IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF VINEGAR
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FELIX
TROUBAT, of Mark Lane, in the City of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the First day of August, in the fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Felix Troubat, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Felix Troubat, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others
is I, the said Fèlix Troubat, 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, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF VINEGAR,"
coinmunicated to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Felix Troubat, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, 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
saine, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Felix Troubat, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say) :-

page_text: This Invention consists of a mode of making vinegar, by the application
of potatoes and rice. And in order that the Invention may be fully understood,
I will describe those processes that have been found best for carrying out
the Invention, although I do not confine myself thereto. I take about
350lbs. of potatoes in their raw state, and have them well rasped or grated
by any of the ordinary means, and then mix them with about twenty to
twenty-five gallons of water, and add about 2lbs. of sulphuric acid; the whole
is well mixed together, and boiled for about six hours, when it is to be run
off into a vessel to cool. This vessel should have at the upper part a per-
forated plate, in order that as the liquid runs in it may be clarified and freed
from any sediment or deposit which will be found in it. The mode that I
adopt for obtaining the requisite fermentation to this liquid is as follows:-I
bring it into a vessel placed in a chamber heated to about eighty degrees of
Fahrenheit, and add about half a bushel of yeast, and about one ounce of
potash previously dissolved in water. The liquor in this state is allowed
to stand for three days, when I add another quantity of yeast to advance
the fermentation. This is allowed to rest for sone time, when it is to be
drawn off into another vessel, which is filled loosely with the shavings of
becch wood, or the husks, or skins of grapes after they have been pressed,
previously prepared by being well saturated with strong vinegar. The
quantity of liquor I prefer to put in at a time is about three gallons, which
should be repeated every morning and evening until the vessel is full or
nearly so; it may then be drawn off in quantities of three gallons at a time,
at the bottom of the vessel, by means of a cock, and carried to another vessel
half filled with vinegar, which will complete the process. It is drawn off
from the vessel by means of a cock, placed about the centre of the vessel,
into another vessel loosely filled with the shavings of beech, in order to cool
-and-clear. it before it is fit for consumption. In making vinegar from rice,
in place of using 350lbs. of potatoes, I only use about 50 or 60lbs. of the
meal of the rice (which is previously prepared by crushing) to the same
quantity of water and sulphuric acid, and then I submit it to the same
process as previously explained. This is also the case when making it from the
potatoes with their skins previously removed. Another mode that I employ
is as follows: I take 350lbs. of potatoes, which, after having been well
crushed, should be soaked in cold water, and then I add about fifty gallons
of boiling water, taking care that the whole should be well stirred up until
the liquor assumes the consistency of a thick paste, to which I add about
half a bushel of the meal of malt, which brings it into a saccharine state.
It is then submitted to the previously-described process for obtaining the

page_text: requisite fermentation.
proportions may be used.
In operating upon rice by this mode, the same
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the exact proportions of materials herein described to be used in the
making of vinegar, although I believe them to be the best. But what I claim
as the Invention communicated to me, is,-
First, the mode of making vinegar by the application of potatoes, as above
described.
And, secondly, the mode of making vinegar by the application of rice, as
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Felix Troubat, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this First day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty and