CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LOZENGES OR SWEETMEATS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
LUCAS, of Aldersgate Street, in the City of London, Lozenge Manufacturer,
send greeting.
my
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the
tenth year of Her reign, did give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Lucas,
exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Thomas Lucas, my exors, adñiors, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said Thomas Lucas, my exors, adiñors, or 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 mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the United.
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of
Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney; Sark, and Man, and in all Her Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
LOZENGES OR SWEETMEATS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained
a proviso, requiring that I, the said Thomas Lucas, shall particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and
cause the same to be enrolled in-Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in
part recited Letters Patent, as, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Lucas, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by this present instrument in writing, as follows (that
is to say):
:-
My said Invention consists of combinations of isinglass and gelatin together
with sugar for the purpose of forming the bases of lozenges or sweetmeats,
which may be colored, flavored, or medicated, in any manner that may be
required. For the purpose of making a solution of isinglass, which is required
to be prepared in the manufacture of the bases of lozenges and sweetmeats,
according to my said Invention, I prefer to use that quality or description of
isinglass which is known in commerce as book isinglass, because I have been
able to make the solution of isinglass more cheaply from that description of
isinglass than any other. In order to make a solution of isinglass of this
description, I first steep it in acidulated water, so as to render it more soluble,
and for this purpose I take seven parts by weight of the isinglass and throw
it into a tub or any other convenient vessel, to which I add as much water as
will be just sufficient to cover the isinglass; I then add an acid to the water
and I prefer to use acetic acid, and to add such a quantity of that acid to the
water in the tub or vessel as will be equivalent to one part by weight of the
acetic acid, known as aciduus aceticum fortisseum, of the specific gravity of
1.04 to every seven parts by weight of the water. I allow the isinglass to
remain in the acidulated water four days, and then pour off the water, which
may be preserved for the purpose of operating upon some other quantity of
isinglass. When the acidulated water has once been used in the preparation
of isinglass as already described, it will be found that a portion of the acid has
been absorbed by the isinglass, and therefore, when the water is again used an
additional quantity of acid must be added to it so as to make it of the strength
already mentioned. This will easily be done by ascertaining the specific
gravity of a mixture of seven parts of the water used by the manufacturer
and one of the acid of the strength already mentioned. And when acidulated
water has once been used, as before mentioned, a sufficient quantity of fresh
acid may be added so as to make the acidulated water of the specific gravity
and strength required, for the purpose of again fitting it to be applied in the
preparation of isinglass, as herein-before described. The isinglass, which has
been operated upon in this way, is then to be repeatedly washed until it is

page_text: .
purified from the acid, and I continue the washing until the water in which
it is washed is, no longer rendered: acidulous:: For this purpose I change the
water in the..vessel containing: the isinglass three times per day for; about
three or four days, each time the water is changed care being taken to press
out of the isinglass as much of the water as conveniently may be. In order to
ascertain whether water, which has been used for washing.isinglass in this
way, is acidulous or not. I employ the ordinary test, paper and continue the
washing until the test paper ceases to indicate the presence of any acid in the
water used for that purpose: The isinglass. thus prepared is then 'to be placed
in a copper pan or any other convenient vessel for the purpose of being
boiled, a small quantity of water being added, to it, just sufficient to dissolve
the isinglass (when boiled) and no more... And if the isinglass, after being
prepared and washed as before: described, were to be put into the boiler
without having the water pressed out of it, it would not need any further
addition of water.: for.the.. purpose of being boiled. I prefer to boil the
isinglass by means of a steamjeti or steam jets thrown into the water in the
pan or vessel; because: I am thus enabled to make my solution of isinglass
much more concentrated and more. economically than if I were to boil it in
a vessel over a fire, for .the.:tendency of those portions of the isinglass next
the bottom of a vessel. in. which it is 'boiled by means of tire would render it
necessary to add a larger quantity of water to the isinglass, when it is boiled
in that way, and to stir the contents of the vessel, continually, during the
process of boiling. The boiling, of the isinglass is to be continued until the
soluble portion.of.it or as much of it, as practicable, has been dissolved. If
the bisinglass be of the quality, of common book isinglass, before mentioned,
the solution will be effected.in-about six hours, after which the contents of the
boiler must be left to settle for an hour, and the solution then drawn off into
another vessel. If the .isinglass! intended to be used should be of a better
quality or description than book isiniglass, the, time-consumed. in, the process
of steeping it in acidulated water may be shortened, or that process altogether
omitted according to the: quality of the singlass, that process being unne-
cessary. if. the r best isinglass.is used, and such isinglass may at once.be
dissolved. by boiling without undergoing any previous process, or preparation.
And if the:isinglass to be used should be of such better quality or description
as I have before mentioned, it will be requisite to boil it a much shorter time
for the purposé of dissolving "the.soluble portion of it....
..A solution of isinglass having been obtained by the means herein-before
described, it must be placed in a copper, or metallic pan, and clarified by
boiling.it until as many, as practicable of the opaque or undissolved particles

