IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION OF NAPTHA,LIKEWISE CALLED WOOD SPIRIT, AND HYDRATED OXIDE OF METHYLE, PYROLIGNEOUS ACID, AND EUPION, AND CERTAIN OTHER PRODUCTS OF THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF WOOD, PEAT, AND CERTAIN OTHER VEGETABLE MATTERS, AND OF ACETATE OF LIME AND SHALE, AND IN THE PURIFICATION OF COAL TAR AND MINERAL NAPTHA, LIKEWISE SPIRIT, BEING THE PRODUCTS OF FERMENTATION
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HENRY STAPLE WILDSMITH, of the City Road, Experimental Chemist, 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 Twenty-first day of
December, One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the twelfth year
of the reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Henry Staple Wildsmith, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her
especial especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
James Henry Staple Wildsmith, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Henry Staple Wildsmith, my exors, adññors, 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, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Gurnsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION OF NAPTHA,
LIKEWISE CALLED WOOD SPIRIT, AND HYDRATED OXIDE OF METHYLE, PYROLIGNEOUS
ACID, AND EUPION, AND CERTAIN OTHER PRODUCTS OF THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION
OF WOOD, PEAT, AND CERTAIN OTHER VEGETABLE MATTERS, AND OF ACETATE OF
LIME AND SHALE, AND IN THE PURIFICATION OF COAL TAR AND MINERAL NAPTHA,
LIKEWISE SPIRIT, BEING THE PRODUCTS OF FERMENTATION;" in which said Letters

page_text: Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said James Henry Staple Wildsmith,
shall 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 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
James Henry Staple Wildsmith, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, that is to say :-
The principles on which the processes for attaining the objects above set
forth and hereafter to be described are founded, consist of, first, the reduction
of the carbohydragen in any of the above matters (which carbohydragen is the
substance. that gives to them a peculiar and unpleasant odour which is however
not essential to their composition), by the application, in the way hereafter
described, of any of the after-named substances, such substances being capable
of yielding their oxygen to the organic compound or odour-giving substance;
and second, the action of light as assisting and being essential to such reduc-
tion. The purifying substances referred to may be used either in the simple or
compounded state, that is to say, either in the state of salts or the acids of the
respective bases of such salts. It is found that they act better in the state of
salts, as if used in the state of acids, and not applied gradually, their action is,
unless watched with care, generally too energetic. They consist of perman-
ganate of potash, bichromate of potash, chromate of potash, and other highly
oxidised bodies capable of yielding up a portion of their oxygen, in the reduc-
tion of, or combination with, the carbohydrogen or odour-giving substance, and
the operation simply consists in the mixture, as hereafter described, of some
one of these salts or acids, with the body to be purified, which must be in a
state of liquid for that purpose, and in the spontaneous reduction that imme-
diately ensues with respect to the same salts or acids in combination with the
carbohydrogen or odour-giving substance. The quantities or proportions to be
used of the several purifying substances in the operation of purification depends
on the quantity of oxygen contained therein respectively, and in the quantity
and rapidity with which such oxygen is yielded in the reduction that takes
place. A variety of circumstances attending the operation, and which it
would be impossible to foresee or provide for, and also the varying crudity or
impurity of the different batches or different kinds of substance to be purified,
as well as the constant difference of per centage of spirit contained therein,

page_text: render it a matter of nicety and experience for the operator to judge of the
exact quantities of purifying substance to be used. As a general rule, how-
ever, and one that is to be depended on, as shewing the outside or maximum
of quantities or proportions required in the general average of cases with
regard to the after-mentioned substances, I use in the purification of naptha
of pyroligneous acid, of the products of the destructive distillation of wood
peat and of acetate of lime, of coal tar naptha, and of mineral naptha, the
following quantity of permanganate of potash or bichromate of potash, in the
state of fine powder, or of an equivalent proportion of acid, that is to say,
four ounces avoirdupois to the imperial gallon of the substance to be operated
on. In the purification of eupion, whether obtained from shale or any other
source, I use three ounces avoirdupois of the permanganate of potash or of
the bichromate of potash in a state of fine powder, or of an equivalent pro-
portion of acid to the imperial gallon of the substance to be operated on. In
the purification of spirits being the products of fermentation, I use about two
ounces avoirdupois of permanganate of potash, or of bichromate of potash, in
a state of fine powder, or of an equivalent proportion of acid to the imperial
gallon of the substance to be operated on. These quantities will to a great
extent serve as a guide in the cases of the other substances to be purified,
specified in the Title to this Invention. I find that in almost all cases where
chromate of potash is used nearly twice the quantity is required for the puri-
fication as in the cases where permanganate of potash or bichromate of potash
is used; and I have found that for this reason, and because of the energy of
action of the permanganate of potash, the bichromate of potash is generally
preferable to either of these, as the purifying substance; but these three sub-
stances are only mentioned as instances of the principles of my discovery, for,'
as mentioned before, other highly oxidised substances capable of yielding up a
portion of their oxygen in the reduction of or combination with the carbo-
hydrogen or odour-giving substance, are equally effectual in the process of
purification in proportion with the extents of their different capabilities in that
respect. The mode of operation is as follows:-The substance to be purified
is placed in a tank or vessel covered to prevent waste by evaporation, and
which must have a portion of its surface made of glass or some transparent
substance, so that the tank or vessel may be permeable to light, the action of
which is essential to the process, and is one of the principles on which, as
before stated, my Invention rests. The nature of its action is not in the
present state of science susceptible of satisfactory explanation, and I there-
fore mention only its results in combination with the other portions of
the process.
The glass or transparent portion of the tank or vessel

