IMPROVED APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR PRESERVING FRESH MEAT AND OTHER ANIMAL FOOD, FISH, POULTRY, AND GAME, ALSO INGREDIENTS, MATTERS, OR SUBSTANCES TO BE USED IN COMBINATION WITH THE SAID APPARATUS
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Howard Richmond at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th May 1869.
I, EDWARD HOWARD RICHMOND, of 49, King William Street, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR PRESERVING FRESH MEAT AND
OTHER ANIMAL FOOD, FISH, POULTRY, AND GAME, ALSO INGREDIENTS, MATTERS,
OR SUBSTANCES TO BE USED IN COMBINATION WITH THE SAID APPARATUS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention consists, first, of apparatus of novel and improved
construction to contain the fresh meat or other animal food which is to
be preserved; and, secondly, of a novel and improved mode of arranging
or disposing and operating with certain ingredients, matters, or sub-
stances in the said apparatus for effecting the preservation of the food
placed therein for a very considerable length of time.
The following is an example of the construction of the above-men-
tioned apparatus, and the ingredients, matters, or substances to be used
therewith, and the manner of arranging or disposing and operating
therewith.

page_text: First, as regards the apparatus, it consists of the following parts:—
A rectangular or other shaped tank or vessel formed of plates of
galvanized iron, the sides of the said tank are perforated, and the top and
bottom plates are formed solid, an opening or man-hole being left
through the top of the tank for access to the inside thereof, which is
fitted with two, three, or more rows of shelves fixed to two opposite sides
of the said tank, and extending from end to end thereof. I propose to
fix the said shelves one above the other about four feet apart, leaving
a clear space between them in the middle of the tank for persons to
stow away the meat that is to be preserved. I propose to make the
top of the tank of a convex form. The tank thus constructed I
surround and enclose by another tank about six feet larger in width and
length than the former tank, and securely fix the outer tank to the
bottom plate of the inner tank so as to leave a clear space all round
between the two tanks of about three feet, and this space I fill with
blocks of ice and cover in air-tight with sheets of galvanized iron.
Those parts of the bottom of the tank that come between the two tanks
I form perforated for the passage of water from the ice, the water passing
into a reservoir formed by making another bottom about nine inches
from the first bottom; this outer tank I entirely surround or enclose
with a structure or wall and roof of brickwork run in or built with
cement concreted, leaving a space of about four inches between the sides
and top of the outermost tank and the inner surface of the said wall.
The wall I make about eighteen inches thick at the sides thereof, and
about nine inches at the roof. The four-inch space above mentioned I
fill with animal charcoal or other non-conductor of heat; and, finally,
cover the before-mentioned man-hole with an air-tight lid.
In using an apparatus thus constructed the meat is passed through
the man-hole and stowed away on the bottom of the tank and the shelves
thereof by a man, or the meat may be suspended from rods suitably
placed, and when filled the man retires and closes the man-hole air-
tight; after which, by means of a pipe fixed into one side of the tank,
carbonic acid gas is forced into the tank by any suitable means, and in
this manner and by these means I am enabled to preserve fresh meat for
many months.
In importing fresh meat by sea from distant countries I propose to
fix the apparatus in the ship's hold, in which case the shape of the
apparatus will be in accordance with the shape and size of the ship.

page_text: As the tank will require to be opened from time to time to remove the
joints therefrom for a ship's use, for example, it will be necessary at
such times after the man-hole has been closed to inject or force in
more carbonic acid gas, and this applies to the apparatus when used on
shore by meat salesmen or butchers, hotel and housekeepers, and large
public establishments, barracks, hospitals, and for the use of the army.