Mark.
1. Marks of manufacturers, sometimes termed trade-marks, or marks of merchandise. These marks are protected by all modern civilized nations, and, in fact, by the whole commercial world. The mark of the artisan is found upon the most ancient fabrics that have come to light. The Chinese, the Persians, the Egyptians, all had their distinctive manufacturers' signs, symbols which were intrinsic evidence of genuineness of origin of the articles of merchandise to which they were affixed. In the ruins of Herculaneum and Pompeii they are found. The Romans brought them to Britain, where the practice of using them has continued, probably without any intermission, from their time to our own. Antique pieces of pottery found in England furnish example. All nations protect the manufacturer in the exclusive use of his private emblem, and, by treaties, statutes, and judicial decisions, the most stringent penalties, are inflicted upon one who pirates such a mark for his own fraudulent gain. The mark is, in fact, the commercial signature of the maker. All the early printers had their trade-marks, generally monogrammatic.2. (Nautical.) One of the notifications of depth, on a sounding-line. See marks and deeps.
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| Sewing-ma hine maker. |
