IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING MILK
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULES JEAN
BAPTISTE MARTIN DE LIGNAC, of Portland Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Seventh day of October,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Jules Jean Baptiste Martin de Lignac, my exors, adiñors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said Jules Jean Baptiste Martin de Lignac, my exors, adiiors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Jules Jean Baptiste Martin de Lignac, my
exors, adñiors, 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, and in the Islands of Guernsey,
Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING
MILK;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
Jules Jean Baptiste Martin de Lignac, should cause a particular description_
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be
inrolled in Her 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 moro fully and at
large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Jules Jean Baptiste Martin de Lignac, do hereby declare that 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, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of a mode of evaporating and then storing and closing
milk in vessels so as more effectually to preserve the same than has heretofore
been accomplished by any of the several modes by which the preservation of
milk has been attempted. And in order that the nature of my Invention may
be most fully understood and readily practised, I will, in the first place, describe
the apparatus and means employed by me in carrying out my Invention, and
then I will shortly point out what has before been done, and proposed to be
done, so far as the same are similar to my Invention, by which means the
extent and peculiar character of my Invention will readily be ascertained.
The milk to be preserved, after having been strained in the usual manner, is,
according to my Invention, at once to be subjected to evaporation, which I do
in a shallow vessel such as is shewn at Figures 1, 2, and 3; Figure 1 being a
plan thereof, Figure 2 a longitudinal section, and Figure 3 a transverse section,
and the size and depth of the vessel which I believe most convenient are shewn
on the Drawing. The shallow vessel a is of copper, and is fixed in another
vessel b, into which is placed water up to the point c; and it is convenient to
have a glass water guage fixed outside in order that the height of water may
at all times be seen. d is a steam pipe leading to a steam boiler, the safety-
valve of which is loaded with from fifteen to twenty pounds on the square inch.
The pipe d is perforated with numerous small holes by which the steam passes
freely into the water and heats the same. On the pipe d is to be placed a
cock, by which the flow of steam can be regulated, and when necessary shut
off. e is a pipe for the escape of steam from the water bath under vessel a.
Water is supplied to the vessel b at the funnel f, and the water may be drawn
off by the cock g. Before the milk is run into the vessel a, the water should
be slightly heated so that the vessel a may be warm when the milk is run in,
and the workman at all times uses a thermometer in the milk to ascertain the
temperature in order to regulate the flow of steam, and thus to keep up the
desired heat. It is important in conducting the process of evaporation that
there should not be any considerable depth of milk, and I have found it
desirable not to exceed three inches, and it is better to be below that depth.
To the milk in the vessel a is to be put crushed lump sugar at the rate of
The steam is to be tarned on, and
about two ounces to each quart of milk.
the water in the bath under the vessel a will be thereby heated, and also the

page_text: milk in the vessel a, care being taken, in regulating the flow of steam, that the
milk does not get heated beyond from one hundred and eighty-six degrees to
one hundred and ninety-five degrees of Fahrenheit. The evaporation is to be
conducted till the milk is reduced to about one-sixth of its original quantity,
and during the time of evaporation great care is to be observed in constantly
stirring the milk by moving a wood spatula, such as is shewn at Figure 4, or
other convenient instrument, from end to end of the vessel, which the workman
'will do by first moving on one side and then on the other of the vessel a, and
if he should observe any scum or thickness rising in any part of the surface,
which will constantly be the case, he will by the flat surface of the spatula or
other instrument disperse such scúm or thickening. This part of my process
is of considerable importance, and I believe that it is for the want of knowing
and taking means to prevent the prejudicial consequences arising from the
constituent parts of the milk being permitted in the process of evaporation to
separate and to thicken, which, together with other causes, have prevented a
successful preservation of milk when attempts have been made by evaporating
milk for that purpose. The workman will judge when the milk is evaporated
to the desired extent by its being reduced to about one-sixth, and he will
observe that it begins to adhere to the spatula, when he will shut off the steam
cock, and then stir or agitate the milk quickly for about four or five minutes,
when he will raise the sluice gate h, and run the milk as quickly as possible
into a copper vessel, which up to the moment of receiving the milk should be
kept hot with boiling water, but the vessel does not afterwards require to be
heated. If in stirring the milk any splashes should dry on the sides of the
vessel above the milk, the same is not to be scraped into the milk, and in
passing the spatula or instrument along the sides of the vessel the milk is to
be removed from the sides of the vessel to prevent its drying there, and the
vessel a should be emptied of the milk as quickly as possible, the flowing off of
the milk being quickened by spatulas moved from end to end of the vessel a.
The concentrated milk is then as quickly as possible to be filled into vessels
made of tin plate or other suitable material, which will allow of being closed
hermetically, and also allow of being treated by heat as hereafter explained.
The vessels I prefer for this purpose are cylinders such as are shewn at Figure 5,
and in order that the upper end or cover may be readily removed by the
simple act of cutting, I prefer that lead should be used all round at i, i, as is
shewn by the Drawing. These vessels being filled quite full with concentrated
milk, are allowed to stand for twenty-four hours, when the vessels are soldered
all round so as hermetically to close them. The concentrated milk in the
vessels is then again subjected to heat, which I do by a water bath which I
prefer to be as follows:-Figure 6 is a plan, Figure 7 & transverse section, and

