IMPROVEMENTS IN TREAT- ING OR PREPARING TEXTILE FABRICS, AND MATERIALS FOR INCREASING THE DENSITY THEREOF
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John McLean, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREAT-
ING OR PREPARING TEXTILE FABRICS, AND MATERIALS FOR INCREASING THE
DENSITY THEREOF."
Sealed the 23rd May 1856, and dated the 29th March 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John M'Lean at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th March 1856.
I, JOHN MOLEAN, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TREATING OR PREPARING TEXTILE FABRICS, AND MATERIALS FOR IN-
CREASING THE DENSITY THEREOF," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the application and use of a solution of salt of
barium, strontium, or calcium for increasing the density of textile fabrics and
materials. The cloth or yarns to be treated in this manner are immersed in a
solution of one or other of these salts, and afterwards passed through any
chemical solution, which will decompose such salts, and thus fix a white
precipitate upon the goods.. Various routines may be adopted in carrying out
this Invention practically, the result being a considerable improvement in.
the goods.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John MºLean in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MCLEAN, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John McLean, Her special license that I, the said John McLean,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John M Lean, my executors, administrators, or 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
TREATING OR PREPARING TEXTILE FABRICS, AND MATERIALS FOR INCREASING THE
DENSITY THEREOF;" upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John McLean, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John McLean, 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
statement in writing, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the application and use of a solution of a salt
of barium, strontium, or calcium for the purpose of increasing the density of
textile fabrics and materials of various kinds, and generally improving the
appearance of the treated fabrics and materials, and increasing the commercial
value of the same. The fibrous materials to be thus prepared, whether cotton
or flax, and in any stage of manufacture, from the raw fibres to the woven
cloth, are primarily dipped into a solution of either of the herein-before named
salts. The salt which I prefer for use in this way is the chloride of barium,
otherwise termed muriate of barytes. After this treatment, the dipped or
immersed materials are dried, and then passed through a solution of sulphuric

page_text: acid, or through a soluble compound of sulphuric or sulphurous acid with a
base, or through a solution of an alkaline carbonate. By this secondary
treatment a white precipitate is deposited and fixed upon the fibrous materials
or cloth, and this has the effect of adding to the density of such fibrous
materials or cloth, considerably increasing their commercial value. Any
chemical solution which will decompose the herein-before named salts may be
used, at the discretion of the operator, but I prefer to employ sulphuric acid
and its soluble compounds for this purpose. The drying process, after the
primary immersion in the salt, may be omitted, as it is not essential to the
practical success of my Invention, and the sequence of the operations may be
changed without materially interfering with the result.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of my Invention; 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,--
First, the system or mode of treating or preparing textile fabrics, and
materials for increasing the density thereof, as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use of a soluble salt of barium, strontium, or
calcium for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John McLean, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.