AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PRESERVING ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES FROM DECAY, AND ALSO FOR PRESERVINO PERMENTED LIQUORS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Perry, of Fenchurch Street, in the City
of London, Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS
FOR PRESERVING ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES FROM DECAY, AND ALSO
FOR PRESERVINO PERMENTED LIQUORS."-A communication from abroad
by George William Perry, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Sealed the 8th June 1869, and dated the 1st January 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Perry at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st January 1869.
I, FRANCIS PERRY, of Fenchurch Street, in the City of London,
; Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Ar
IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PRESERVING ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES FROM
DECAY, AND ALSO FOR PRESERVING FERMENTED LIQUORS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to preserve various kinds of animal
substances, such as fish, flesh, and fowl, hides and skins of animals, and

page_text: also vegetable substances, such as fruit and vegetables of various
by first treating or preparing them with certain antiseptic or preserving
chemical solutions and then packing them in such a manner as to exclude
the air therefrom.
be
The chemical solutions employed for the purpose are a compound of
bi-sulphite of lime and magnesia and also a compound solution of
gelatine in water with bi-sulphite of lime or of lime and magnesia. The
substance to be preserved is first washed or steeped in the solution of
bi-sulphite of lime and magnesia and then dipped in a boiling hot
solution of gelatine and bi-sulphite, whereby when dry it will be coated
with an airproof covering; melted stearine, tallow, or paraffine may
used for a like purpose. The substance thus preserved and protected
may be packed in wooden or metal casks for shipment, but when the
meat is placed in the casks all the interstices must be filled by melted
tallow or stearine of the finest kind. It will also be advisable to line
wooden casks with a coating of some substance, such as paraffine or
varnish, which will prevent the entrance or passage of the air through
the pores of the wood. This object may be further secured by coating
the outside of the vessels with pitch, tar, or paint. Metal casks may
be varnished internally so as to keep the meat from contact with the
metal.
For preserving skins or hides they may be simply steeped or washed
over with the bi-sulphite of lime and magnesia solution.
In order to preserve animals without removing the skin or feathers a
hot solution of bi-sulphite of lime and magnesia with the addition of
about 10 per cent. of salt must be injected into the arteries and veins as
soon as the blood has been drained off and the carcase has become set.
The viscera of the animal may then be removed and the inside
thoroughly cleansed and washed with the bi-sulphite solution, and when
dry the carcase may be packed in a cloth wrapper.
When preserving fish the gills and viscera must be removed and the
inside well cleansed and washed with bi-sulphite solution. The fish may
then be packed in barrels and the interstices filled with a pickle com-
posed of salt and bi-sulphite solution. Poultry and game when plucked
or skinned may be treated in the same manner.

page_text: To preserve ale, wine, beer, and other fermented liquors the inside of
the vessels containing the same may be washed with the bi-sulphite of
lime and magnesia and then the liquors run in and corked down.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Francis Perry in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
PERRY, of Fenchurch Street, in the City of London, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victorín, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Francis Perry, Her special licence
that I, the said Francis Perry, my exccutors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis Perry, 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 Islo of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS FOR PRESERVING ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES FROM DECAY,
AND ALSO FOR PRESERVINO FERMENTED LIQUORS," being a communication
to me from George William Perry, of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis Perry,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Francis Perry, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):
game,
--
The object of the present Invention is to preserve meat, poultry, fish,
and other substances for a long time, and for the preservation of
hides, skins, and other animal substances, and also for proventing
saccharine from running into acetous fermentation, thereby preserving
the fermented liquors and confections from injury.
'The manner in which the Invention is performed is as follows:-
I employ a solution herein-after distinguished as solution No. 1, which is
a solution of bi-sulphite of lime in water, specific gravity 1.020 to
1080. Under some circumstances it will be found convenient to
substitute a solution of bi-sulphite of lime and magnesia, which
compound may be formed by saturating acid sulphite or bi-sulphite of
lime with carbonate of magnesia, or by saturating acid sulphite or
bi-sulphite of magnesia with carbonate of lime, or by the admixture of
solutions of sulphite or bi-sulphite of lime with sulphite or bi-sulphite of
magnesia in what is known to chemists as combining proportions. The
specific gravity of the solution may be between 1.020 and 1.080, or
even greater when required for the purpose of bringing up the strength
of solutions which have been weakened by repeated usc. To distinguish
this compound from the bi-sulphite of lime it may be termed bi-sulphite
of lime and magnesia, or No. 5 solution. I sometimes form a solution,
hercin-after distinguished as solution No. 2, by dissolving the ordinary
commercial gelatine in boiling water, using from one part to two parts
of gelatine in ten parts of water, and adding ten parts of solution No. 1
or No. 5. In determining the proportion of gelatine to be used I
increase such proportion in inverse ratio to the decrease of the tempera-
ture of the place at which the solution is to be applied, using a larger
proportion of gelatine when the temperature is low, and a smaller
proportion of galatine when the temperature is high. Solution No. 2
is adapted for coating animal substances intended to be preserved, such
as joints of meat, animals which have been skinned, poultry and birds
which have been plucked, fish, and also the internal surface of hides and
skins. For this purpose the viscera of animals, birds, and fish, and also
the gills of fish, should be removed and the inside of the body washed so
as to be thoroughly cleansed from blood and offensive matter; I then
apply solution No. 2 whilst still warm and liquid to coat such animal

