A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF TREATING TEAZLES OR THISTLES TO BE. USED IN THE TEAZLING OF CLOTHS AND STUFFS, AND OTHERWISE
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street, in
the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "A NEW OR
IMPROVED METHOD OF TREATING TEAZLES OR THISTLES TO BE. USED IN THE
TEAZLING OF CLOTHS AND STUFFS, AND OTHERWISE."-A communication from
abroad by Adolphe André Gohin; of Vire, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Brooman
at the Office of, the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th December 1861..
2
I RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for.
"A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF TREATING TEAZLES OR THISTLES TO BE USED IN.
THE TEAZLING OF CLOTHS AND STUFFS, AND OTHERWISE," (communicated to me
from abroad, by Adolphe André Gobin, of Vire, France,) to be as follows:---
The object of this Invention is to maintain the natural, thistle (dipsacus
fullonum) intended to be used in teazling cloths and stuffs, and otherwise, in.
a perfect state, of, preservation, to prevent decomposition, and to impart to
the hooked ends of its fibres such an extent of resistance as will prevent their
turning over at work, while at the same time the flexibility of the fibres is
fully preserved..

page_text: The Invention consists in treating the thistles with sulphate of copper, an
antiseptic and preserving agent. The process consists in impregnating the
fibres with a solution of the sulphate of copper by immersion, infiltration, and
under pressure, or otherwise. The proportion the Inventor prefers to use is
four to six pounds of sulphate of copper to one hundred quarts of water.
The solution may be used hot or cold. Although it is preferable to use
sulphate of copper alone, yet other antiseptic agents may be mixed with it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th June 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, 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 Eleventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord. One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth 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 execu-
tors, 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF TREATING TEAZLES OR
THISTLES TO BE USED IN THE TEAZLING OF CLOTHS AND STUFFS, AND OTHERWISE," (a
communication from abroad. by Adolphe André Gohin, of Vire, France,) upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their bands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
thin 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:

page_text: performed, to be 'particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol
lowing statement thereof, that is to say:
The object of this Invention is to maintain the natural teazle or thistle,
(dipsacus füllönum) intended to be used in teazling cloths and stuffs, and
otherwise in a perfect. state of preservation, to prevent decomposition; and to.
impart to the hooked ends of its fibres such. an extent of resistance as will
prevent their turning over at work,. while at the same time the flexibility, of
the fibres is fully preserved.
The Invention consists in treating the thistles with sulphate of copper,lan
antiseptic and preserving agent. The process consists in impregnating the
fibres with a solution of the sulphate of copper by immersion, 'infiltration, and
under pressure, or otherwise. Sulphate of copper is preferred, but it may be
employed in combination with other chemical agents; sulphate of zinc, although
not so favourable, to the process, may be substituted for the sulphate.of.copper,
the essential feature in the Invention being the mineralizing or treating of the
natural teazle or thistle in order to increase its durability by impregnating it
with some metallic solution. Thus when sulphate of copper is employed as
the mineral agent, I form a-bath or a minero-metallic solution in the pro-
portion of about six pounds of sulphate of copper to one hundred quarts of
water; the solution may be applied cold or hot. The teaźles or tllisties are
immersed in the bath, which may be open, or it may be hermetically closed,
and the impregnation may be caused under pressure, or the solution may be
drawn through the thistles by suction. I prefer to use the sulphate of copper
alone on account of the resistance, elasticity, and preservation which this agent
imparts to the thistles, and the harmlessness of its action on the cloths and stuff's
treated by them; still the sulphate of copper may be used with any other mineral
agent, such as sulphate of zinc, or even the sulphate of zinc may be substituted
for the copper. The thistles are. transformed by this process into a sort of
vegeto-mineral, and in addition to their increased resistance and elasticity are.
capable of being used over again, and of having another face presented for
work after being once used. Thistles when mineralized are not spongy, they
dry rapidly, and may be used damp, as they possess the property of working
under the action of water without deterioration or decomposition, advantages
which natural unprepared thistles do not possess. Natural unprepared thistles
can only be used dry, they become heated, germinate and rot like every other
unprepared vegetable. The action of thistles prepared in this manner upon
cloths is even and regular, while from the flexibility and elasticity of the hooked
ends they are not torn off as when unprepared thistles are used. By means of

page_text: this process the thistles may be used almost immediately. after they are
gathered, thus no time is lost as heretofore in drying them. .
.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not limit myself to
the proportions of materials before given, to the duration of the operation, nor
to the precise agents mentioned, for the same may be varied without departing
from this Invention; but what I claim as the new or improved method of
treating teazles or thistles to be used in the teazling of cloths and stuffs,
and otherwise, is treating or preserving natural teazles or thistles by immersing
them in a hot or cold mineral solution, consisting by preference of sulphate of
copper, either alone or in combination with mineral, antiseptic, and preserving
agents, all as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have,here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of June, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)