IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING PASTE WITH THE DRIED PULP OF RHUBARB, TO BE USED AS PRESERVE
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Victor Mirland, of the Town of Frameries, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MANUFACTURING PASTE WITH THE DRIED PULP OF RHUBARB, TO BE USED
AS PRESERVE."
Sealed the 2nd June 1863, and dated the 9th December 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Victor Mirland at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 9th
December 1862.
I, VICTOR MIRLAND, of the Town of Frameries, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING PASTE WITH THE DRIED PULP OF RHUBARB, TO BE
USED AS PRESERVE," to be as follows:-
It consists in manufacturing paste with the dried pulp of the plant called
rhubarb, and mixing such paste with sugar, and, if desired, with various fruits
or aromatic essences, so as to make preserves for alimentary or hygienic
purposes.
The process consists in taking the leaves of the plant when ripe, the petioles
and thicker parts thereof, which are to be washed and cooked in a water bath
or by steam; when sufficiently cooked, the materials are placed in a sieve,
in order to disaggregate and separate all the ligneous or filamentous from the

page_text: mucilagenous parts; the pulp. gathered in troughs is dried in a centrifugal
apparatus, or evaporated in flat-bottomed basins.if it is too fluid; these basins
should be provided with a double bottom, and heated by steam, the pulp being
stirred up to assist the evaporation. When thick enough it is spread out in
layers of about half an inch thick over sheets of tinned metal, which are carried
to a hot room to dry the paste. After twelve to twenty. hours it is dry
enough to be stored, without sugar being added, but its quality is improved by
the addition of either sugar, juice, or preserves of any fruit before drying it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Victor Mirland in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
June 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, VICTOR
MIRLAND, of the Town of Frameries, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Manufac-
turer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Victor Mirland, Her special licence that I, the said Victor Mirland, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Victor
Mirland, 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 MANU-
FACTURING PASTE WITH THE DRIED PULP OF RHUBARB, TO BE USED AS PRESERVE,"
upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said Victor Mirland, my exe-
cutors 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 Victor Mirland, 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

page_text: statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawing hereunto annexed,
and forming part of this my Specification, and to the figures and letters of
reference placed thereon:-
My Invention consists in applying the principle of preservation by dessi-
cation to the manufacture of a paste from the petioles and fibres or fresh leaves
of the plant called rheum or rhubarb, which paste I term rhubarb preserve;
the said preserve mixed with sugar or combined with aromatic-essences can be
substituted for the fresh fruit in all its uses. This preserve is specially useful
as an article of food for seamen, on account of the anti-scorbutic qualities of
rhubarb.
.
The apparatuses and process, which will be described hereafter, are, I
believe, partly known; but the whole of the said process and apparatuses
being used in combination for manufacturing a new compound, namely, a
paste from the dried pulp of rhubarb, constitutes my Invention, and is entirely..
novel.. When the leaves of rhubarb are grown enough to produce pulp, they:
are cut down, the petioles and fibres being cleared from the thinner parts, are
washed and then cooked in covered. cylindrical kettles made of tinned copper,:
placed in a water bath or boiler; they can also be cooked in an openwork box
or cage inclosed in a steam chamber provided with steam inlet and outlet.
When the rhubarb has been sufficiently cooked, it is passed through a sieve
or driven through a metallic cloth to separate the ligneous or filamentous parts
from the pulp. The pulp collected in wooden troughs is submitted to evapo-
ration (when it is too fluid) in a flat pan with a double bottom, heated by
steam, and a wooden stirring rake worked by any suitable means, renews the
surface of the pulp and permits the evaporation of the excess of water. When:
the pulp is in a suitable state of thickness so as to allow a layer of about three
quarters of an inch to remain. on a horizontal plane, it is spread over.metallic:
tinned plates of about 3 feet long and one foot wide, strengthened. by a tinned
frame. to mould it. After the pulp has been spread over the said tinned plate,
it is carried to a hot room and arranged on rod-iron shelves; the hothouse is:
made of. stone or brickwork, heated from 140 to 170 degrees." Farenheit,"
by a draught of hot air produced by a special hot-air stove. The pulp can be:
sufficiently dried on one side in 9 to 12 hours, according to the state of. the:
atmosphere.. After a.little practice the operator will. easily know when it is
sufficiently dry; he will then proceed to take it off from the tin plate by means
of a knife made of hard wood,. and lay the sheets of pulp over wooden hurdles,.
on which he will carry them back. into the hot. room. The dessication being:
completed in 18 or 24 hours, the sheets of pulp are stored in a dry and cool
room, and in such state they can be kept very well without. any admixture of:

