In current patent law, only the content of the claims is protected. Everything else (figures, text body) that is described is unprotected and can be used by anybody. However, nobody else can claim those ideas as inventions because they are now "prior art".
Today, companies & individuals publish papers to describe ideas that they don't want/need to protect, but don't want anybody else to claim either.
Of course I have no idea what the 19th century British patent law was, but I would suspect it was the same.

Best regards,
WC-

Last edited by WildCattle; 04/20/12 10:32 AM.