CERTAIN CARBONIC COMPOUNDS FORMED OF EARTH, VEGETABLE, ANIMAL, AND MINERAL RUBBISH, FECAL SUBSTANCES, THE WASTE OF MANUFACTORIES, AND CERTAIN ACIDS AND ALKALIES, WHICH COMPOUNDS ARE APPLI- CABLE AS MANURES,
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
BROWN, late of Adam's Court, in the City of London, now residing in Paris,
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 Twentieth day of
February, One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven, in the tenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Brown, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Edward Brown, my
exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Brown, 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 Guernsey,
Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, the Invention of "CERTAIN CARBONIC COMPOUNDS FORMED OF
EARTH, VEGETABLE, ANIMAL, AND MINERAL RUBBISH, FECAL SUBSTANCES, THE WASTE
OF MANUFACTORIES, AND CERTAIN ACIDS AND ALKALIES, WHICH COMPOUNDS ARE APPLI-
CABLE AS MANURES," communicated to me from abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Edward Brown, shall cause a

page_text: particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
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
Edward Brown, hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described in and by the
present Specification, that is to say:-
The said Invention consists,
Firstly, in neutralising the odius and noxious gases emanating from fecal
substances, or as it is sometimes termed the "disinfecting" of such substances,
whereby they may be collected and preserved, in order to their being manu-
factured into carbonic compounds applicable as manures, without injury to the
public health or to the individuals engaged in such collection and manufacture.
The substances employed for this purpose are either the sulphate of iron or
the chlorides of sodium (sea salt), or the chlorides of iron and manganese, or
the nitrates, sulphates, and chlorides of lead, copper, zinc, and tin, or pyro-
ligneous acid, or the pyrolignites of iron, or the mother waters arising from
the manufacture of any of the before-enumerated substances, or coal tar, or
schistous and bituminous extracts. Of these, preference is given to the sul-
phates and chlorides of iron. All of them must be used in a dilute state.
When solutions of sulphate of iron or chloride of iron are employed, they
should be poured into the privy or other fecal receptacle, in the proportions of
from one to two and a half gallons of the former, and from one to one and a
half gallons of the latter, for every forty-eight inches of the cubical contents
of the privy or other receptacle. The mass should then be stirred, in order to
effect a combination of the salts with the matters to be disinfected, after which
some of the absorbent powder herein-after described should be thrown in over
the whole. The privy or other receptacle must then be closed for about ten
minutes, when the removal of the night soil may be commenced without fear
of any unpleasant smell. The emptying of the privy or other receptacle may
be effected either by means of an exhausting pump and hose (the matter
being supposed to be in a sufficiently liquid state), or by means of an endless
chain of pails or buckets, inclosed in a case or hood to conceal the operation
from view. As the matter is taken out, it is turned over into casks, which, on
being filled, are closed up, and then removed to the (manure) manufactory.
With the view of facilitating the clearing away of night soil, it is suggested,