page_text: substances either by dipping such substances into the solution or by
brushing such substances over with two or three coats of such solution.
Such solution is then allowed to dry and solidify, and if required the
animal substances are packed in casks or other suitable vessels rendered
as air-tight as possible. In order to render the cask or other vessel,
whether wooden or metallic (which is used for packing), more suitable
for the purpose, I apply to the inside of the same a coating of paraffine,
wax, spermaceti, tallow, or stearine, either alone or in combination in a
melted state. For a similar purpose I sometimes uso a varnish mado by
dissolving gums or resins in a suitable medium, such as alcohol, naptha,
oils, turpentine, or benzole, or by dissolving paraffino in a suitable
medium, such as the foregoing. In the case of wooden vessels the object
is. to render them air-tight, and in the case of metallic vessels to prevent
contact between tho metal and the meat under preservation. Sometimes
as an additional means of preventing communication with the external
atmosphere the outside of the package is protected by means of tar,
pitch, paint, or some analogous compound. Another method is to apply
solutions No. 1 on No. 5. by immersing the meat in tho solution either
before or after salting it, or by the admixture of the bi-sulphite with the
picklo. The meat, if necessary, may then be spiced and tied up in
rolls; and as a further protection against the attacks of insects (whilst
drying) tho steeping in the bi-sulphite may be repeated.. After this
treatment it may be hung up in an airy place, and when sufficiently dried
it may be transferred to a suitable pince and exposed to the smoko
derived from wood in a stato of slow combustion, preferably sawdust.
When sufficiently smoked, the meat may be packod in casks or other
suitable vessels, and the interstices filled up with melted tallow.
Another modification for hot or sultry weather is to steop or wash the
carcaso with solutions No. 1 or No. 5 immediately after the animal has.
been slaughtered and skinned, or when the carcase has become cold and
set. It may be cut up or immersed whole in paraffine or tallow. heated
to two hundred and twelve degrees. Fuhrenheit, or higher for a few.
minutes, the object being to prevent decay not to cook the meat. Or
the carcase or joints of meat after the before-mentioned treatment may
be immersed for a few minutes in a boiling solution of gelatine and
water, such solution being made by dissolving from one to two parts of
gelatino in twenty parts of water. On taking the meat out of this
solution it is immediately to be immersed in solution No. 2, which has

