THE APPTION OF A
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Niven, Gardener, of Keir, near Dunblane,
Perthshire, Scotland, for the Invention of "THE APPLICATION OF A NEW
"
Sealed the 24th April 1855, and dated the 10th November 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Niven at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th November 1854.
I, JAMES NIVEN, Gardener, of Keir, near Dunblane, Perthshire, Scotland,
do hereby declare, the nature of the said Invention for "THE APPLICATION OF A
NEW MATERIAL TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND ALSO OF TEXTILE FABRICS,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in adapting and applying to such purposes the stems
of the hollihock, and other plants comprehended under the natural order
malvaceae. The process of manufacture is as follows:-The stems after being
cut are steeped in water for about six or eight days, until the fibre will sepa-
rate freely from the woody part of the stem; the material or fibre is then
spread out before the sun to bleach and dry, when it is fit for being stored
ready for use when required. In manufacturing paper from the material so

page_text: prepared, the fibre is first bruised, then chopped or finely divided, and soaked
in water, and in this manner reduced to a pulp. After being brought to the
desired whiteness by. bleaching, it is then spread as evenly as possible over
thin gauze, and has the water pressed out of it, and is dried in the usual mode
of making paper. In manufacturing textile fabrics from this material, the
fibre is procured by means of retting (or steeping the stems), as described
above in procuring it for the manufacture of paper.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Niven in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
NIVEN, Gardener, of Keir, near Dunblane, Perthshire, Scotland, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Niven, Her special license that I, the said James
Niven, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Niven, my executors, administrators, or 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, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "THE APPLICATION
OF A NEW MATERIAL TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND ALSO OF TEXTILE
FABRICS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Niven,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Niven, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, that is to say:-

page_text: My said Invention relates to the application or employment and use of the
plant commonly known as the hollyhock, or rose mallow; that is to say, the
plant which in the botanical classification of Linnæus is the althæa rosea
monodilphia polyandria, and is comprehended under the natural order "mal-
vaceæ," or of plants of the genera "malva," in the manufacture or production
of pulpy material from which paper is to be made, as well as in the manu-
facture or production of fibrous materials for textile purposes. My Invention
as regards both these uses applies to all the many varieties of the hollyhock
plant, or the order "malvaceæ," but more obviously and particularly to the
ordinary large garden hollyhock, which grows luxuriantly in most parts of
the British islands. The stems of such plants furnish large quantities of
long fibre of great tenacity, which fibre when duly prepared is most excel-
lently suited for the preparation of a powerfully cohering paper pulp, as well
as for use in textile manufactures; being a perennial rooted plant, the
roots are also largely available for the production of strong fibre. In my
adaptation of the stems of such plants to the manufacture or production
of paper pulp, I use the plant either in a green or dried condition; I
prefer, however, to operate upon the stems immediately, or soon after the
plants are cut or pulled, in the ordinary manner of gathering and removing
such plants. When the stems are removed from the earth, I first of all
steep them in water for a term of six or eight days, more or less, the
practical duration of such steeping being regulated and governed by the
actual resultant effect of the water; that is to say, the steeping is continued
until the pure and valuable fibre will freely separate from the ligneous or
woody portion of the stems. At this stage of the process of manufacture, the
stems under treatment are removed from the water or "steep," and they are
then submitted to the action of any suitable mechanical arrangement, for the
purpose of beating or breaking them up. This breaking up may be effected
in the general manner commonly pursued in the primary breaking of the flax
plant, so as to disintegrate the fibres, and break off the woody or ligneous
portions of the stems. It is not, however, essentially necessary to remove the
ligneous portions, as I have found that the whole of the stem is fitted for
being reduced to a pulp. During or subsequent to this disintegrating process,
the mucilaginous or gummy matter, with whatever aqueous matter is present
in the stems, is washed clear away, either by pure water or by an acidulous
solution, or by any other economical and effective cleansing agent. When the
stems are thus fully reduced or disintegrated, the ligneous waste portions are
removed, and the resultant fibrous mass is spread out in the open air, where

page_text: the sun's rays can act upon it, to bleach and dry. When so bleached and
dried, the fibre may be stored away for subsequent use.
In making paper
from the fibre prepared, the fibrous mass is bruised or broken down in any
suitable mechanical apparatus, and it is then chopped or finely divided by
any suitable cutting instrument. The reduced mass is then soaked in water
and worked up or macerated in the usual manner, as pursued in the ordinary
manufacture of paper from rags, for the production of a pulpy mass suitable
for the use of the paper maker. The pulp so made is capable of being used
in the manufacture of paper either alone or unmixed; or it may be com-
mingled with other materials already in use in the paper manufacture.
When the pulp is obtained, the subsequent routine of its manufacture
into paper is similar to that pursued with the ordinary rag pulp; or it may
be varied, as the properties of the fibre may suggest. In the application
of the hollyhock stems to the manufacture of textile materials, the fibres
prepared in the manner which I have herein-before described are, subse-
quently treated according to the existing textile processes, such processes, for
instance, as are adopted in the flax manufacture. Being strong and of good
staple, this fibre is particularly well suited for being prepared, spun, and woven
into cloth. And although I have herein-before referred more especially to
the stem of the hollyhock plant as being more especially suited for carrying
out my said Invention, yet I find that the roots of the plants are also well
adapted for the production of a remarkably strong fibre; hence, in manu-
facturing practice, so often as the crop of plants grown for the purpose requires
renewal, the roots are to be taken up and prepared for the obtainment of fibre
both for the manufacture of paper and for textile purposes. When taken
from the ground, the roots are macerated and reduced, and the farinaceous
matter contained in them being removed, the resultant fibre is employed in the
manner which I have herein-before pointed out; but more particularly for
the manufacture of paper.
1
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe; in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion
to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the application and use of the hollyhock plant or plants, comprehended

page_text: under the natural order "malvaceæ," for the obtainment of fibrous materials
to be used for the manufacture of paper.
Second, the application and use of the hollyhock plant or plants, compre-
hended under the natural order "malvaceae," in the manufacture of production
of textile materials.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Niven, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JAMES NIVEN. (L.S.)