A CERTAIN MIXTURE OR PREPARATION WHICH MAY BE USED WITH ADVANTAGE IN PREVENTING THE DANGER OF ACCIDENTS FROM FIRE
Year: 1822

page_text: TO ALL TO, WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
Cook, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Patent Tube Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixteenth day of April in the
third year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said Benjamin Cook,
my exors, admors, and assigns, especial license, full power, sole privilege and.
authority, that I, my exors, admors, or assigns, during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, called England,
the Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "A CERTAIN MIXTURE OR PREPARATION WHICH MAY BE USED WITH ADVANTAGE
IN PREVENTING THE DANGER OF ACCIDENTS FROM FIRE;" in which said. Letters
Patent there is contained a proviso, obliging me, by an instrument. in writing
under my hand and seal to cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, stating in what manner the same is performed, to be

page_text: inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
after the date of the said Letters Patent, as in and by the same, relation being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Benjamin Cook, do describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed (that is to say):-
The
I render all sorts of timbers, calicos, cottons, silks, muslins, cloth, and linen
of every description incombustible by the use of a mixture or preparation, and
thereby prevent accidents from fire (namely), I take the two fixed alkalis, which
I dissolve in water in such proportions as I find necessary. If I require a very
strong solution I give to the alkali such quantity of soft water as it will take
up to render it liquid and of a consistency suitable for my purpose; such for
instance as saturating of timber. For most uses I prefer the pure fixed vegetable
alkali which I disengage from its impurities and then dissolve it in soft water,
and by this plan I obtain a solution suitable for rendering calicos, cottons,
muslins, silks, cloths and linen of every description incombustible.
strongest solution which I can obtain from the pure fixed vegetable alkali is
what I prefer for rendering timbers incombustible. Into this solution I put all
timbers in the plank, in which situation they must lie till the alkaline solution
has penetrated through the plank; a few weeks will generally effectuate this.
I prefer using a very strong solution, but a much weaker one will render
timber incombustible (that is to say), to every one hundredweight of alkali
put twenty-five gallons of water; the strength of the solution I vary as I find
needful and according to what it is applied. If I wish to render scenes of
theatres, floors of rooms, or any other woodwork incombustible, with a strong
solution I pass over every part with a brush four or six times, letting it dry
between each time, when the pores of the timber will become saturated with
the alkali, or the surface of the thing so passed over will be covered with the
alkali and prevent any accident from fire; but for ship timbers, and indeed all
timbers upon a large scale I would saturate the tree with alkali at once as
soon as it is fallen and before it is barked, by means of an engine to extract or
force out the sap, then to saturate the whole by forcing the alkali through all
the pores of the tree, after which it may be barked and sawed up into planks
when required. All parts of vessels already built, if regularly washed and
saturated with a strong alkaline solution, as herein set forth, will be rendered
perfectly incombustible, so that ships, at a very small expense, may be pre-
served from the possibility of being injured by fire either accidental or

page_text: intentional. For rendering all sorts of calicos, cottons, silks, muslins, cloth,
and linens of every kind incombustible, I make a weak solution of the
vegetable, alkali in the purest state I can obtain it, and as alkali pro-
duced from some vegetables is stronger than others, the simple mode I
adopt is to keep adding alkali to the water until cotton, paper, or linen
dipped into it and dried will not blaze. It will char by intense heat but
not in flame. For calicos, cottons, silks, muslins, cloths, and linen I pre-
fer the solution as weak as it will allow to prevent inflammability; but
this solution after it is made should stand for a week or more that all the
impurity possible may settle at the bottom. It should then be drawn off into
a clear earthen vessel, and again be suffered to stand for a month or six weeks
corked up in a heat nearly sufficient to produce evaporation; occasionally trying
its purity by putting a portion of it into a clean flint glass bottle holding about a
pint in order to ascertain by its clearness when it is fit for use. Before it is quite
clear and proper for use there will generally appear in it very thin transparent
lamine floating about which will gradually sink to the bottom leaving the solu-
tion as clear as the purest water so as not to discolour the finest linen; it is then
in a proper state ready to draw off into clean vessels for use. The article to be
rendered incombustible, such as wearing apparel, bed furniture, window curtains,
or any other articles made of cotton, linen, silk, muslin or cloth, should, after they
are washed and wrung as dry as can be out of the last water, be dipped into
the solution and wrung out as dry as possible, then dried, and ironed or mangled
in the usual way.
In my Patent I claim the exclusive privilege for the application of the fixed
alkalis in a mixture or preparation which will prevent the danger of accidents
by fire; but I here wish to remark, that while I render timbers incombustible
by extracting the sap, and saturating or filling up the pores with alkali, such
timbers are not only rendered incombustible but are also preserved from the
dry rot, as no timber so prepared will be affected by dry rot. To the navy and
all public and private buildings this is most important. There are thus three
great principles in the application of my discovery of which I claim the ex-
clusive privilege.
First, the application of the fixed alkaline solution in preventing all accidents
from fire to callicos, cottons, silks, muslins, cloth, and linen of every description,
bed and window curtains, and sail cloths.
Secondly, its application to prevent effectually all woodwork of all sorts, either
in buildings or vessels of any description from being destroyed by fire either
by accident or intention.

page_text: And, thirdly, the process used to render timber incombustible will at the
same time completely prevent the dry rot from ever affecting such timber so
prepared under my Patent.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Cook, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord 5
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of October, in
the year of our Lord 1822, the aforesaid Benjamin Cook came before our
said Lord the King in His 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 stampt according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.