page_text: been previously warmed. When the external coating of paraffine,
tallow, or gelatine is cold and set the carcase or joints may be packed in
casks or suitably prepared vessels, and the interstices filled with tallow.
As to hides and other skins of animals, I first cleanse the same by
washing the inside thereof, and then apply solution No. 2 whilst still
warm and liquid to coat the interior surface of such hides, &c., but
such interior coating and also the hides or skins must themselves be
rendered dry before they can be packed. The hides, &c. can be packed
in casks or other suitable vessels, but if the hides are to be used within
a short period, say two months, of the application of the solution such
packing will not be necessary.
For the preservation of animals without removing the skin or
external covering thereof, and without removing hoofs or horns, it will
be advantageous to employ a solution herein-after distinguished as
solution No. 3, formed by mixing one part of salt with ten parts of
solution No. 5, and from six to ten parts of water. I vary the pro-
portion of water according to the temperature of the place at which the
solution is to be applied, using a larger proportion of water where such
temperature is low, and a smaller proportion of water where such
temperature is high. For this purpose at the slaughtering of the animal,
as soon as the bleeding ceases and while the animal is still warm, I by
any ordinary process of arterial injection force solution No. 3 heated to
a temperature of from one hundred degrees to one hundred and ten
degrees Fahrenheit into the arteries and veins leading from and to the
heart of the animal; I then remove the viscera of the animal, and wash
the inside of such animal, so as to thoroughly cleanse the same from
blood and offensive matter, and the inside of the animal may be washed
with solution No. 3. The animal can then be packed in a canvass
wrapper or in some other suitable packing.
For the preservation of fish, a pickle or a solution, herein-after
distinguished as solution No. 4, is employed. This is formed by mixing
ten parts of cold water, one part of salt, and one part of solution No. 5.
I first deprive the fish of the viscera and gills, and wash the inside of
the fish so as to cleanse the same from offensive matter; I then pack
the fish in casks or other suitable vessel, and fill up the casks or vessels
with solution No. 4, and then close the casks or vessels so as to render
them air-tight, as herein-before described. Poultry and game having
been first plucked or skinned, and the viscera removed, may be similarly

page_text: treated with solution No. 4. The solution No. 4 is also useful for
preventing and arresting decomposition in fresh butcher's meat, ganie,
poultry, and fish. For this purpose the animal substance (to be treated)
may be dipped into the solution or wrapped in a cloth saturated with
such solution. The proportion of the substances employed to form
solutions No. 2, No. 8, No. 4 are respectively reckoned by weight and
not by volume.
When animal substances are to be transported dry in wooden ensks
or other suitable vessels, the interior of such cask or vessel should before
use be saturated with solution No. 5, unless one of the methods herein-
beforo described, such as paraffine, wax, varnish, &c. be adopted. Before
any animal substance (which has been coated or treated with the
solutions) is cooked, the effect of the coating or solution should bo
removed by soaking the substanco for sufficient time in water.
For home consumption, or on board ship, another method is to steep
joints of meat in solution No. 5 for one minute and hang them up in an
airy situation. The operation may be repeated once or twice a week or
oftener if the heat of the weather or the state of the meat renders it
desirable. So long as the meat retains a nice dry surface after the
treatment the operation need not be repeated. Newly slaughtered
mcat must get cold and as well set as practicable before applying the
solutions.
For prolonged keeping, as in exportation, the joints of meat should be
steeped in solutions No. 1 or No. 5 for thirty minutes, packed in casks
saturated with the same, unless one of the methods hercin-before
described, such as paraffine or. wax, &o. be adopted. The casks are
then to bo headed up immediately and a pint of solution, No. 1 or No. 5,
is to be poured into the bung hole, which is then to be closed securely.
Corned or slightly salted meat is to be placed in casks prepared as
harein-before described, which are to be filled up with three parts of
bine and one part of solutions No. 1 or No. 5.
To prevent wine, ale, beer, cider, ginger beer, or any other fermented
liquor from turning sour through acetous fermentation, the cask to be
used must be steamed, and when drained and ready to fill, put a quarter
of a pint of solution No. 1 or No. 5 into the eighteen gallon cask, half
a pint to the thirty-six gallon casks, and so on; place the bung in the
cask, shake it about for a few seconds so that the interior of the cask
may be coated all over with the-bisulphite, then without -draining 'fill

page_text: the cask with wine, ale, beer, or any fermented liquor requiring to be
kept sound. If the vats are rubbed over with the bi-sulphate it will
prevent the formation of mould or fungi, and will keep them sweet and
wholesome.
In order to preserve wine, beer, ginger beer, or other fermented
liquors in bottles, they should be rinsed out with a small quantity of
solutions No. 1 or No. 5 after washing and draining, which will
effectually prevent the contents from turning sour. Vessels intended
to contain jams, jellies, and other confections, after being cleansed must
be rinsed with solutions No. 1 or No. 5, and then filled with the
ingredient intended to be preserved, an additional protection being
secured by covering the surface when cold with paper which has been
steeped in solutions No. 1 or No. 5.
In order to prevent the spread of contagion and fover, the hi-sulphite
solutions No. 1 or No. 5 (but preferably No. 5) may be freely used as
an antiseptic, either by sprinkling or by steeping cloths and hanging
them in rooms or ships where contagion has to be suppressed or
prevented. Clothes which are suspected to be contagious may be
steeped in solutions No. 1 or No. 5, but for all antiseptic purposes No. 5
is to be preferred.
For the sake of conciseness it may be well to specify that No. 1
solution is one of bi-sulphite of lime alone in water; No. 2 solution is
one of bi-sulphite of lime or bi-sulphite of lime and magnesia with water
and gelatine; No. 3 solution is one part of common salt with ten
parts of either bi-sulphite and magnesia and water; No. 4 solution is
ten parts of cold water, one part of common salt, with either one part
of bi-sulphite of lime, or bi-sulphite of lime and magnesia and water;
No. 5 solution is the compound of bi-sulphite of lime and magnesia with
water.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated
to me as aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid,―
First. The use of bi-sulphite of lime, being solution No. 1, for
preserving animal substances when used in combination with paraffine
or tallow, either in a heated state or in a simply fluid state, or when used
in combination with gelatino heated to the boiling point; or in com-
bination with the method of rendering packages air-tight, or otherwise

page_text: suitable by means of an internal coating of varnish, paraffine, wax,
spermaceti, tallow, or stearine, either alone or combined, or an external
coating of paint, pitch, tar, or other analogous compounds, or in con-
junction with metallic vessels coated internally with any of the foregoing
substances, or in conjunction with the known method of salting, spicing,
drying, smoking, and packing in casks, and Alling up the interstices
with melted tallow; also for antiseptic purposes, and for preserving
fermented liquors and confections from decay.
Secondly. I claim the use of the compound of sulphurous acid gas
with lime, magnesia, and water, which I term bi-sulphite of lime and
magnesia, being solution No. 5, for similar purposos to the foregoing,
and also in combination with gelatine when simply heated to the
melting state.
Thirdly. I claim the preservation of meat and animals from which the
skin or feathers have been removed, fish, hides, and skins, by means of
solution No. 2, in the manner herein-before described.
Fourthly. I claim the preservation of fish, game, and poultry, by
means of solution No. 8, in the manner herein-before described.
Fifthly. I claim the preservation of fish, game, and poultry by means
of solution No. 4, in the manner herein-before described.
'
Sixthly. I claim arresting and preventing decomposition in animal
substances by means of solution No. 4, in the manner herein-before
described.
Seventhly. I claim the use of solution No. 1 and No. 5 for the
preservation of wine, beer, ale, ginger beer, and all fermented liquors,
and also jams, jellies, and other confections.
In conclusion, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim the
employment of either gelatine, salt, paraffine, wax, spermaceti, tallow,
stearine, varnish, paint, pitch, tar, for the process of curing meat by
salting, spicing, drying, and smoking, nor the use of bi-sulphite of lime
alone, for any of the purposes herein mentioned, nor of bi-sulphite of
lime when used either with water or gelatine, except in connection with
paraffine or tallow, or with vessels suitably prepared, as herein-before
described, and except in connection with solution No. 5, for tho purposo
3 of preserving animal substances; nor do I claim the use of bi-sulphite
of lime for any other purposes than those indicated, namely, the pre-
servation of animal substances in suitable vessels, or in connection with

page_text: the method of packing such animal substances in tallow; also for the
preservation of fermented liquors in the manner herein-before described,
and for antiseptic purposes, and also in connection with gelatine and
water heated to the boiling point, and also in connection with paraffine
or tallow heated to two hundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit, or
higher if necessary.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Perry, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
FRANCIS PERRY. (L.S.)