IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN PREPARATORY TO GRINDING THE SAME INTO FLOUR
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66,. Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF MAIZE OR INDIAN
CORN PREPARATORY TO GRINDING THE SAME INTO FLOUR."-A communication
from abroad, by Victor Pierre Célestin Baud, of Rue St. Sebastien,
Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 17th April 1863, and dated the 10th November 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th November 1862.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD-NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF. MAIZE OR INDIAN
CORN PREPARATORY TO GRINDING THE SAME INTO FLOUR," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to remove the oleaginous and embryo
parts of the grain previous to converting the farinaceous parts into flour by
grinding.
In carrying out the Invention the grain is steeped in water, rendered
slightly alkaline by the addition of carbonate of soda, or other suitable salt,
after which it is removed to another vessel in which there is a weak solution
of hydrochloric acid. The grain on being taken from the acid bath is to be
carefully dried and then crushed or reduced by means of stampers or beaters

page_text: or rollers, after which it is passed through a bolting machine in order to
separate the smaller or farinaceous particles from the larger or oleaginous ones
and membranous husk or covering. These farinaceous parts may then be
ground into flour, which will be found to be pure and of excellent quality.
The oleaginous and membranous parts are then fermented by being steeped
for several hours in warm water, the result of which will be the production
of a kind of yeast; or leaven. The offal and residuum from the above process
or processes may be used as food for cattle, as it will be found to contain a
considerable amount of nutritive matter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 8th May 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL. COME, I,. WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the
said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 TREATMENT OF MAIZE OR INDIAN CORN
PREPARATORY TO GRINDING THE SAME INTO FLOUR," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Edward Newton, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to certain processes having for their object the
separation or removal of the oleaginous cotyledon and embryo membranes
from maize before submitting it to the grinding operation. By this means
much purer flour than is ordinarily found in commerce produced from maize
or Indian corn is obtained, and the product will be more suitable for keeping
and will be especially adapted for making bread.
The processes employed by the Inventor for obtaining this result are as
follows: The maize is first steeped for a certain time, which varies from
four to eight hours in a bath of cold water holding in solution one hundredth
part of its weight of carbonate of soda, or any other carbonate having an
alkaline base. Immediately on being removed from this first bath, the granular
matters are submitted to a second steeping of like duration in a bath of cold
water containing one thousandth part of its weight of hydrochloric acid, or
any other acid capable of forming a saline compound with the alkaline
carbonate with which the grains are impregnated by the first bath. The
grain on being taken from this second bath is carefully dried by natural or
artificial means, that is to say, either in the open air, or by means of a stove
or by ventilation, centrifugal action, or other suitable means. The grain
after being dried is crushed or flattened by suitable apparatus, such as beaters
or stampers, or by means of crushing rollers or vertical stones (or edge
runners). The crushed or flattened grain is then submitted to the action of
a special bolting apparatus, the sieves of which are graduated in fineness.
The portions of grain already reduced to flour or to fragments of greater or
less fineness will pass through the sieves and (by reason of their greater size
and lightness) the cotyledons (or husks) and the membranes which have
acquired the form of discs under the flattening action above-mentioned will be
retained. The farinaceous parts when separated from the fatty cotyledons or
husks and membranes or coatings may be submitted to any convenient grinding
operation suitable for converting them into flour of greater or less fineness or
into semolina. The product thus obtained issues from the mill perfectly free
from admixture with the cotyledons or husks, and which, according to the
ordinary methods, and notwithstanding the improvements made during the
last few years in the grinding of maize, communicate to the flour of that grain
a peculiar and disagreeable flavor, and impair its preservative quality, as the
oil which the cotyledons contain in the proportion of 63 per cent. is liable to
become rancid, and thus act injuriously upon the fermentation during the
making of bread.

page_text: "
The fatty cotyledons or shells which have been separated are treated in the
following manner :-They are steeped for twelve hours at a low temperature
in ten times their weight of water, by which means they will soon undergo
regular fermentation, and will also throw off a certain portion of flour, which
adhered to them, and especially the greater part of the oleaginous embryo
body which accompanies them. From this double action of separation and
fermentation there results a fatty and milky liquid possessing the properties
of an energetic leaven, which on being employed for the manufacture of
ordinary bread, when the flour is mixed in the kneading trough produces
the following remarkable effects, viz., 1st, the addition to the dough of a
certain proportion of alimentary matters. .2nd, the bleaching of certain kinds
of flour which are naturally of a somewhat brownish tint. 3rd, the acceleration
and greater efficacy of the raising or leavening process: The offal may also.
serve for the manufacture of oil when treated in the ordinary manner, or it
might be employed for fattening cattle.
From the above description it..will be understood that the object of the.
present Invention is to.obtain from .maize, flour perfectly adapted for making
bread, and further to utilize the offal. This process differs from.. all others.
known as it effects the complete purification of the maize previously to its
being submitted to the operation of grinding.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)