Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
GWYNNE, of Princes Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, and GEORGE FERGUSSON WILSON, of Belmont, Vauxhall, in the
County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twentieth day of May, in the seventh year of Her reign,
did for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
George Gwynne and George Fergusson Wilson, our exors, admors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said
George Gwynne and George Fergusson Wilson, our exors, admors, and
assigns, and every of us, by ourselves, or by our deputy or deputies, servants
or agents, or such others as we, the said George Gwynne and George
Fergusson Wilson, our exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree
with and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter, during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man,
and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, our Inven-

page_text: tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN FATTY OR OILY MATTERS, AND
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES AND SOAP;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso requiring us, the said George Gwynne and George
Fergusson Wilson, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one
of us, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
George Gwynne and George Fergusson Wilson, do hereby declare that the
nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, are fully and particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof (that is to say):-
The first part of our Invention relates to the fatty or oily matters called
cocoa-nut oil and lard, which being, as is well known, of an intermediate con-
sistence between the tallow of which common candles are usually made and
the liquid oils, are not well adapted either for candles or lamp oil without
being first subjected to suitable processes for the purpose of separating the
component parts thereof, and thus obtaining solid and liquid matters therefrom.
The manufacture or treatment of cocoa-nut oil in this manner has been
carried on for several years past on a considerable scale under Letters Patent
originally granted to James Soames the younger, and recently extended in
favour of his assignees. And similar processes have been used or proposed
with reference to lard, though this latter article has not yet been introduced in
the manufacture of candles on an equally large scale with the former; and
cocoa-nut oil has also been used in its raw state as imported for mixing with
tallow, and products of tallow and lard has been or might be similarly used.
Now the first part of our Invention relates principally to a mode of treating
cocoa-nut oil and lard by subjecting these substances to the action of alkalies
for the purpose of purifying and bleaching, or otherwise improving the same;
and in order that our mode of effecting this part of our Invention may be
fully understood and readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe the
best means we are acquainted with for performing the same:-In a suitable
vessel (say a wrought-iron cistern), with an ordinary free steam worm, are placed
about two tons of crude cocoa-nut oil or lard, and steam is turned on. As
soon as it issues freely through the oil a solution composed of one hundred and
sixty pounds of common carbonate of soda (which we believe to be the most

page_text: As
suitable alkali for the purpose), dissolved in eighty gallons of hot water, is
gradually admitted, and the boiling is continued for ten or twelve hours.
the mixture froths very much the solution should be added very cautiously and
at intervals. At the end of this time about two tons of water, which should
be as free from earthy salts as possible) is gradually added, and the ebullition
continued for about ten minutes longer, when the steam is shut off and the
mixture allowed to repose in a place sufficiently warm to keep it liquid for
about twelve hours. The solution and water, which will in a great measure
have settled to the bottom of the vessel, are then drawn off by a cock placed
in the bottom of the cistern, and the cocoa-nut oil or lard is to be boiled up by
free steam with about two tons of fresh water for one hour, and then allowed
to settle in a place sufficiently warm to keep it liquid for about twelve hours;
the water is then drawn off and the above processes of boiling and settling
are to be repeated until the matter under process ceases to have a soapy
appearance; it should then be filtered or allowed to subside in a place suffi-
ciently warm to keep it liquid until it settles down quite bright, when it is fit
for use. We would here observe, that the saponifying of fatty and oily matters
by alkaline agents being well known, we do not claim the treating of cocoa-
nut oil or lard with alkalies where the same are so applied as to convert the
matter treated into soap. The purified cocoa-nut oil or lard obtained by the
above-mentioned processes, or by other suitable treatment of the crude cocoa-
nut oil or lard with alkalies to purify the same, may be used (in a manner
similar to that in which the same substances not so purified are now used)
for mixing with tallow or other suitable fatty materials in the manu-
facture of candles; or they may be subjected to pressure, and the harder
products obtained by such pressure may be made into candles in a manner
similar to that in which cocoa-nut candles are now made; or the same may
be combined with stearic acid, or other suitable materials, in the manufacture
of candles (in a manner similar to that in which composite candles are now
made, except that a larger proportion of stearic acid is desirable for mixing
with lard than with cocoa-nut oil, owing to the former not being equally
combustible); or the said harder products obtained by pressure may be con-
verted into acids, and so applied in the manufacture of candles; but we would
observe that we prefer to apply such products in the manufacture of candles
without so converting the same into acids. We would also observe, that
instead of treating the crude cocoa-nut oil and lard with alkalies to purify the
same, the products obtained by the pressure thereof might be so treated, but
we prefer to operate as above described. Cocoa-nut oil and lard treated with
alkalies to purify the same can also be applied in the manufacture of soap, but