page_text: Figure 8 a longitudinal section of a vessel and apparatus employed by me in
order that all the sealed vessels containing milk may be subjected to like
degrees of heat. j is a vessel to contain water up to the level k, k, and the
water is heated by a steam pipe 1, in like manner to what has been described
in respect to the other water bath.. m is an axis carrying several tubes, n, n,
such tubes being perforated with holes, so that the water of the bath may pass
freely into and from the tubes n, n. This apparatus is capable of being raised
out of and lowered into the water bath, as will readily be seen in the Drawing.
The tubes n are to be filled with scaled vessels containing concentrated milk,
which vessels will be retained in the tubes n, n, by the end plates o, o, which are
fixed by the wedges or keys p, p, as shewn. The apparatus is then to be
lowered into the bath, which is to be filled up with water, as is indicated by
the Drawing, which water is then to be heated up to two hundred and ten degrees
of Fahrenheit, and to remain at that temperature for ten minutos, and the
apparatus whilst in the bath is to be kept turning on its axis by the means
shewn or otherwise. The apparatus is then to be raised out of the water bath,
and the process of preserving tho milk will be complete. And it is important
to state that such is the complete preservation of milk when according to my
Invention, that when the same has been dissolved in a quantity of warm water
equal to what has been evaporated therefrom, butter of excellent quality may
be made from the cream thereof.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would remark that I am aware that it has
before been proposed to place milk in vessels and to apply heat thereto, so
as to drive off with force some of the aqueous parts thereof in the form of
steam through small holes in the vessels, and then such vessels have been
soldered up and subjected to further beat, there being no previous concentra-
tion of the milk, and no means for preventing the parting of the constituent
parts of the milk, as described in respect to my process, were or could be
resorted to; and it has also been proposed, both in respect to new milk and
skimmed milk, to reduce the same to various degrees of concentration, and even
to dryness, by forcing air into the milk and by evaporation in vacuum apparatus,
and also by simple boiling; in all which cases that part of my process which,
as above described, is for preventing the formation of scum or separating of the
constituent parts or thickening of the milk so evaporated was not pursued,
nor was the concentrated milk, after being hermetically sealed in suitable
vessels, subjected to a further process of heat. I have mentioned these various
previous processes in order to state that I make no claim thereto, and also in
order that the peculiar character of my Invention may be more clearly ascer-
tained. And I would state that although I have been exact and particular in

page_text: scribing my Invention, I do not confine myself to the details so long as the
culiar character of my Invention be retained. But what I claim is, the
ode herein described of preserving milk.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jules Jean Baptiste Martin de Lignac, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
THOMAS PICKFORD,
Seal.
Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Paris.
A.
This is the Specification referred to in the Affidavit of William Henry
Ritchie, sworn before me, this Third day of April, 1848,
S. ANDERSON.
William Henry Ritchie, of Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentlenian, maketh oath and saith, that he is acquainted with the manner and
character of the handwriting of Thomas Pickford, Her Britannic Majesty's
Consul at Paris, in the Republic of France. And this deponent further saith,
that the signature "Thomas Pickford," set, subscribed, or written in the margin
of the Specification hereunto annexed, marked A, and dated the Tenth day of
March last past, and purporting to be executed by Jules Jean Baptiste Martin
de Lignac, of Portland Street, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, whereby
it is stated that the said Specification was acknowledged by him, the said Jules
Jean Baptiste Martin de Lignac, before the said Thomas Pickford, on the
said Tenth day of March, at Paris aforesaid, is of the proper handwriting of the
said Thomas Pickford.

page_text: And
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the oath of William Henry Ritchie,
the Specification aforesaid was enrolled, word for word, as above written.
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.