IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHITE LEAD, AND IN THE WORKING UP OF THE WASTE MATERIALS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Hills, of Warsash, in the Parish of Titchfield,
in the County of Southampton, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHITE LEAD, AND IN THE WORKING UP OF
THE WASTE MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Hills at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th Decem-
ber 1857.
I, EDWIN HILLS, of Warsash, in the Parish of Titchfield, in the County
of Southampton, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WHITE LEAD, AND IN THE WORKING
UP OF THE WASTE MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists, firstly, in burning off the sulphur from ores of lead
containing sulphur by means of furnaces formed of fire-clay, or brick retorts
or ovens in which the ore is placed and heat applied around it, the sulphur
being collected in close vessels or passed into chambers for making sulphuric
acid. In this part of the process, if the object is to produce sulphuric acid,
I pass as much air through the ore as is necessary to keep up a good com-
bustion; but if it is wished only to collect the sulphur, I shut off the air by
luting all up tight. After the oil is thus roasted I smelt it, taking out the
lead that it contains, which I place in tan beds in the usual way of white lead
making, and pass into the stacks so set a stream of acetic acid vapor, which
may be applied by one or more pipes in the lower front of the stack proceeding
from a still or boiler placed near the stacks, and the vapor should be intro-
duced as hot as possible; this gives heat to the whole stack and causes a
very speedy and perfect corrosion. When the lead is corroded I take down

page_text: the stacke, and subject the tan to distillation in retorts in the same manner
as wood is distilled, whereby I obtain acetic acid for making the next stacks
that are to be set.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edwin Hills in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th
June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
HILLS, of Warsash, in the Parish of Titchfield, in the County of Southamp-
ton, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edwin Hills, Her special licence, that I, the said Edwin Hills, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edwin
Hills, my executors, administrators, and 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
OP WHITE LEAD, AND IN THE WORKING UP OF THE WASTE MATERIALS," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edwin Hills, my exccutors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their bands and seals, 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 I, the said Edwin Hills, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in a process for manufacturing white lead from ores
of lend containing sulphur, and in working up waste materials. I proceed as
follows:-
I burn off the sulphur contained in the orcs by means of furnaces formed
of fire-clay, or brick retorts in which the ore is placed and heat applied
around it, the sulphur being collected in close vessels or passed into chambers

page_text: for making sulphuric acid. In this part of the process, if the object is to
produce sulphuric acid, I pass as much air through the ore as is necessary to
keep up a good combustion; but if it is intended only to collect the sulphur
I shut off the air by luting all up tight. After the ore is thus roasted I smelt
it, taking out the lead it contains, which I place in tan beds in the usual way
of white lead making, and pass into the stacks so set a stream of acetic acid
vapor, which may be applied by means of one or more pipes in the lower
part of the stack proceeding from a still or boiler placed near the stack, and
the vapor should be introduced as hot as possible; this gives heat to the
whole stack and causes a very speedy and perfect corrosion. When the lead
is corroded I take down the stack and subject tho tan thereof (either by
itself or with as much more spent tan from the tan yard as I find desirable)
to distillation in retorts in the same manner as wood is distilled, whereby
I obtain acetic acid for making the next stacks that are to be set, or for
market.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carry-
ing the same into effect, I proceed to state my claims in relation thereto,
which arc,-
Firstly, the manufacture of white lead from ores of lead containing sulphur
in the manner herein-above described.
Secondly, the passing of acetic acid vapour into the usual white lead stacks
for converting the lead into white lead, whatever may be the process by which
the lead operated upon is obtained.
Thirdly, the burning off the sulphur from the ores in ovens or retorts, so as
to obtain sulphur or sulphuric acid.
Fourthly, the using up the spent tan for making acetic acid or its salts,
in the manner herein-before described, either for white lead making or for
market.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Hills, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
JAMES MURDOCH,
7, Staple Inn, London.
EDWIN HILLS. (L.S.)