of which are engaged by cams C3 on a cam-shaft, S1, that is supported above the driving-shaft S in suitable bearings of the frame A.

"In front of and at some distance from the stretcher-bar B is supported a shaft, D', in bearings of the frame A, said shaft being provided with radial arms d d, to which the rotary knife D is attached, which, in conjunction with the verticallyreciprocating knife C, serves to cut off the water-hairs projecting from that part of the skin in front of the edge of the stretcher-bar B. To the arms of the rotary knife D, and at some distance back of the latter, is applied a carding-brush, D2, which acts on that part of the skin that is fed forward over the edge of the stretcher-bar immediately after the hairs of the next preceding section of the skin have been cut off. The shaft D1 of the cutting-knife D is rotated from the cam-shaft S1, by means of an intermediate longitudinal shaft, S2, and two sets of miter-wheels, D3, D4.

"Immediately above the stretcher-bar B is arranged a stationary card, E, which is attached to the ends of the stretcherbar B by means of thumb-screws. (Not shown in drawings.)

The points of the teeth of the card E are close to but do not touch the surface of the skin, so that the hair and fur are both straightened as the skin is fed forward. The teeth of the card E hold down the fine fur, but permit the stiff hairs to stand up between the teeth, owing to the slow forward movement of the skin, which gives the hairs sufficient time to so adjust themselves.

"Below the stretcher-bar B is arranged a rotary separatingbrush, F, which is supported in oscillating arms F1, that are guided by pins f, in arc-shaped slots f1 of fixed guide-plates f2, as shown clearly in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the oscillating arms F1 being pivoted to horizontally-reciprocating connecting-rods F2, which are provided with yokes f3, having anti-friction rollers at their rear ends and acted upon by cams F3 on the camshaft S', the cams being so shaped and timed that the forward and upward motion of the brush F takes place at the proper time.

"The brush F receives rotary motion from two belts, f1, which pass over pulleys f on the shaft S1 and the brush shaft, and which are kept taut by weighted idlers fo, as shown clearly in Fig. 1.

"The brush F is made of soft bristles and is rotated at a speed of one hundred and fifty revolutions per minute. The soft bristles allow the stiff hairs to stand, while the quick motion of the brush bends the soft hair in downward direction and brushes it below the stretcher-bar, so that it can be taken up and held in position by the soft-rubber wipers g of an oscillating guard-bar, G, which moves in arc-shaped slots g1 of the guide-plates C1."

The operation of the machine is thus described:

"The skin is placed in the machine by being attached to the feed-rollers and drawn tightly over the edge of the stretcherbar, so as to lie close to the upper and lower surface of the same. The skin is put in in such a manner that the head end is foremost. The stiff hairs in sealskins point toward the tail, except at the lower part of the neck and shoulders. These