USING THE 'SUINT,' OR THE PORTION SOLUBLE IN WATER OF THE GREASY SUBSTANCE FOUND ON THE SKIN AND HAIR OF SHEEP, FOR THE PURPOSE OF MANUFACTURING POTASH AND OTHER PRODUCTS
Year: 1859

page_text: Professor
Stry and
Victor Rogelet, Merchant, both residing in Reims, a Town of France,
for the Invention of "USING THE 'SUINT,' OR THE PORTION SOLUBLE IN
WATER OF THE GREASY SUBSTANCE FOUND ON THE SKIN AND HAIR OF SHEEP,
FOR THE PURPOSE OF MANUFACTURING POTASH AND OTHER PRODUCTS."
Sealed the 13th December 1859, and dated the 15th June 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edme Jules Maumene
and Victor Rogelet at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 15th June 1859.
We, EDME JULES MAUMENE, .Professor of Chymistry, and VICTOR ROGELET,
Merchant, both residing in Reims, a Town of France, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "USING THE 'SUINT,' OR THE PORTION
SOLUBLE IN WATER OF THE GREASY SUBSTANCE FOUND ON THE SKIN AND HAIR OF
SHEEP, FOR THE PURPOSE OF MANUFACTURING POTASH AND OTHER PRODUCTS" to be
as follows:-
The portion of the greasy substance called in French "suint," which sub-
stance is found in the skin and hair of sheep, and which is soluble in water,
we found to be a salt of potash, the acid of which can be destroyed by the
action of fire, the residue being a pure or almost pure carbonate of potash.
The abundance of the substance in question, the constancy of its propor-
tions, its richness in potash, and the facility with which the alkali can be
extracted from it, will probably prove superior to any other mode of procuring
potash.
.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edme Jules Maumene and Victor Rogelet in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 14th December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDME
JULES MAUMENE, Professor of Chymistry, and VICTOR ROGELET, Merchant,
both residing in Reims, a Town of France, send greeting."
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Edme Jules Maumene and Victor Rogelet, Her special licence
that we, the said Edme Jules Maumene and Victor Rogelet, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Edme Jules
Maumene and Victor Rogelet, our 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 "USING THE 'SUINT,' OR THE PORTION SOLUBLE IN WATER OF THE GREASY
SUBSTANCE FOUND ON THE SKIN AND HAIR OF SHEEP, FOR THE PURPOSE OF MANU-
FACTURING POTASH AND OTHER PRODUCTS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Edme Jules Maumene and Victor Rogelet, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Edme Jules Maumene and Victor
Rogelet, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
The great quantity of "suint," or the substance soluble in water which is
found in wool or hair of sheep, has not hitherto been thought of any value.
After many experiments made upon that substance we found that this material
may be considered as perhaps the best source for obtaining potash. If the
wool be placed in large tubs and compressed as much as possible by hand, and
plenty of water be poured on it, a large part of the "suint" is immediately

page_text: dissolved, which gives the water a brown colour, and this water flows directly
from the bottom of the tub without carrying along with it either sand (or
earth) or the mere greasy portion of the "suint;" the wool itself acting as a
filter retains any earthy particles which may be present. No greasy particles
will escape as long as cold water is employed. The limpid brownish solution
contains a true salt of potash (or perhaps a mixture of salts of potash) very
soluble in water and even diliquescent. This salt or mixture of salts does not
contain any other base except (perhaps a trace of lime), and by calcining it at
a red heat, it will yield a carbonate of potash free from soda, which is a most
important circumstance, and which is not to be met with in any other source
of potash at present known. The potash is obtained by evaporating the
solution to dryness. During its calcination the "suintate" of potash (whether
it be mixed or not with other salts of potash) will give all the products of the
distillation of animal substances; those products contain pretty large quantities
of aminonia. The carbonate of potash which remains is mixed with a pretty.
large quantity of carbon. It contains also some chloride of potassium and
sulphate of potash. By washing systematically with water it will be easy to
extract the salts, and the carbonate of potash will be easily obtained in a
state suitable for commercial purposes when it is required to be of great
purity.
The modus operandi can be modified according to circumstances. There
are no special rules as to the shape and size of the apparatus, nor as to way of
carrying on the operations.
The following process, however, gives excellent results:-The wool being
placed either in tubs or casks disposed as is usual for systematic washings, it
is submitted to the said washings, and the result gives solutions of a specific
gravity of 11. The said limpid liquors or solutions are evaporated either
directly by fire or by steam in the usual way.
The "suintate" of potash has the appearance of baked molasses; it is
calcined in retorts or cucurbits, where it is introduced either in broken lumps,
if the salt has been left to cool and harden, or in a fluid state, if it be intro-
duced before it has cooled, for then it remains in a fluid state, though con-
taining but a very small quantity of water. It is then calcined as usual, and.
produces tar, ammoniacal water, and gases. These products are applied to
the same purposes as those of the same nature which are obtained from coal.
The calcination could also be performed directly in ovens, in which case the
burning gases might serve for evaporating the solutions. The carbonate of
potash mixed with carbon is easily taken out either from the retorts or ovens,
and it is then systematically washed in large iron pans, and the first solutions