page_text: that instead of the stationary privy now commonly used a portable one may
be substituted, consisting simply of a barrel, set on end, with a circular aperture
in the top end, of the size of the tube or hose through which the soil is to be
removed, which aperture is closed by a hinged lid, which opens inwardly only,
and has a spring attached to it, which is so adjusted that the lid drops on the
least weight falling upon it, but springs back again on being relieved from the
weight. When one cask is filled, it can be taken away, and its place supplied
by another.
Secondly, the Invention consists in converting the said fecal substances into
the before-mentioned carbonic compounds applicable as manures, which is done
by the means and in manner following:-An absorbent powder is first formed,
by mixing together about seventy-five parts of coal or wood ashes and earth,
or street or road sweepings, and about twenty-five parts of vegetable, animal,
and mineral rubbish, such as saw-dust, bone-dust, and the waste matters of
tanneries, cotton mills, &c. These matters are incinerated to powder, by sub-
jecting them in closed vessels to a high degree of heat, so that the carbon
contained in the organic portions of the mixture may be blended in a state of
extreme division with the earthy portions, and impart thereby to the whole a
highly absorbent property. Three different sorts of ovens or stoves are
employed to effect this incineration. The first consists of a brick or cast iron
floor, covered over by an arched roof, and set in brickwork in such manner
that the flame and heated vapours of the furnace may wind all round it. In
the roof there is a door for introducing the materials, and at the bottom, on a
level with the floor, there is another for withdrawing them. The oven being
filled, and the doors closed, it is heated to a dull red heat; and when the
materials exhibit a very black appearance, they are withdrawn, and stored up
in close vessels, in order that they may be preserved from contact with the
humidity of the atmosphere. The second oven is but a modification of the
first, differing from it in this only, that the floor is made to slope slightly, and
that the materials are introduced through one or more inclined passages made
in the roof. The third consists of an iron cylinder, set in brickwork, and
cnclosing a revolving vertical shaft, with radial blades, by which the materials
are cut up and mixed. The top of the cylinder is closed by means of two
sliding plates, which take into recesses made in the brickwork, and have
apertures in the centre just sufficient to allow the revolving vertical shaft to
pass through. When the oven has been filled and heated, a rotary motion is
given to the agitator by hand or any other suitable mover. The cylinder ter-
minates at bottom in an inclined passage, through which the materials when
fully incinerated are removed. The Inventor prefers to use an absorbent

page_text: powder thus prepared, but he states that there may be substituted for it either
common (chimney) soot, or any of the black residual matters of sugar and
other refineries, or the black deposits resulting from the combustion of resinous
and bituminous substances. When the fecal matters which have been treated
and barrelled as aforesaid arrive at the manufactory they are immediately
converted into carbonic compounds applicable as manures by one or other of
the following processes:-In the case of very small villages or hamlets, where
the amount of produce will not warrant the incurring of any considerable
'expense for machinery or otherwise, the casks or barrels are emptied into the
first of a series of three inclined pits or basins, of an elongated oblong form,
composed of brick, pointed with mortar, so as to be perfectly water-tight, and
placed terrace-wise one above another, that is to say, the first on a higher
level than the second, and the second on a higher level than the third; the
three pits communicating with one another by means of self-acting flood gates.
From the last of these pits any given quantity of the fecal matters is taken to
what is called a "mixing basin," and there well mixed with from fifteen to
twenty per cent. of the absorbent powder prepared as aforesaid, or one or
other of the substitutes for it before mentioned, so that any adhering damp, or
any gas which may be now disengaged, may be taken up or absorbed by the
powder. The mixed materials are then taken from the "mixing basin," and
spread out on platforms of baked earth, or on trays to dry in the open air;
and when fully dried, they are again well pounded and packed up in casks
ready for use. The casks should be kept until removal in some close and dry
place. For cities, towns, and large villages, the following arrangements are
adopted-The basins are each inclined, as before, but they are mado of a
circular form, and placed on a line with one another, and from each basin
there is a pipe for conducting any drainage or surplus liquid to a vaulted
reservoir, common to the whole series, whero it may be collected and applied
to the manufacture of ammoniacal salts. Each basin is moreover furnished
with an agitator, similar to that before described, worked by machinery; and
it has at bottom a trap which opens into a passage constructed underneath the
basin in the direction of its inclination. As the fecal matters, prepared as
aforesaid, arrive at the manufactory, they are immediately thrown into these
basins, and absorbent powder added in the proportion before directed. The
agitators serve to mix the two matters intimately together; and as they are
mixed, they drop through the traps into the inclined passages underneath, from
which they are removed in tilting carts, to be dried as aforesaid. After drying,
the carbonic compound thus formed is passed through a revolving cylinder
composed either of perforated metal or metallic wire gauze, which is mounted

