IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING SOLUTIONS OF CERTAIN VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL MATTERS, APPLICABLE TO PRESERVING WOOD AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND FOR OTHER USES
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
PARKES, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Artist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Ier Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alexander Parkes, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Alexander Parkes, my exors, adñiors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Alexander Parkes, my exors, adiiors, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING SOLUTIONS
OF CERTAIN VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL MATTERS, APPLICABLE TO PRESERVING WOOD AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND FOR OTHER USES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso, that I, the said Alexander Parkes, shall cause a particular descrip-
tion of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited 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
Alexander Parkes, 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:-

page_text: My Invention relates to the preparing solutions of certain vegetable and
animal matters, by the application of bisulphuret of carbon, or other sulphurets
of carbon, or of eupion; and the vegetable matters so treated, in order to obtain
solutions thereof, are india-rubber (caoutchouc), gum mastic, and other gums
and resins, and the animal matter to be treated with such solvents is phos-
phorous.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, I will proceed to
explain the process pursued by me.
I take either of the substances proposed as solvents, (by preference) the
bisulphuret of carbon (on account of its so rapidly volatilizing), in the propor-
tion of two pounds of the solvent to half a pound of caoutchouc; but these
proportions are to be varied, according to the viscidity required in the solution.
The power of this solvent is such, that if the caoutchouc is placed therein, it
completely effects its solution, without heat, in a shorter time than any other
solvent bitherto employed, and I afterwards strain the solution through a linen
or other strainer in order to remove any impurities that might exist in the
caoutchouc. This solution of caoutchouc is then ready for use, whether for
combination with other substances, such as sulphur, to the extent of half, by
weight, of the india-rubber employed, when for the purpose of impregnating
wood to preserve the same; or a solution of india-rubber may be used alone
for that purpose, and the wood may be impregnated with the solution by the
aid of vacuum and pressure, as is now practised, with other solutions, or the
dissolved india-rubber may be used as a waterproof coating, or otherwise, and
I keep this preparation in closed vessels, or under water, to prevent its drying.
For some purposes, I use a quarter of a pound of bisulphuret of carbon and
three pounds of best turpentine, or three pounds of naptha to one pound of
caoutchouc, which will cheapen the solution; the volatilizing power of the
bisulphuret of carbon being retarded by such addition. When I require to
have a solid mass of caoutchouc of any given form or size, I take the gum in
scrap, or in any other state, and add to every ten pounds weight thereof about
seven pounds of the bisulphuret of carbon; after remaining in a covered vessel
for two hours the gum will generally be found penetrated, and may be kneaded
up by hand or machinery, and formed into cakes of any size or thickness,
according to the wants of the operator, and it is then left to dry. This is
effected in the open air, in a period varying according to the thickness of the
cake; but I prefer to place these moulds in a closed stove at a low heat, say,
seventy to one hundred degrees of Fahrenheit, and by having a refrigerator
attached to the stove, I an enabled to collect the bisulphuret of carbon as it
passes off, and thus economize the process. These blocks may be afterwards

page_text: cut up for threads or strands of the sizes required, and possess the original
elasticity of undissolved caoutchouc; or the solution of india-rubber may be
used for other purposes, where india-rubber in solution is required, whether for
cementing, waterproofing, or other uses. I further take the bisulphuret of
carbon, or the other solvent before named, for the purpose of dissolving gum
copal, gum mastic, amber lac, or other gums or resins, the cheaper gums in
solution being fit for preserving wood, and they and the other gums are also
applicable for the manufacture of varnishes and other uses, and a portion of
caoutchouc in solution may be used with one or more of the gums or resins
for some purposes. And I have found that when the solution is required fluid,
that about six pounds of the solvent to one pound of either of the gums or
resins will be found sufficient; but the quantities will vary, depending on the
state of solution required. And I have found that the addition of one ounce
of camphor, or four ounces of sulphuric ether, will facilitate the solving of the
matters.
In order to produce a solution of phosphorous, I proceed as follows:-I take
one pound avoirdupois of phosphorous and fifteen pounds of bisulphuret of
carbon, or other sulphuret of carbon, and by placing the phosphorous therein,
and agitating the mixture, it becomes speedily dissolved; this solution of
phosphorous is applicable to various uses. I have employed it to obtain
metallic deposition upon substances not themselves metallic, either by com-
bining it with the substance itself, as in the case of wax, or by coating the
surfaces of articles therewith. Any of the known preparations of wax may
be treated by these means, but the one I prefer to use 1 prepare as follows:-
Take from six to eight ounces of this solution of phosphorous, and five pounds
of wax, and five pounds of deer's suet, and melt the whole together at as low
a heat as possible, on account of the inflammable nature of the phosphorous.
The wax, when formed into the desired figure and become cold, is treated in
the solutions of silver or gold, as hereafter described, for articles the surfaces
of which only are prepared. If the solution of phosphorous is to be applied
to the surface of other substances I proceed as follows:-I add to the above-
described quantity of phosphorous, thus prepared, one pound of wax or tallow,
one pint of spirits of turpentine, two ounces of caoutchouc dissolved, and one
pound of asphaltum, both dissolved in the bisulphuret of carbon, as described.
In order to combine these substances, I first melt the tallow or wax, I then
add the solution of caoutchouc and asphaltum, stirring them together, and then
the turpentine and the solution of phosphorous; when well mixed they are fit
for use. This solution is to be applied to the surface of non-metallic sub-
stances, as wood, flowers, or other articles, by immersing them therein, or by

page_text: brushing or otherwise covering the article therewith. I then immerse the
article, thus prepared, in a dilute solution of nitrate of silver, or chloride of
gold, or other suitable metallic solution; in a few minutes the surface is per-
fectly covered with a very fine film of the metal, and sufficient to obtain a
further deposition upon every part by connection in a solution of copper or
other metals, with any of the known usual electrical apparatus employed for
the deposition of metals. The solution I prefer to employ for this first deposit
is prepared by dissolving four ounces of silver in nitric acid and afterwards
diluting the same with twelve gallons of water. If I use gold, I take to ten
gallons of water one ounce of gold dissolved in nitro-muriatic acid. These
proportions are not the only ones that will succeed, but may be considerably
varied, as well as some of the substances themselves.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means I
am acquainted with for performing the same, I wish it to be understood that I
do not confine myself to the precise details herein described; and I make no
claim to the various applications suggested for employing solutions of the
animal and vegetable matters, my Invention being confined to the obtaining
such matters in solution by the solvents herein mentioned; and what I claim
is, the obtaining solutions of the vegetable and animal matters, herein par-
ticularly described, by combining therewith eupion, or bisulphuret of carbon, or
other sulphuret of carbon.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Parkes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
ALEXANDER (L.s.) PARKES.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of December,
in the year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid Alexander Parkes came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-seventh day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.