page_text: sugar. The quality of the said preserve can be modified by mixing some sugar
or glucose with the pulp before spreading it over the drying plate. It can
also be modified by mixing with the pulp some fresh or preserved fruits, such
as apples, pears, plums, cherries, currants, or any other fruits, which are either
cooked and mashed or left entire; further, each mixture can be modified in
its proportions. They can be made also with any aromatic essence and ginger
or any other powdered spice. However, care must be taken not to mix too
much sugar or glucose with the pulp, as it would cause the preserve to be
This preserve may be cut into lozenges of
viscous and unpleasant to handle.
various shapes and sizes, and be so delivered for sale.
The annexed Sheet of Drawing is an illustration of the several apparatuses
heretofore mentioned, and any intelligent workman will be enabled to build all
the said apparatuses from inspection of the Figures, and reference to the
following explanation thereof. The shape, size, and materials can be modified
without bringing about any alteration in the result obtained. I will further
observe that all the operations must succeed one another without stopping, and
as quickly as possible, in order that fermentation may not take place and spoil
the quality of the pulp.
Figure 1, transverse section, Figure 2, longitudinal section, and Figure 3
plan, of the cooking or concocting apparatus, to the scale of 20, the same parts
being represented by the same letters.
a, a, brickwork; B, ash-pit; C, door of the fire room E; D, fire-grate;
F, F, flues running round the boiler H to convey the smoke into the chimney
G. The boiler or boiling pan H contains some water in which the cylindrical
kettles L, L, are plunged to about half their height. I, refrigerator or cool-
water reservoir, to feed the boiler through the stopping cock J; the steam
issuing from the boiler is conveyed out through the pipe K. The concocting
or cooking kettles L are made of tinned copper; they are about 2 feet high
and one foot in diameter; they contain the rhubarb to be cooked. M are
hooks or handles to lift the kettles out of the boiler. The kettles are covered
up closely by lids N. The boiling pan H is covered up by a wooden lid O,
through which is cut round holes for the snug passage of the cylindrical
kettles..
Instead of the apparatus just described, the pulp can be cooked or concocted
by steam, by means of the apparatus represented, Figures 4, 5, and 6.
Figure 4 shews a tightly shut wooden box or chamber drawn to the scale of 25%;
the sides of said box must be of a suitable thickness, the end B is fixed and
provided at its lower part with three small tubes about an inch in diameter;
fitted with stop-cocks; the tube C is for the ingress of steam into the chamber;

page_text: the end B' of said chamber is hung on tinned hinges; it is opened when
required for the passage of a frame mounted on 4 or 6 small wheels; this
carriage is loaded with openwork boxes, the half bottom and side of which are.
shewn Figures 5 and 6, to the scale of ; the end pieces A, A, A', A', of the.
sides of the said boxes are secured together by tinned iron bands D, D. The
boxes being filled up with rhubarb are loaded on the before-mentioned carriage:
three above one another, and pushed thus into the cooking or concocting
chamber, Figure 4, where the steam is admitted during 12 or 15 minutes. A
tube D, about 1 inches in diameter, is fitted in one of the sides of the
chamber, Figure 4, at about 2 inches from the bottom and near the door B'.
When the tube C is opened for the entry of steam, the tube E must be also
opened to permit the condensed water to run out. After the steam tube C
has been closed, the tube E is also closed, and the cooking of the rhubarb is
completed by leaving it submitted to the steam during about 45 minutes; then
the condensed water being saturated with pulp, the third tube F is opened to
convey this saturated water or juice to a separate reservoir, and it is mixed-
with the cooked rhubarb to be poured in the pulp-sifting or straining appa-
ratus, which I will now describe.
Figure 7 is a cross section of the straining apparatus, drawn to scale of 10.
B, wooden box carried by four feet, and into which runs the pulp through a
cylindrical sieve or strainer C, made of a thin tinned copper sheet, perforated
all round its periphery with a great many small holes; the concocted or
cooked pulp is poured into the hopper D', and falls into the cylindrical sieve,
in which runs a tinned iron shaft E fitted with twelve arms 1, 1, carrying six
wooden paddles, which, in their rotary movement, squeeze and mash the pulp
and force it through the sieve, the sixth paddle being nearer and touching the
sieve, works as a scraper to prevent the perforations of the sieve becoming
clogged. After running through the sieve or strainer, the pulp falls down
through the aperture F into a wooden trough.
Figure 8, vertical section through the line P, K, of Figure 9, plan of a
drying apparatus or pan, to the scale of 1; it is composed of a round tinned
copper basin with a double bottom A, A, (Figure 8,) upper flat bottom;
A', A', concave under bottom tightly attached to the first one by screws or
rivets E, E, all round. A central bolt B', B', holds both bottoms together,
and a block of wood A" is attached thereon, in which is a steel bearing socket
in which turns a vertical iron shaft S; the said shaft is provided with 6 wooden,
arms B, B, Figure 9, carrying wooden pins, to form as many rakes, the rotating
motion of which stirs about the pulp to assist its drying. F, pipe, conveying
steam between, the two bottoms of the pan; H, pipe for letting out the con:

