A NEW PAINT OR VARNISH FOR PRESERVING THE BOTTOMS OF SHIPS AND OTHER SUBMERGED STRUCTURES FROM FOULING AND DECAY, ALSO FOR PRESERVING IRON, WOOD, AND OTHER SUB- STANCES (NOT SUBMERGED) REQUIRING PROTECTION BY PAINT OR VARNISH
Year: 1871

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to John Edwin Wood, of the Firm of Wood
Brothers, of Grahams' Town, Cape of Good Hope, at present
residing at 8, Kensington Park Gardens, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "A NEW PAINT OR VARNISH FOR
PRESERVING THE BOTTOMS OF SHIPS AND OTHER SUBMERGED STRUCTURES FROM
FOULING AND DECAY, ALSO FOR PRESERVING IRON, WOOD, AND OTHER SUB-
STANCES (NOT SUBMERGED) REQUIRING PROTECTION BY PAINT OR VARNISH."-
A communication from abroad by Benoni Horace Wood, of the
Firm of Wood Brothers, of Grahams' Town, Cape of Good Hope.
-

page_text: Gardens, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "A NEW PAINT OR VARNISH FOR PRESERVING THE
BOTTOMS OF SHIPS AND OTHER SUBMERGED STRUCTURES FROM FOULING, AND DECAY,
ALSO FOR PRESERVING IRON, WOOD, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES (NOT SUBMERGED)
REQUIRING PROTECTION BY PAINT OR VARNISH," communicated to me from
abroad by Benoni Horace Wood, of the Firm of Wood Brothers, of
Grahams' Town, Cape of Good Hope, to be as follows :-
The new paint or varnish consists of the gum resin produced from the
tree known as euphorbia in the south of Africa, dissolved like other gum
resins in turpentine, benzole, chloroform, oil, or other similar solvent, to
which colouring matter may be added if required. The solution is applied
as a paint or varnish to wood, metal, or other substances, and being
insoluble in water is especially applicable to surfaces submerged, such
as the bottoms of ships, to preserve them from fouling and decay.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 1
filed by the said John Edwin Wood in the Great Scal Patent Office
on the 13th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Jonn
EDWIN WOOD, of the Firm of Wood Brothers, of Grahams' Town, Cape
of Good Hope, at present residing at 8, Kensington Park Gardens, in 2
the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said John Edwin Wood, Her special
licence, that I, the said John Edwin Wood, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Edwin Wood,
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,
2

page_text: use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"A NEW PAINT OR VARNISH FOR PRESERVING THE BOTTOMS OF SHIPS AND OTHER
SUBMERGED STRUCTURES FROM FOULING AND DECAY, ALSO FOR PRESERVING IRON,
WOOD, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES (NOT SUBMERGED) REQUIRING PROTECTION BY
PAINT OR VARNISH," a communication to me from abroad by Benoni
Horace Wood, of Wood Brothers, of Grahams' Town, Cape of Good
Hope, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Edwin
Wood, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Edwin Wood, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
The new paint or varnish consists of the gum resin produced from the
tree known as euphorbia in the south of Africa, dissolved like other gum
resins in turpentine, benzole, chloroform, or other similar solvent. The
proportions in which the gum resin is combined with the solvent are
varied according as the paint or varnish is required to be of thick or thin
consistency. The solution being almost colourless may be used as a
varnish over plain or coloured surfaces, or colouring matter may be
added to the solution, which can then be used as a coloured varnish or
paint. The solution can be thus applied as a varnish or paint to wood,
metal, or other materials, and being insoluble in water it is especially
applicable to surfaces submerged, such as the bottoms of ships, to
preserve them from fouling and decay.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I claim,—

page_text: Solvents, as a paint or varnish for the bottoms or snips and other surfaces,
substantially as herein described.
•
In witness whereof, I, the said John Edwin Wood, have, hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Twelfth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.