AN IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR IRON AND STEEL, CHIEFLY DESIGNED TO BE USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DEFENSIVE ARMOUR FOR SOLDIERS AND IN THE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Cristoforo Muratori, of Bessborough Gardens,:
Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR IRON AND STEEL, CHIEFLY DESIGNED TO BE USED
IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DEFENSIVE ARMOUR FOR SOLDIERS AND IN THE
"
Sealed the 5th November 1872, and dated the 24th May 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Cristoforo Muratori at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th May 1872.
I, CRISTOFORO MURATORI, of Bessborough Gardens, Pimlico, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED SUBSTITUTE FOR IRON AND STEEL, CHIEFLY DESIGNED TO
BE USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF DEFENSIVE ARMOUR FOR SOLDIERS AND IN THE
BUILDING, LINING, AND COVERING OF SHIPS," to be as follows:-
My said Invention relates to a substance which is designed to be
used as a substitute for iron, steel, and other metals and materials in all
cases where they are employed for the defence or protection of soldiers
or their accoutrements, for the construction and protection of ships and

page_text: other vessels and fortifications, and for other like purposes. The said
improved substance possesses a strength and toughness equal to the
finest steel, and is not affected by oxidation. It is moreover much
lighter, more easily manufactured and repaired, and less costly than the
steel or other metals.
In practising my Invention I proceed as follows:--I take some
fibrous material in either a raw or manufactured condition, preferably
linen or cotton, although wool or other fibres may be used, and by
immersion or otherwise thoroughly saturate the same with a strong
tannic solution. I then immediately subject the saturated fibrous mass
to severe pressure to condense the fibres and cement them together.
The strength of the tannic solution may be varied according to the
nature or quality of the fibres or the particular purpose to which the
substance is to be applied.
After being thus condensed or compressed the said substance is ready
for use,
and may be manufactured into plates, sheets, or other articles of
any desired shape.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Cristoforo Muratori in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd November 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Cristoforo
MURATORI, of Bessborough Gardens, Pimlico, in the County of Middle-
sex, send greeting.
year
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of May, in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Cristoforo Muratori, Her special licence
that I, the said Cristoforo Muratori, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Cristoforo Muratori, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time, and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the

page_text: struck or perforated it makes no splinters. When pierced by a ball or
shot the hole may be closed with great facility, and in the armour
plating of the sides of vessels even if a rush of water follows a per-
forating shot the same can be immediately stopped. The keel, the sides,
and hold of a vessel constructed of my material and formed in one
piece could bear any collision or dashing against rocks without being
stove in or pierced, and even the violent concussion of a torpedo might
be resisted.
My said improved material can be applied to and be made to adhere
to iron, steel, or wood. It may be exposed to all weathers without
injury, and can be returned to store after exposure to wet without any
danger of its rotting if not previously dried.
My improved material is especially applicable for the construction
and lining of ships and boats, in the construction of lifeboats, and armour
plating for ships, in the construction of railway carriages, in the armour
plating or other works of defence in fortifications, for shields in fixed
batteries and field artillery, for barricades movable or fixed, powder casks,
harness for artillery waggons and commissariat carts, for cuirasses,
knapsacks, and other parts of a soldier's accoutrements, and other articles
or objects where toughness, strength, and considerable clasticity combined
are chiefly required.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. The improved substance consisting of fibrous material treated
with a tannic solution and subjected to pressure for the purposes
specified.
Second. The method of uniting several layers of my improved sub-
stance, as herein described and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Cristoforo Muratori, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in ;
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
CHARLES EALLAND,
CRISTOFORO MURATORI. (L.S.)
10, Cecil Street, Strand.