page_text: are evaporated down to 30° or 50°-of Beaume's áreómeter. They are then
left to cool, which causes almost all the sulphate and chloride to deposit.
The clear liquor is then decanted, and the carbonate, in almost a pure
state, may be obtained by a second evaporation carried to dryness. Instead
of carrying the evaporation directly to dryness, it may be stopped at 50°
Beaume, in order to obtain a fresh deposit of sulphate and chloride, and thus
obtain the salt in an almost pure state. The first calcination taking place
when it is mixed with carbon, this substance acting on the sulphate will
generally produce a little sulphuret, which may be got rid of by calcining
the mass again in a reverberatory furnace, the potash obtained from the
washings, or by stirring its solution with a little white lead.
It will be seen that we do not restrict ourselves in an absolute manner to
the conditions just described for manufacturing potash with the "suint;" for
instance, we might use the muddy waters obtained in the usual cleansing of
wool, or, at least, the first soaking waters, where there is no addition of either
soap or carbonate of soda, such waters containing earth or mud, and even
when used warm they carry off a little of the greasy matter. They should
in that case be left to settle for at least twenty-four hours in a tub. The
earth deposits and the grease forms a scum which may be skimmed off,
and the intermediate water is very good for producing the carbonate of
potash.
We have observed that there is a point requiring great attention; the
washing of the wool, when performed by our process as described above,
produces a wool much whiter than is obtained by the common washing process,
as was exemplified by the following comparative experiments:-A quantity of
wool was divided into two equal parts; the first half was submitted to the
common cleansing process, as is done before combing, that is to say, 1st, it
was soaked in water at about 140° Farenheit; 2ndly, in a bath con-
taining soft soap; 3rd, in a second soap bath. The second half was soaked
at first in cold water, then it was submitted to the two successive warm soap
baths. This substitution of cold water, instead of the first scouring bath at
140°, is sufficient to give a considerable difference in the result. The wool
becomes much whiter after the complete scouring, and this is generally so
evident that it alone would be a sufficient reason to prefer our method. This
takes place when the scouring process has been modified, and the yellowish
hue or shade is no longer to be seen, which hue is produced by the wools in
grease (laines en suint), according to the time they have been kept, and to the
degree of fermentation they may have undergone.
In short, the principle of our Invention is the employment of "suint," or

page_text: the portion soluble in water of that greasy substance found in wool for manu-
facturing potash. It can furnish carbonate of potash free from soda, and
almost free of all other extraneous substances, and it yields a great quantity of
potash. One thousand pounds of raw wool of whatever country yields
generally from one hundred and forty to one hundred and eighty pounds of
dry suintate (or salts) of potash soluble in water. This "suintate" produces
nearly fifty per cent. of carbonate of potash, that is to say, from seventy to
ninety pounds, including the chloride and sulphate, which together barely
amounts to five or six pounds.
We claim as our Invention the modus operandi above described, or any
other method substantially the same, for manufacturing potash with the suint
or portion soluble in water of the greasy substance contained in the hair or
wool of sheep.
We claim also the exclusive right of manufacturing all the products
resulting from our process. The carbon remaining after calcination and
washing is suitable for paints or pigments. The ammoniacal salts and tar
obtained are also useful products; we prepare them carefully for sale, so with
the chlorides and sulphates. We gather also the fatty substances which are
found in small quantities in the warm scouring process.
And, lastly, we claim expressly the right to manufacture with the potash
obtained by our process all its useful derivative products, such as potassium,
saltpetre, and generally all the combinations of this metal used in industry.
In witness whereof, we, the said Edme Jules Maumene and Victor
Rogelet, have hereunto set our hands and scals, this Eighth day of
December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-nine.
E. J. MAUMENE. (L.S.)
V. ROGELET.
(L.S.)
Signed and sealed in the presence of
L. DAUBREVILLE, C.E.,
60, Boulev. de Strasbourg, Paris.