IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING OR MANUFACTURING ORCHIL AND CUDBEAR
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ROBINSON, of Huddersfield, in the County of York, Orchil and Cudbear
Manufacturer; send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Thirtieth day of
August, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the thirteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unito
me, the said James Robinson, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said James
Robinson, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others. as I, the said James
Robinson, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times '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, my Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING OR MANUFACTURING ORCHIL AND CUDBEAR;"" in'
which said Letters Patent is contained" a proviso that I," the said James
Robinson, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed; by a instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her 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, I, the said
James Robinson, do hereby declare the nature of my said 'Invention, and

page_text: the manner of performing the same, are fully described and ascertained in.
and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
Heretofore when manufacturing orchil and cudbear the practise has been
to take the ground lichens and mix them into a paste by the addition of
liquid ammonia, and then to submit that paste to the action of the atmosphere;
but, in consequence of its being in a thick mass, a considerable length of time
is occupied in turning. it over and over so that all the surfaces may be acted
upon by the atmosphere, and, consequently, the manufacture is attended with
considerable difficulty and expence.
Now, my Invention consists of causing the mass of the lichens and liquid
ammonia (the lichens being ground and prepared in the ordinary manner
with liquid ammonia) to be forced through small orifices or openings of any
required form into vessels or receivers, by which the atmospheric air will act
upon the extended surfaces of the paste thus obtained not only as it passes
through, but also whilst remaining in the vessel or receiver, and by which the
length of time occupied in this manufacture will be considerably shortened.
In carrying out my Invention I do not confine myself to any particular
description of machinery, for it will be evident that machinery may be
arranged for this purpose in various ways, but I prefer to employ a cylinder
with the bottom perforated with numerous small holes of about the eighth
of an inch diameter, and having a piston or plunger by which the matters
will be driven through in minute subdivision; and I cause the matters to be
thus subdivided twice a day for obtaining paste orchil, and I find it desirable
to continue the process for about three days; but this may be varied.
Another part of my Invention consists of a mode of drying paste orchil
for the purpose of converting it into cudbear. I take the orchil paste after
it has passed through a machine or subdivided as above described, or I take
orchil paste prepared in the ordinary way, and cause it to be passed through a
machine of a similar character to that described above for manufacturing
orchil, and so that it will fall lightly on to a surface for the purpose of drying,
-and-when dry-it-will_be_fit_to_be_ground according to the ordinary plan.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not claim the
mixing lichens with liquid ammonia, nor do I confine myself to the precise.
detail herein given, so long as the peculiar character of my Invention be
retained. But what I claim in preparing or manufacturing orchil and
cudbear is,-
.
First, the causing the paste to be passed through orifices or openings,
whereby the surfaces thereof are more largely exposed to atmospheric air.