IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF STEEL
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Prange, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF STEEL."-A communication from abroad by Isidore Rosenthal
and Ferdinand Gierow, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
Sealed the 4th May 1866, and dated the 7th November 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Prange at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
November 1865.
I, FRANCIS PRANGE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF STEEL," a communication to me from abroad by Isidore
Rosenthal and Ferdinand Gierow, of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia,
to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the manufacture of cast steel from ordinary scrap
or other malleable iron. In carrying out this Invention the iron is to be
melted in crucibles or furnaces as is well understood, and borax, carbonate
of cadmium, the nut of the horse chestnut, ground to meal, the tartar argols
of commerce, and common wood charcoal are added. In case a hard steel is

page_text: required the juice of the onion is also added. The whole of these materials
are melted together, and the result obtained is a steel of the highest class.
The proportions of the above ingredients for, say 1 cwt. of iron, which
have been found to produce a good result are as follows:-
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Prange in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
4th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
PRANGE, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the 29th year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Francis Prange, Her special license that I, the said Francis
Prange, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Francis Prange, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF STEEL," a communication to me from
abroad by Isidore Rosenthal and Ferdinand Gierow, of Berlin, in the King-
dom of Prussia, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis
Prange, my executors or administrators, 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 1, the said Francis Prange, 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 following
statement, that is to say:-
My said Invention consists in the manufacture of cast steel from ordinary
scrap or other malleable iron. In carrying out this Invention the iron is to be
melted in crucibles or furnaces as is well understood, and borax, carbonate of
cadmium, the nut of the horse chestnut ground to meal, the tartar argols of
commerce, and common wood charcoal are added. In case a hard steel is
required the juice of the onion is also added. The whole of these materials
are melted together and the result obtained is a steel of the highest class.
The proportions of the above ingredients for, say one hundredweight of
iron, which have been found to produce a good result, are as follows:-
Borax
Carbonate of cadmium
Horse chestnut meal
Tartar argols
Charcoal
-
The juice of four white onions (when employed).
-
lb.
-
to lb.
lb.
-
lb.
-
lb.
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 would observe in conclusion that 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, the application and use to and in
the manufacture of cast steel from ordinary scrap or other malleable iron of
the ingredients herein-before set forth, substantially in the manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Prange, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.
FRANCIS PRANGE. (LS.)