AN IMPROVED KIND OF CIGARETTES WITHOUT TOBACCO
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jeanne Fos, of Boulevard Saint Denis, No. 1, at Paris,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED KIND OF CIGARETTES WITHOUT TOBACCO."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jeanne Fos at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th July 1876.
JEANNE FOS, of Boulevard Saint Denis, No. 1, at Paris.
KIND OF CIGARETTES WITHOUT TOBACCO.".
"AN IMPROVED
My Invention consists in the employment of peppermint and of mints generally
for the manufacture of cigarettes in place of tobacco.
The
The leaves of the mint (mentha piperita) are dried and cut like tobacco, and
rolled in cigarette paper in the usual way. The cigarettes thus made are essentially
hygienic; in fact, mints are plants of the family of "labiates," that is to say,
instead of being poisonous like tobacco they are aromatic and refreshing.
smoking of these new cigarettes leaves the breath fresh and free from disagreeable
odour. Instead of producing like tobacco a dryness, more or less great, a sticki-
ness of the tongue, and an unpleasant after taste, my new cigarettes communicate
to the buccal mucus a piquant and delicious freshness; they stimulate the lingual
papillæ, leave after them a perfume which corrects the acidity of the breath peculiar
to some persons, and strengthen the gums.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Jeanne Fos in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th December
1876.
*
JEANNE FOS, of Boulevard Saint Denis, No. 1, at Paris. AN IMPROVED KIND
OF CIGARETTES WITHOUT TOBACCO."
My Invention consists in the employment of peppermint and of mints generally
for the manufacture of cigarettes in place of tobacco.
The leaves of the mint (mentha piperita) are dried and cut like tobacco, and
rolled in cigarette paper in the usual way. The cigarettes thus made are essentially
hygienic; in fact, mints are plants of the family of "labiates," that is to say, in-
stead of being poisonous like tobacco they are aromatic and refreshing.
[Price 2d.]
The

page_text: smoking of these new cigarettes leaves the breath fresh and free from disagreeable
odour. Instead of producing like-tobacco a dryness, more or less great, a stickiness
of the tongue and an unpleasant after taste, my new cigarettes communicate to the
buccal mucus a piquant and delicious freshness, they stimulate the lingual papillæ,
leave after them a perfume which corrects the acidity of the breath peculiar to some
persons, and strengthen the gums.
The mint which I employ for the manufacture of these cigarettes is gathered in
leaves. I burn in a suitable vessel alcohol of mint, I throw the mint leaves
therein, and immediately extinguish the flames of the bath of the alcohol of mint.
I allow the leaves to remain in this bath for about two days. This prolonged im-
mersion has the effect of depriving the mint of its green flavor, while imparting
to it a decided aroma. The mint leaves are taken out of the alcohol bath almost
dry, they are cut with scissors or mechanically rolled and mixed, if desired, with
tobacco leaves cut in the same manner, and they are wrapped in a paper to form a
cigarette.
For the manufacture of mixed cigarettes according to the same process I can
simply apply inside or outside tobacco cigars one or several mint leaves prepared as
above described. The mixed cigarettes or cigars made as above described are
essentially hygienic, while possessing the qualities which the smoker likes to
recognise in tobacco.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the employment of the leaves
of peppermint and of mints generally in the manufacture of cigarettes, substantially
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jeanne Fos, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty-second day of December, One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-six.
Witness,
ALBERT CAHEN,
Civil Engineer,
. Of Boulevard Saint Denis, No. 1,
at Paris.
JEANNE FOS. (L.S.)