page_text: should not be too large, as an excess of light is found to hasten
the process undesirably, and it is found convenient to have it on the top
side of the tank or vessel, and in the form of a slide for the purpose of
examining the process of the purification from time to time. The purifying
substance in the proportions before mentioned may, when in the form of salts,
be applied either by being dropped into the liquid substance that is to be
purified or by being first placed in the tank or vessel, and afterwards having
the liquid substance to be purified poured on it. When in the form of acid it
must be applied gradually. after the substance to be purified is in the tank or
vessel, as, if it were applied before, the action would be very sudden and
injurious to the process. The time to be allowed for the purification depends
in like manner as the quantities or proportions of the purifying substance used.
upon the differing degrees of per centage of spirit, crudity, or impurity in the
substances to be purified, and also upon a number of varying circumstances
impossible to foresee or provide for, and which can only be determined in each
individual case by the experience resulting from practice and watching; but,
as a general rule, where no hastening means as after mentioned are used, I
allow from about fourteen to twenty-one days for the purpose. The contents.
of the tank should be well stirred or agitated for. a few minutes once or twice
a day, and it is as well to frequently examine the substance to be purified, in
order to ascertain the progress of purification, and thereby regulate the time
that should be allowed for its completion. When the time considered by the
operator necessary expires, the liquid must be drawn off, and subjected to
distillation in the ordinary way, and it will then be found in a very pure and.
colourless state, free from the unpleasant odour above referred to, and capable
of being burnt in lamps or otherwise with as little unpleasant odour, as the
purest spirits of wine. If it be desired to hasten the process of purification,.
either sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid in a very dilute state may be added,
to the liquid substance to be purified after it has been mixed with the purifying
substance, but this is only applicable to cases where such purifying substance has
been used in the form of salts. Its effect is to aid the liberation of the acid
in such salts, and so to facilitate the parting. of such purifying, substance with
its oxygen. Experience will teach the quantities in which sulphuric acid or,
hydrochloric acid may be used for this purpose, but it is proper to add that
unless used very sparingly and cautiously, it has been found to lead to an
undesirable pungency and etherialness in the substance when the purification
has been completed; and generally speaking the results of purification that
have been made shew that the use of sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid is
better avoided where the time will allow of it, especially as the saving of time

page_text: is effected by its use, is generally not considerable. Of sulphuric acid and
hydrochloric acid, I have generally used for this purpose about one pound
to the fifty gallons of substance to be purified. It is believed that other
acids than sulphuric or bydrochloric acids may be used for this purpose of
hastening, but not so conveniently; and their operation being the same and
not affecting the principle of my Invention, it is unnecessary to enumerate
them. It is useful to remark that when the liquid has been drawn off out
of the tank or vessel it will be found in most cases that the purifying substance
in the tank or vessel has been diminished in quantity and changed in chemical
character by the operation, but on being dried and restored by the usual
chemical means to its former state, it will be again of service in purification
by my process.
I claim as my Invention or discovery, having for its objects those named in
the title thereof,
First, the application of substances capable of yielding up their oxygen, or
a portion of it, in the reduction of or combination with the carbohydrogen or
odour-giving substance.
Second, the spontaneous action of light in assisting and being essential to
such reduction or combination.
Third, the application of vessels permeable to light for the above purpose.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Henry Staple Wildsmith, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.