IMPROVE- MENTS IN BREWING, DISTILLING, AND RECTIFYING
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CONRAD
MONTGOMERY, of the Army and Navy Club, Saint James' Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Third day of
December (One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine), in the thirteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Conrad, Montgomery, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her.
especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Conrad Montgomery, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Conrad Montgomery, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in
all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BREWING, DISTILLING, AND RECTIFYING;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Conrad Montgomery, should.cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Conrad Montgomery, hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Firstly, my Invention consists of an improved method of obtaining alcoholic
spirit from vegetable substances, which is more especially applicable to sub-
stances of low saccharine properties; that is to say, containing sugar, but not
in sufficient quantities to warrant the treatment of them for the extraction of
sugar alone. I take the substance-say for example, the sawdust of fir or
other wood and subject it to the action of steam of considerable pressure,
until it attains to a pulpy or pasty state, I then convert it into gum by adding
strong sulphuric acid in the proportion of about one part (by weight) of the
acid to one thousand parts of the vegetable mass. I next boil the gum in
water until it is changed into sugar. When this change has been completed
I add a quantity of chalk in order to neutralize the sulphuric acid, and then
subject the mass to fermentation in the usual way, and distil it over.
Secondly, my Invention consists of certain improvements in the process of
distilling. Figure 1 is a side elevation of a distilling apparatus embodying
these improvements. Figure 2 is a sectional elevation of the part of the
apparatus above the stage S, and between the still head H and condenser R,
to which part my improvements have more particular reference. A is a
receiving vessel into which the spritous vapour passes over from the still
head H. A', A¹ are six (or more) shallow pans with perforated bottoms (to
allow of the spiritous vapour passing through), which are mounted at top of
the receiver A, each pan fitting into that beneath it and forming a cover to it,
with the exception always of the first pan which fits into the receiver A.-
These pans are in the body part a, a, of a hemispherical form, but terminate
in straight bottoms b, b, and they are divided interiorly by partitions c, c, into
two circular compartments d', d². A plan of one of these pans is given
separately in Figure 3. The centre compartiment d of each pan is filled to
about the height shewn with charcoal or any any other suitable filtering
material, and imbedded in this filtering material there is a coil of pipes e, e,
through which cold water is kept constantly flowing. Each coil is supplied

page_text: from a stand pipe B, and the water, after circulating through the coil, dis-
charges itself into the outer circular compartment of the pan d', from which
again it passes off into a discharge pipe E. A constant circulation of cold
water is thus kept up through and around the filtering medium, which keeps
it at a temperature exceedingly favorable to the separation of the essential
oil from the spirit in the course of its upward passage through the filtering
pans. From the last pan the purified spirit is carried over by a pipe F into
the condenser R. A modification of the preceding arrangement is exhibited
in Figures 4 and 5. Here the filtering material is contained in a number of
cylinders set upright within a circular vessel G, and provided with perforated
bottoms, through which the spiritous vapour ascends, and cold water is kept
continually circulating round and between these cylinders. Both of the
arrangements described may be used either for distilling or rectifying; that is
to say, for distilling from the wash or for rectifying raw spirit. And,
Thirdly, my Invention consists of another improved method of rectifying or
purifying spirits. I make use for this purpose of a close vessel, which is
composed at bottom of woven wire or perforated metal covered with thick felt
or hair cloth, or other like porous material, and has an air-tight fitting cover
at top, with means for making it fast under any pressure to which it may be
requisite to subject it. I fill this vessel to near the top with the charcoal or
other filtering material, and then make the cover fast. The spirit to be
rectified or purified is then introduced by a pipe into the vacant space in the
upper part of the vessel, and forced down through the filtering materials by
means of hydraulic pressure, which may be either effected by means of a head
of water of sufficient elasticity, or of a hydraulic pump. I do not confine
myself to the use of a single vessel alone, but contemplate using as many
vessels, two, three, or more, as may be found necessary or deemed expedient,
according to the more or less purity desired to be given to the spirit.
.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that the improvements which I
claim, as comprehended in my said Invention, are as follows:-
First, I claim the method or process of preparing vegetable substances for
the distillation of alcoholic spirit therefrom, first herein-before described.
Second, I claim the methods of distilling and rectifying, secondly herein-
before described, in so far as regards the arrangements for producing a
constant circulation of cold water through and around the filtering materials.
And,
Third, I claim the method of rectifying or purifying, thirdly herein-before
described, in so far as regards the placing of the purifying or filtering materials