IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING OR BUOYING UP PERSONS, BOATS, AND OTHER BODIES WHEN IN THE WATER
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
LIGHT, of Esther Terrace, Bermondsey, in the County of Surrey, Master
Mariner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day
of July, One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the eleventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Edward Light, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial.
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Edward
Light, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Edward
Light, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein,.
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING OR BUOYING UP PERSONS, BOATS, AND
OTHER BODIES WHEN IN THE WATER;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso, that I, the said Edward Light, should cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and.
seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited

page_text: Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Light, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of a mode of employing rushes, flags, and other
plants of a like nature in the construction of buoyant apparatus.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me, first
remarking, that heretofore when rushes and such like plants have before been
employed in constructing buoyant apparatus for various purposes it has been
usual to place the rushes in cases, such cases being rendered waterproof, the
rushes giving substance and strength to the article so formed, and yet for the
bulk occupied the rushes have offered very little weight, such apparatus,
though useful so long as the external cases are perfectly resisting to the
passage of water into the interior, are of comparatively little value when water
penetrates the exterior covering so as more or less to saturate the rushes or such
like plants. employed. Now my Invention consists of rendering the ends and
the exterior surfaces of the rushes, flags, and other such plants waterproof
before placing them into cases, according to the nature of the buoyant appa-
ratus to be made therefrom, so that an apparatus padded or filled with rushes
or such like plants, according to my Invention, will not be liable to have the
rushes or other plants employed saturated with water when the exterior
covering applied no longer resists the passage of water into the interior of
the apparatus, because each portion of a rush used will itself at its outer
surfaces be waterproof, and thus prevent the passage of water into the
cellular or pithy interior, by which means each piece of rush or suchlike plant
used will be a waterproof instrument. In carrying out my Invention any
waterproof varnish or composition may be employed for sealing the ends
and coating the exterior surfaces of the rushes or other plants to be employed.
As heretofore the form of the buoyant apparatus may be various, and the
shape itself forms no part of my Invention, but whatever be the shape of the
case to be employed I cut the rushes or other similar pithy plants into such
lengths as to pack closely together into the form desired, and I dip the ends of
each piece into the waterproof varnish or composition which is to be employed,
and I allow the same to dry, and repeat the process till the ends are well
sealed and closed. I then paint or coat over the exterior surfaces of the rushes
or plants with waterproof varnish or composition, and when the same is dry I

page_text: then make up the same into cases of such shapes or forms as may be desired,
preferring to use waterproof fabrics for the external casing of the buoyant
articles made according to my Invention.
It will be evident from the above description that each piece of rush or other
plant used will retain all its interior character of lightness and strength, and by
the exterior coating and the sealing of the ends it will not be liable to become
saturated with water. And, further, by this means of making buoyant appa-
ratus, should water penetrate into the interior and amongst the rushes or other
plants, the apparatus, of whatever shape it may be, will still retain all its
buoyancy or nearly so, as only defectively coated rushes will be permeable to the
water. The waterproofing materials which I have employed for the coating of
the surfaces, and for sealing of the ends of the pieces of rushes and other plants
employed are the same as those heretofore used for waterproofing the
fabrics of which the cases have been made. I, however, make no claim to any
composition or varnish, nor do I confine myself to the use of any particular
waterproofing varnish or composition, but use any of those ordinarily employed
for like purpose. And I would have it understood that I do not claim the use
of rushes, flags, and other similar pithy plants generally when making buoyant
apparatus for supporting or buoying up persons and other bodies in the water.
But what I claim is the rendering the pieces of rushes, flags, and other similar
plants waterproof before enclosing them in cases of the forms or shapes
desired.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Light, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight