CERTAIN NEW COMPOUNDS WHICH MAY BE EMPLOYED FOR MOULD- INGS, FRAMES, AND MANY PURPOSES TO WHICH WOOD, PAPIER MACHE, PLASTER, GUTTA PERCHA, AND OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES ARE APPLICABLE
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of the firm
of Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN NEW COMPOUNDS WHICH MAY BE EMPLOYED FOR MOULD-
INGS, FRAMES, AND MANY PURPOSES TO WHICH WOOD, PAPIER
MACHE, PLASTER, GUTTA PERCHA, AND OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES
ARE APPLICABLE."-A communication:
Scaled the 20th October 1858, and dated.the 12th August 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard
Archibald Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th August 1853. .
Specification
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the firm of Robertson, Provisional
Brooman, and Company, of 166; Flcet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "CERTAIN NEW COMPOUNDS WHICH MAY BE EMPLOYED
FOR MOULDINGS, FRAMES, AND MANY PURPOSES TO WHICH WOOD, PAPIER

page_text: MACHE, PLASTER, GUTTA PERCHA, AND OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES ARE
APPLICABLE" to be as follows:-
One compound or composition is produced in the following
manner: gelatine is dissolved in warm water, and evaporated
until it assumes such a degree of consistency, that, if poured on to
a plate or flat surface, it would separate or form into globules.
The gelatine in this state is mixed with about six times the
quantity of sawdust (preference being given to the sawdust of
foreign woods). A quantity of tan is then boiled in a suitable
vessel, the tan being entirely covered with water, and the boiling
continued until the water is reduced by evaporation to one half its
original bulk. This process is repeated three or four times, until
the mixture acquires a high degree of concentration, when it is
subjected to the action of a press of the description used for
expressing oils, whereby a highly concentrated tan liquor is
obtained, which the Inventor terms "oil of tan." The workman
dips his hands into this tan liquor or "oil of tan," takes up a
up into
quantity of the mixture of gelatine and sawdust, rolls it
balls, and kneads them on a marble or other slab, previously
coated with the concentrated tan solution or "oil of tan." When
these balls have been sufficiently kneaded, they become white,
which is an indication that the combination of the gelatine and
saw dust with the oil of tan has been completely effected. The
composition is ready for the various uses to which it may be
applied. It may be subjected to chemical agents in order to
receive marks, stains, and colorings, to resemble woods, such as
mahogany, ebony, rosewood, &c. A red color may be obtained by
mixing with the composition a solution of gum kino in acetic acid
Ebony may be imitated by adding sulphate of iron.
The second compound or composition is formed by mixing
sulphate of iron or some other metallic sulphate with gelatin
dissolved in warm water. This compound is insoluble in-cold
water, spongy, and has a soft or velvety surface. The proportion
are about 30 parts of sulphate to 1000 parts of gelatine.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Richard Archibald Brooman, in tlie
Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th February 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the firm of Robertson,
Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty. Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
in the seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Richard Archibald
Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard Archibald
Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and 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
"CERTAIN NEW COMPOUNDS, WHICH MAY BE EMPLOYED FOR MOULDINGS,
FRAMES, AND MANY PURPOSES TO WHICH WOOD, PAPIER MACHE, PLASTER,
GUTTA PERCHA, AND OTHER LIKE SUBSTANCES ARE APPLICABLE," coni-
municated to me by a foreigner residing abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, should par-
ticularly 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 Richard Archibald Brooman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described

page_text: and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is
to say:
First, the Invention consists in producing a new compound
which may be advantageously used in place of the different kinds
of wood at present employed in every variety of application, and
also as a substitute for the plastic compounds now in use. This
compound has the color of wood, and acquires its solidity in
drying; moreover, it softens under a gentle heat, and then becomes
malleable and plastic, and capable of being moulded or pressed
into ornamental forms. These different propertics render it
applicable to an infinite variety of uses. Thus it may be employed
to mould objects of art in general, such as statuettes, groups of
figures, brackets, &c. Divided into leaves or sheets, and applied
on card board or wood, it may be used for ornamental purposes
generally, or for cabinet maker's work, or making toys, brushes, &c.
In short, it may be used not only as a substitute for wood, but
also for papier maché, plaster, gutta-percha, and other like
substances. It may also be ornamented by gilding, bronzing, or
the application of metallic leaf or powder.
The manner in which this improved compound is produced is
as follows:-
'
.
Gelatine or a gelatinous material is dissolved in warm water,
and evaporated until it assumes such a degree of consistency, that,
if poured on to a plate or flat surface, it would separate or form
into globules. The gelatine in this state is mixed with about six
times the quantity of sawdust, preference being given to the saw-
dust of foreign woods. A quantity of tan is then boiled in a
suitable vessel (one being selected not of iron, which would
decompose the tannin), the tan being entirely covered with
water, and the boiling continued until the water is reduced by
evaporation to one half its original bulk. This process is repeated
three or four times, until the mixture acquires a high degree of
concentration, when it is subjected to the action of a press of the
description used for expressing oils, whereby a highly concentrated'
tan liquor is obtained, which the Inventor terms oil of tan."

page_text: The workman dips his hands into this tan liquor or "oil of tan," S
takes up a quantity of the mixture of gelatine and sawdust, rolls
it up into balls, and kneads them on a marble or other slab,
previously coated with the concentrated tan solution or "oil of
tan."
When these balls have been sufficiently kneaded, they
become white, which is an indication that the combination of the
gelatine and sawdust with the oil of tan. has been completely
effected. The composition, which bears some resemblance to
leather, only that it hardens by drying and softens by a gentle
heat, is then ready for the various uses to which it may be applied,
and it may be either moulded at once or rolled into sheets and
dried, when it acquires the consistency of wood. It may be
subjected to the action of chemical agents in order to receive
marks, stains, and colorings, to resemble woods, such as mahogany,
ebony, rosewood, &c. A red color may be obtained by mixing
with the composition a solution of gum kino in acetic acid. A
yellow color by adding picric acid, and ebony may be imitated by
adding sulphate of iron; the quantity of these ingredients being
regulated by the degree of color which the material is desired to
possess.
Compounds analogous to the above described products may also
be produced by the mixture of sawdust, or ligneous or feculent
powders, with vegetable or animal oils. These will be found to
possess the properties above mentioned, of hardening to the
substance of wood by drying, and becoming soft under a gentle
heat; and they may also be moulded and employed as in the case
of the compound before described.
Second, the Invention consists in producing a new compound
or composition of a plastic character, by mixing sulphate of iron
or some other metallic sulphate with gelatine dissolved in warm
water. This compound is insoluble in cold water, spongey, and
has a soft or velvety surface. The proportions of the ingredients
employed are about 30 parts of sulphate to 1000 parts of gelatine.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention,

page_text: and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that
I claim as constituting the said Invention,―
First, the production of a new compound or compounds having
the properties herein-before mentioned, by combining wood saw-
rust with gelatine or gelatinous materials and oil of tan, or its
chemical equivalent, as before-described; and,
Second, the production of a new compound or compounds by
combining metallic sulphates with gelatine or gelatinous materials,
as before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said 'Richard Archibald Brooman,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of
February, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)