IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF EGGS
Year: 1859

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edouard Cormier at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th December 1859.
I, EDOUARD CORMIER. of Paris, France, Gentleman. do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF
EGGS," to be as follows:-
The Invention consists in providing the outer surface of the eggs to be
preserved with any suitable coating by which the exterior air is in great part
prevented from acting on the matters contained in the shell. For this
purpose I prefer using copal oil varnish, or any other suitable varnish, or a
mixture of beeswax and suet applied in the molten state on the surface of
the eggs.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edouard Cormier, Her special licence that I, the said Edouard
Cormier, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Edouard Cormier, my executors, administrators, 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
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF EGGS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edouard Cormier, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, 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 Edouard Cormier, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
The Invention consists in an improved mode of preserving eggs, viz..
keeping them with their original freshness and savour for a much greater
length of time than was possible by the hitherto known means, while at the
same time they are rendered less liable to injury in storing and conveying.
My Invention consists in covering the eggs to be preserved with a solution of
any suitable material, which on becoming dry leaves the entire outside or
shell of the egg covered with a coating impervious to wet and air, for which
purpose I prefer using copal varnish, viz., a solution of gum copal in spirits
of wine, oil of turpentine, or any other suitable solvent, to which copal varnish,
other suitable varnishes, beeswax, tallow, or any other suitable gummy or
gelatinous substance may be added. The eggs to be preserved are provided
on the outside with one or more layers or coatings of the said varnishes by
means of a brush, by dipping the eggs into the varnish, or by any other suitable
means, care being taken not to apply a second coating before the preceding
one has become sufficiently dry. One or a sufficient number of coatings
having been applied to each of the eggs, and the said coatings having been
.well dried, the eggs are ready for sale or for being preserved by putting the

page_text: same in boxes between layers of sawdust, bran, or other similar suitable dry
and fine or pulverized materials. Instead of the above-mentioned copal
varnish, with or without the addition of other suitable materials, the eggs may
be covered with a coating formed of quicklime, milk, and sugar, and before
receiving this or the above-mentioned varnish coatings, a layer of albumen or
other gummy or gelatinous matter may be applied to the eggs.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect. I would observe. in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise varnishes or mixtures which I have here above described.
nor to any particular mode of applying the same to the outside of the shells
of the eggs to be preserved. nor to any particular box or material in which
the eggs, covered with the above-mentioned varnishes, compositions, or mix-
tures are to be preserved; 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 the preserving of eggs by covering their outside with
one or more layers of one of the above-mentioned varnishes. compositions, or
mixtures, with the purpose of providing the eggs with a coating impervious to
wet and air.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edouard Cormier, have hereunto set
my hand and seal. the Ninth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
Witness.
DREYFOUS,
Eng. Civil.
ED. CORMIER. (L.S.)