page_text: densed water, both are provided with stop-cocks. D', D', door closely shut
during the drying operation; it is opened to drive the pulp out when it is dry
enough; the said pulp is driven out by means of the curved wooden
blade d, d.
Figures 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are corresponding views of a spreading
apparatus to which the pulp is carried when taken out from the drying one;
the said Figures are to the scale of 15. Figure 13 plan, Figure 10 back view,
and Figures 11 and 12 end views, shewing the frame B, B, at its lower and
upper positions. Figure 14, vertical section through the line x, y, of the plan.
A, A, wooden trestles supporting the whole arrangement. The edges of a
sheet of tinned iron are laid on the upper sides of the trestles to receive the
dried pulp. A wooden frame B, B, is upheld by upright iron rods m, n, which
are carried by horizontal rods m, m, arranged diagonally, as shewn in Figure 13..
The rods m, m, are attached to a forked piece f,f, hinged to a treadle P, by
bearing upon which the frame B can be raised up. 0, 0, horizontal pullies
moving on the under side of the top piece of the trestles. C, C, iron bar
(Figure 14), bent at each end at Q, Q, two rods h, h, (Figures 13 and 14,)
cross through the top piece of the trestles. The bar C, C, can be moved
forward by means of ropes wound round the pulleys O; one of the ends of said
ropes is attached at t, Figure 14, whilst the other end runs through rings
O, O, Figure 10, supporting it; two handles p are attached to the end of
the ropes to drive them. When pulling the handles p the bar C moves for-
ward, being guided in its motion by two rods b, b, Figure 13, crossing through
it at r, r, and also by the rods h, h, the latter by moving forward strains
the springs R, the moveable ends of which are engaged in rings attached at
the ends of the rods h. When the handles p are left free, the unbending force
of the springs brings the bar C back to its first place. In order to work this
apparatus the frame B is at first brought to the position shewn, Figure 12, by
bearing with the foot on the treadle P, another workman places the plate of
tinued iron already mentioned upon the blades L, L, underneath the frame,
and the first workman causes the said frame to fall down over the plate, so as
to form a mould open at the top, within which the pulp is deposited, and any
pulp which may rise over the upper edges of the frame being scraped off with a
wooden scraper, and plates of dried pulp are thus obtained of about of an inch
thick. The frame B is then raised up, the handles p of the ropes are pulled so
as to cause the piece C, C, to move forward, and the hooks Q, Q, bring along
with them the tinned plate which slides on the blades L, L, and is stopped by.
the projections T, Figure 12, which prevent its falling down.. A workman then.
takes this plate out, puts another in its place, and the work goes on in the

page_text: same manner as aforesaid. The plates or sheets of dried pulp thus obtained
are cut into lozenges by a set of blades set in a wooden block (shewn under-
neath, Figure 15), so as to leave square open spaces between them; this block
with its blades (shewn in section, Figure 16, through the line K¹³, K¹, and
Figure 17, through the line k, k,) is laid down under a screw press, the blades
being turned upwards; this block forms the bottom of a box in which the
sheets of dried pulp are laid above one another until it is almost filled, then a
flat block of wood fitting exactly in the box is brought down by the screw or
lever of the press, and as the sheets of pulp are cut into lozenges they fall
down into a box placed underneath..
My Invention being now herein-before described, I wish to have it under-
stood that I do not claim all the apparatus used to perform the work, as parts
thereof have already been applied to other purposes; but what I claim as of
my Invention is,-
Firstly, manufacturing a new alimentary product or article of food, being
the paste of cooked and dried rhubarb pulp.
Secondly, the combination of the process and apparatus described as appli-
cable for manufacturing paste of dried pulp of rhubarb.
Thirdly, the apparatus for cooking, drying, and spreading the pulp.
Fourthly, the application of the principle of preservation by dessication
in the manufacture of paste from the dried pulp of the rhubarb plant.
The whole essentially as herein-before described, set forth, and in part illus-
trated by the accompanying Sheet of Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Victor Mirland, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
EDW. RAPIN.
V. MIRLAND. (L.S.)