page_text: in an inclined position, so that should there be any stones or other hard
matters contained in the compound, they may roll to the bottom, and the finer
portions only pass through the cylinder.
Thirdly, and lastly, the Invention consists in manufacturing in manner
following carbonic compounds, applicable as manures from the muscular, flesh,
blood, and offal of dead animals, and from the ammoniacal waste matters of
various manufactories. After the flesh has been skinned, it is thrown
into a copper filled with water, having a double or false bottom, which is
pierced with holes; from eight to ten per cent. is added of sulphate of
iron, chloride of iron, or any of the other salts or bases herein-before
named, or, instead thereof, from twenty to twenty-five per cent. of common
tan. The materials are then boiled until the flesh begins to be disintegrated,
when the oil which has been formed is drawn off (from the space between
the false and real bottom). The fleshy mass is then taken out of the
copper, and the bones separated from it, after which it is thrown into a
hopper, from which it is passed between two grooved cylinders, to which a
rotary movement is given by any suitable machinery. From these cylinders it
comes away in the state of a thick jelly, which is either dried without any admix-
ture, or after adding to it about ten per cent. of the absorbent powder, which,
without diminishing its strength, tends to retard considerably its decomposition.
In some cases it will be sufficient to boil the flesh in pure water, and after-
wards to immerse it for some time in any of the saline solutions aforesaid, or in
cold tan liquor. When prepared by any of these modes, the flesh dries without
giving forth any repulsive smell, does not engender worms, and may be pre-
served for an unlimited time. To preserve and convert into manure in like
manner the blood and offal of slaughter-houses much the same processes are
followed as in the case of flesh. Either the fibrine and albumen of the blood
are coagulated by boiling, or the materials are treated cold, mixed with some
of the saline substances mentioned under the first head of this Specification,
and then about twenty-five per cent. of the absorbent powder added.
Excellent manures may also be obtained from the waste matters of various
manufactories, which are rich in fertilizing principles, such, for example, as the
waste from the manufactures of prussian blue and prussiates, the ammoniacal
waters of gasworks, the waste of potash and soda works, in short, all remains or
rubbish which abound in salts or in ammoniacal products. These waste
matters are mixed with the absorbent powder, and used either alone or with the
addition of a portion of the manure manufactured from animal remains.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that no claim is made to any of

page_text: the machines, machinery, or apparatus herein-before described, except so far as
they may be necessary to the carrying out of the said Invention; but that
what is claimed are, the carbonic compounds formed of the materials and in
manner before specified, and the application of the same as manures.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Brown, have hereunto set my t
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
Taken and acknowledged by Edward
Brown (party hereto), at Paris, in the
Kingdom of France, this Sixteenth
day of August, 1847, before me,
EDWARD (L.B.) BROWN.
THOMAS PICKFORD.
This is the Specification referred to in the affidavit of George Henry Byerley,
sworn before me, this 19th day of August, 1847.
S. ANDERSON.
George Henry Byerley, Clerk to Messieurs Robertson and Company, of
No. 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, maketh oath, a
and saith, that he is acquainted with the manner and character of the hand-
writing of Thomas Pickford, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Paris, in the
Kingdom of France. And this Deponent further saith, that the signature
"Thomas Pickford," set, subscribed, or written in the margin of the Specifica-
tion hereunto annexed, marked A, and dated the Sixteenth day of August
instant, and purporting to be executed by Edward Brown, late of Adams
Court, in the City of London, now residing at Paris, whereby it is stated, that
the said Specification was acknowledged by him, the said Edward Brown,
before the said Thomas Pickford, on the said Sixteenth day of August,
at Paris, aforesaid, is of the proper handwriting of the said Thomas Pickford. 8
Sworn at the Affidavit Office, Symonds
G. H. BYERLEY.
Inn, in the County of Middlesex, this

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the oath of George Henry Byerley,
the Specification aforesaid was enrolled, word for word, as above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twentieth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.