IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF GLYCERINE, AND IN ITS APPLICATIONS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF GLYCERINE,
AND IN ITS APPLICATIONS."-A communication from Victor Courboulay, of
Paris, in the Empire of France, Chemical Engineer.
Scaled the 27th June 1854, and dated the 12th January 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th January 1854.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF
GLYCERINE, AND IN ITS APPLICATIONS," communicated to me by Victor Cour-
boulay, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Chemical Engineer, to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in the admixture of glycerine, either in combination
or solution with fatty matters, alcohol, acetic acid, water, &c., with all of which
it combines easily. Mixed with these matters it gives them the property of
readily combining with similar fatty and other matters. It may also be mixed
in certain proportions with hygienic and toilette vinaigers, cormetics, hydrolats,
alcoholas, eaux de Cologne, &c., for the purpose of reducing the rapid drying

page_text: or evaporating action of these liquids when on the skin without destroying
their tonic properties, causing them also to unite more intimately with the skin
without impeding the absorption or obstructing the pores. By admixing
glycerine with various liquids which it combines freely, they may be readily
combined with fatty matters, such as cold cream, pomades, oils, &c., thereby
also giving them the property of holding in suspension certain alcoholic dyes,
aqueous extracts, which have hitherto always separated after admixture. It
may also be applied to hair dyes and washers, hygienic bath, &c. The com-
mon glycerine is purified, in order to preserve it in an aqueous state, by
aromatic plants, balsams, salts, vinaigers, and alcohols. The bases of the above
may also be concentrated and charged with glycerine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
11th July 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
and of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF GLYCERINE, AND IN ITS APPLICATIONS," communicated
to me by Victor Courboulay, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Chemical
Engineer, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that 1, the said John Henry Johnson, 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, to be as follows:-
The said Invention relates to the admixture of glycerine, either in com-
bination or solution with fatty matters, alcohol, acetic acid, and water, with all
of which it combines easily. By admixture with these different liquids tho
glycerine imparts to them the property of combining readily with fatty and
other matters. It is proposed to employ glycerine in the manufacture of
hygienic vinaigres, cosmetics, toilette water, scented essences, and other
articles of perfumery, and suitable for toilette purposes, for the purpose of
counteracting the rapid drying or evaporating properties of the liquids to
which I have referred when applied to the skin, yet still leaving the tonic
effects of the applied matter in full vigour. The various balsams or resins
which have been hitherto employed for the purposes which I have mentioned
are always precipitated when in contact with water; whereas glycerine, which is
soluble in water, alcohol, or acetic acid, combines readily at the same time with
fatty matters, and will give to the treated preparations the property of uniting
more intimately with the skin of the human body, without interfering with the
absorption, by closing or filling up the pores of the skin. By admixture with
the various liquids with which it is soluable, the glycerine greatly facilitates
their mixture or combination with cold creams, pomades, and oils, and this
treatment enables them to hold in suspension in fatty matters certain alcoholic
dyes and aqueous extracts or productions which have hitherto separated again
after being mixed. It is also proposed to employ glycerine in the science of
medicine, not only as a useful material with its special properties, but also to
dissolve and combine the different salts, juices, fluids, liquids, and substances,
the dissolution, preservation, or admixture of which it facilitates. It is thus
that it facilitates the introduction in cerates or pomades, and combination
therewith, of liquid matters and vegetable juices. It will be found useful in the
preparation of liquid extracts or concentrated juices of medical aromatic or
other plants. Glycerine may also be employed in the extraction of aromatic
principles and essences, whatever may be the mode adopted or dissolvent used,
whether such dissolvent be water, alcohol, acetic acid, fatty matter, &c.; it
may be employed also in all cases which present new re-actions or combina-
tions, or which change the nature of medical products or products of perfumery,
as in the case herein-after given. The extract of sub-acetate of lead remains
(by the aid of glycerine) in solution in a large quantity of water without
alcohol, and no precipitate will be formed. Water and other liquids may be

page_text: combined with any cerate or pomade in large proportions, by means of
glycerine, without being obliged to have resource to a long process of beating,
which, by introducing air therein, causes the cerates or pomades to becomie
rancid or foul. Glycerine imparts to these various products certain hygienic
properties which have been hitherto unknown in the art of perfumery and
science of medicine. It is also proposed to employ glycerine as a vehicle for
all substances used in coloring or dyeing the hair, without reference the
peculiar properties of glycerine in preserving, beautifying, and regenerating the
growth of the hair and beard. It is also equally applicable to hair washes.
In the process of purifying, and for preserving the glycerine in a liquid state,
aromatic, balsamic, and other medical plants, salts, vinaigres, and alcohol are
used. Medical baths may also be prepared, which the concentration of
glycerine will render less expensive. It is also proposed to employ it in com-
bination with sea-water baths.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may he used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
The application and use of glycerine in the art of perfumery as well as in
the science of medicine, as herciu-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)