PROCESS OF TREATING FISH-ROE, WHEREBY THE SAME YIELDS A SUBSTITUTE FOR ALBUMEN
Year: 1885

page_text: BUITICATION.
I, EDWARD EMERSON WATERS, of New York, in the county and State of New
York, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
my invention for "PROCESS OF TREATING FISH-ROE, WHEREBY THE SAME YIELDS
A SUBSTITUTE FOR ALBUMEN," and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I here give
a description of the process: The roe may be used fresh or after being preserved
by the use of salt or other antiseptic. I first wash with water the sacs containing
the eggs, in order to remove blood, salt and other impurities. I then split the
sacs and scrape out the eggs into three or four times their weight of water to
which is added from two to five per cent of double aqua ammoniae. The eggs are
digested in this liquid for 24 hours or more, and the solution so obtained is strained
through a cloth. In some cases I simply evaporate the strained solution at a heat
not exceeding 150 degrees Fahrenheit, and thus obtain the substance sufficiently
pure for some uses.
The
But to produce a purer article, I add to the strained solution muriatic, acetic,
sulphuric, or other acid in sufficient quantity to neutralize the ammonia and thereby
precipitate the dissolved organic matter in the form of curd or flocks.
precipitate is washed with water to remove all saline matter, and then collected on
a filter. When sufficiently drained, it is put in a press and subjected to a gradually
increased pressure till it becomes a firm cake, retaining very little water. The
cake may then be carefully dried by itself, but in order to prevent any injurious
oxidation in drying, I find it best to moisten the cake with enough Aqua Ammoniae
to bring it into a gelatinous condition, so that during the subsequent drying the
action of the air will be confined to the surface.
I do not limit myself to the use of ammonia, which acts merely by virtue of its
alkaline character, but I employ also very weak solutions of caustic potash or soda
or of the carbonates of potash and soda, or of salts that have an alkaline reaction.
The essential point is to have an alkaline liquid as a solvent because neither water
nor acids will dissolve the desired substance out of the eggs. Nor do I limit
myself to any particular percentage of alkali, but I use just as little of the alkaline
substance as I find by special experiment to be sufficient for effecting the solution,
ID 07

page_text: When the product is to be used for food, it is simply ground and is then ready
for use as an ingredient in various culinary compounds.
When it is to be used for attaching pigment colors to cloth or paper, it is
dissolved in water with the help of a little ammonia. When this solution is
mixed with the pigment and printed on a fabric the ammonia flies off in drying,
leaving the substance insoluble in water.
By steaming printed cloth the new fixing material is coagulated and thus forms
a binding agent as efficient as albumen.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
First: The process of treating roe or eggs of fishes for obtaining a substitute
for albumen, consisting first in dissolving the roe by means of ammonia and then
precipitating the same by treatment with an acid.
Second: The process of treating roe or eggs of fishes for obtaining a substitute
for albumen, which consists in digesting the roe in a solution of ammonia or its
specified equivalent; then precipitating by the acids named, and washing, pressing,
and drying.