page_text: we prefer to apply the same to the manufacture of candles, as above described.
We would observe, however, that the mode of applying the same to the
manufacture of soap may be similar to that in which the crude cocoa-nut
oil and lard respectively. have been already so applied! The expressed oil from
the purified cocoa-nut'oil or lard, after being filtered, is suitable for the purposes
of lubricating machinery and' for. burning in lamps:
"
The second part of our Invention relates to palm oil. In the Specifications
enrolled under certain Letters Patent granted respectively to William Coley
Jones and the said George Fergusson Wilson, on the Eighth day of December
One thousand eight hundred and forty-two, and to ourselves on the Sixteenth day
of November, One thousand eight hundred and forty-three, are described modes of
distilling various fatty and oily substances after the same have been treated with
sulphurous acid gas, or sulphuric acid, or nitric or nitrous acid, or nitrous fumes;
or saponified with lime, alkali, alkaline earth, or metallic oxide; and the said
first-mentioned Specification also contemplates a previous process of distillation
with steam as a preparatory step to the treating thereof with nitric or nitrous
acid or nitrous fumes. Now we have discovered that the products obtained
by. the distillation in an atmosphere of a suitable gaseous body of palm oil in
its crude state as imported can be applied to the manufacture of candles
without treating such products with nitric or nitrous acid, or nitrous fumes, as
proposed by the said Specification of William Coley Jones and George
Fergusson Wilson. And in order that this second part of our Invention may
be fully understood and readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe
the best means we are acquainted with for performing the same. The
distillation of palm oil in an atmosphere of a suitable gaseous body (steam
being the gaseous body which we believe to be the best for the purpose), may
be effected by the means described in the said Specification, enrolled under our
said Letters Patent of the Sixteenth day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-three, or by other suitable means; and we boil up the
distilled product with its volume of water acidulated with sulphuric acid by
means of free steam admitted through a worm (which is a process well known
in treating fatty matters), for about one hour. After the acidulated water
has settled down, and has been drawn off, the product may be applied as
herein-after mentioned; but we prefer first to subject such product to a repe-
tition of the above processes of distillation, and boiling with acidulated water.
When the product of the second distillation has had time to cool we subject it
to pressure (which being a well-known process need not be described). The
harder product of the above-mentioned process of pressure may be made into
candles in a manner similar to that in which "stearine wax" candles are made,

page_text: or other suitable manner, or mixed with stearic acid or other suitable fatty
materials, in the manufacture of candles; or the entire product of the first or
second distillation may be mixed with harder materials in the manufacture of
candles, or applied in the manufacture of soap. The manner of operating
which we have found preferable is to distil over only about half of the palm
oil under process in the first distillation, and to distil over in the second distil-
lation as much of the product obtained by the first distillation as can be
conveniently distilled over, and to apply the product of the second distillation
in the manufacture of candles, as above described, and the residuums of both
distillations in the manufacture of soap. The manner of making soap of the
distilled product may be similar to that used in the manufacture of soap from
tallow oil, and the residuums may be converted into soap by methods similar
to that employed for making soap from ordinary palm oil. Another mode of
dealing with the residuums is to convert them into fatty acids by means similar
to those used in the manufacture of stearic acid, or by other suitable means,
and to distil the fatty acids so obtained and press the distilled product, and
apply the harder acid product of such process of pressure to the manufacture
of candles, all which may be effected in the manner similar to that described
in our said former Specification relative to residuums, or by other suitable
means, or the entire product of the last-mentioned distillation may be applied
unpressed in the manufacture of candles.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the best means we
are acquainted with for carrying it into effect, we would have it further under-
stood that our Invention consists in the following particulars, that is to say,-
First, we claim the treating of cocoa-nut oil with alkalies to purify the
same, and we claim the pressing of the product so obtained, and we claim the
application of the same product with or without pressing in the manufacture
of candles and soap.
Secondly, we claim the treating of lard with alkalies to purify the same,
and we claim the pressing of the product so obtained, and we claim the
application of the same product with or without pressing in the manufacture
of candles and soap.
Thirdly, we claim the pressing of the product obtained by the distillation in
an atmosphere of a suitable gaseous body of palm oil, not previously treated
with sulphurous acid gas or sulphuric acid, or nitric or nitrous acid, or nitrous
fumes, or with lime, alkalies, alkaline earths, or metallic oxides, as above
mentioned or referred to, and we claim the application of the product of such
distillation, whether pressed or unpressed, in the manufacture of candles and
soap, as above described; and,

page_text: Fourthly, we claim the application to the manufacture of candles and soap
of a residuum obtained in the distillation in an atmosphere of a suitable
gaseous body of palm oil not previously treated as aforesaid.
In witness whereof, we, the said George Gwynne and George Fergusson
Wilson, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Nineteenth day of 5
November, One thousand eight hundred and forty-four.