Improvements in or relating to the Sterilization of Milk.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Apr., 1893-Accepted, 27th May, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Sterilization of Milk.
[A communication from FRANCOIS JAS, of Haarlem, and CAREL HENNY,
of Sloten, in the Kingdom of Holland.]
I, ALFRED Julius Boult of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
Milk is a very unreliable liquid which quickly loses its valuable qualities during
the hot weather. Its alteration arises from two principal causes. The first has its
origin in the presence of micro-organisms borrowed from the atmosphere and the
vessels which contain the milk.
The second cause which has perhaps the most pernicious effects has its origin in
the presence of other micro-organisms derived from the cow when she has got
certain maladies. Among the morbid affections to which the cows are most
exposed, may be mentioned the carbuncular maladies, pulmonary consumption,
contagious pneumonia and aphthous fever.
The milk which comes from cows having these maladies, possesses pernicious
qualities which exclude it from alimentation. To prevent contagion it would
therefore be necessary only to use milk from healthy cows.
We have found that by the action of a strong alternating electric current on the
milk all morbid germs which may be contained in it, are destroyed. If therefore
the milk which comes from unhealthy cows is treated by electricity it is rendered
inoffensive and can be preserved for a longer time than ordinary milk. Our
process consists in treating the milk with a strong alternating electric current
either in the vessels in which the milk is stored or in a continuously working
apparatus.
The most simple apparatus consists of a rectangular vessel which may have a
length of about one metre and contains a number of plates connected with two
conductors which communicate with the poles of the source of electricity. The
containing vessel may be of porcelain or other non-conducting material and the two
conductors are insulated one from the other. The milk enters at one end of the
vessel and leaves it at the other end after having been treated by the electric
current. The flow of the milk will be regulated according to the strength of the
electric current. If the milk is to be sterilized in the vessels in which it is stored,
the process will consist in dipping the two conductors into the vessels and passing
the alternating electric current through the milk.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The application of an alternating electric current for rendering milk sterile
and for preserving it.
2. In the sterilization of milk by the application of an alternating electric
current the employment of apparatus such as described.
Dated this 97th day of April 1893.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Of London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Nottingham,
Agents for the Applicant.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Of London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Nottingham,
Agents for the Applicant.