AN IMPROVEMENT IN CONVERTING HIDES AND SKINS INTO LEATHER BY THE APPLICATION OF MATTER OBTAINED PROM A MATERIAL NOT HITHERTO EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1835

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PATTERSON, of Dublin, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS, His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing dato
at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of October, in the sixth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Patterson, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said William Patterson, my exors, adiñors, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Patterson, my exors, adiñors, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN CONVERTING HIDES
AND SKINS INTO LEATHER BY THE APPLICATION OF MATTER OBTAINED PROM A
MATERIAL NOT HITHERTO EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said William Patterson, shall cause
a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso I, the said
William Patterson, do hereby declare 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 of an improvement in converting hides and skins into leather,
consists in the application of tannin matter or tannin liquor obtained from the
roots, stems, and branches of plants known by the name of the blackberry;
and in order that my Invention may be most fully performed and carried into
effect, I will proceed to describe the means I have pursued, and have found
fully to answer, and by which I am enabled to produce leather from skins and
hides of equal if not of superior quality to those tanned by tannin matter or
liquor procured from oak bark, and at a considerably less cost. The roots,
stems, and branches of the blackberry bush are in preference to be obtained
in the spring, and are to be dried in the sun or by artificial heat; they are
then to be ground in an ordinary bark mill, in order to reduce them, in like
manner to oak bark when used for tanning. The dried roots, stems, and
branches thus ground, are then to be macerated with water, in order to obtain
therefrom the tannin matter or tannin liquor in or by which the hides or
skins are to be converted into leather. It should here be remarked that a
workman used to preparing oak bark liquor for tanning hides and skins will,
from practice, readily judge when the liquor produced from the roots, stems,
and branches of the blackberry bush is of the proper degree of strength for his
purpose, the liquor when produced being very similar, and is to be judged by
appearances and taste in precisely the same manner as oak bark liquor. The
hides and skins to be converted into leather by the tannin matter or liquor
obtained from the roots, stems, and branches of the blackberry bush, are to
be prepared as if they were about to be submitted to the action of tannin
matter or liquor of oak bark in order to be tanned; and the same process of
tanning, when conducting the operation with tannin matter or liquor produced
from the roots, stems, and branches of the blackberry bush, is in every instance
to be performed, to produce any particular description of leather, as would be
resorted to if it were desired to obtain the same description of leather by means
of tannin matter or liquor from oak bark; all which is well understood by
tanners, and the foregoing description will be fully sufficient to enable a tanner
most effectually to convert hides and skins, and readily produce the description
of leather he desires, according to my Invention.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would observe, that although I have recommended the
tannin matter or liquor from the above-mentioned material to be obtained by

page_text: means of maceration, yet it would be evident that the same may be obtained
by decoction in like manner to that pursued by some tanners with oak bark.
In conclusion, I wish it to be understood that I lay no claim to any of the
processes herein described, separately or combined, when tannin matter or
liquor from the roots, stems, or branches of the blackberry bush is not
employed; but I do hereby declare that what I claim as my Invention is the
application of tannin matter or liquor obtained from the roots, stems, and
branches of the blackberry bush to the purposes of converting hides and skins
into leather, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Patterson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.
WILLIAM (L.S.) PATTERSON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twelfth day of January, in the
5 year of our Lord 1836, the aforesaid William Patterson came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, 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.
Inrolled the Twentieth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-six.