page_text: which remain in the solution rise to the top in the shape of scum.
This scum
must be removed from time to time as it rises, and the boiling must be con-
tinued until the solution ceases to throw up any more scum. I prefer to
use a steam pan for the purpose of clarifying a solution of isinglass in the
way already described, because in a steam pan I can clarify the solution in
a more concentrated state, and without the risk of burning or injuring the
solution, which must be run if the pan were to be heated by fire. The solution
of isinglass is then to be filtered through flannel or any other convenient
filter for the purpose of separating from it any remaining extraneous
substances.
To a solution of isinglass made from seven parts by weight of book isinglass,
in manner already described, I add twenty-four parts by weight of gelatin as
free from taste and smell as practicable, and as much sugar as may be
necessary to make the intended lozenges or sweetmeats agreeable to the palate.
The solution must be kept at a heat of about one hundred and forty degrees of
Fahrenheit's thermometer in a steam pan or other vessel suitable for the
purpose, and the contents of the pan stirred until the whole of the gelatin
and sugar are dissolved in and amalgamated with the liquid or solution of
isinglass. When the solution of isinglass intended to be used has been
prepared from seven parts by weight of isinglass of better quality than book
isinglass, it will form a stronger solution or a larger quantity of solution of
isinglass, and therefore a proportionably larger quantity of gelatin and sugar
must in such a case be added to the solution of isinglass. Compound
solutions of isinglass, gelatin, and sugar made in this way are intended to form
the bases of lozenges or sweetmeats made according to my said Invention,
and the description or quality of the lozenges or sweetmeats to be produced
may be varied at pleasure by increasing or diminishing the proportion of sugar
which is added to the solution, and by adding tartaric acid, medicines, or
coloring or flavoring materials to the solution before it is cooled and dried.
The compound solution having been made, and if intended, also coloured,
acidulated, medicated, or flavored, in the required manner, is to be left in a
state of rest and allowed to cool in the pan for about half an hour, so that
the air bubbles and scum (if any) contained in the solution may rise to the
top. If there be any froth or scum at the top of the solution at the end of
this time, it is to be skimmed off, and then the solution must be put into tins
of any convenient shape and size, and when cold the sheets or pieces are to be
taken out of the tins, placed upon net trays (or netted twine stretched in
frames), and dried in a chamber at the temperature of about eighty-four
degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. When the sheets or pieces have been

page_text: sufficiently dried for cutting, which will generally be the case at the end of
three or four days (according to the state of the atmosphere), they may (if
desired) be cut up or formed into lozenges or sweetmeats of the shapes or
description which may be required. The lozenges and sweetmeats when cut
up must be placed upon cloth trays, and kept in a chamber at the temperature
just mentioned until the lozenges or sweetmeats are sufficiently dried so as to
be preserved from spoiling, and this will generally be effected in from two to
three days according to the state of the atmosphere. The lozenges or sweet-
meats may then be put into boxes, or kept in bulk for sale, as may be
required.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be performed, I hereby declare that I claim as my said Inven-
tion the combinations of isinglass, gelatin, and sugar, herein-before described,
for the purpose of manufacturing lozenges and sweetmeats.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Lucas, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
THOMAS (L.S.) LUCAS.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-seventh day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Thomas Lucas came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.