IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT PRESERVATION, AND UTILIZATION OF THE POTATOR."
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Torbitt, of Belfast, in the County of
Antrim, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT
PRESERVATION, AND UTILIZATION OF THE POTATOR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Torbitt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition.
25th September 1868.
the
IN THE
I, JAMES TORBITT, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
TREATMENT, PRESERVATION. AND UTILIZATION OF THE POTATOE," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in digesting the washed tuber in water at a tem-
perature below the gelatinizing point of starch, but sufficiently elevated
to soften and render flexible its fibrous structure, so as to permit of the
separation of its liquid from its solid constituents by mechanical pressure,
a result which will be obtained by 6 to 8 or 10 hours' digestion in water

page_text: at a temperature ranging from about 106° to 140° Fahrenheit. The heat
and the duration of the process will vary in accordance with variations
in the state of maturity and natural hardness or inflexibility of the
cellular tissue of the tuber operated upon. Generally speaking about
8 hours digestion in water at about 130° Fahrenheit will produce the
desired result, and the tuber is then to be allowed to cool, or preferably
is to be cooled by immersion in cold water. It will then be found to be
in a condition to part freely under mechanical pressure with its liquid
constituents without disruption of its cellular tissue.
This Invention further consists in placing the so digested and refri-
gerated or cooled tuber in a press of any convenient construction, and
separating its liquid from its solid constituents as completely as prac-
ticable by a gradually applied and increasing pressure extending over
three to six or twelve hours according to the degree of flexibility of
the cellular tissue obtained by the preceding processes of digestion and
refrigeration or cooling.
The Invention further consists in boiling and condensing by evapora-
tion the so expressed liquid to the consistency of paste or of Liebig's
extract 01 ineat, LO which it bears a remarkable resemblance. It then
seems to be incapable of decomposition in contact with air of common
temperatures and degrees of moisture, and it so it may be preserved in
any convenient description of vessel; but under circumstances wherein
it is to be exposed to conditions capable of inducing putrefaction in
contact with the atmosphere, if any such there be, it is to be preserved
by raising its temperature to 212° Fahrenheit, and at that temperature
shutting off and permanently excluding the atmosphere in the usual
well-known manner; and when required for use it is to be diluted
by 10 or 20 times its volume of hot water, with which it forms a
portable and nutritious soup; or it or the uncondensed expressed and
boiled liquid may be used as food for cattle in combination with the
fibre of potatoe fecularies or other edible vegetable substances.
With regard to the solid matter of the tuber remaining after the
expression of the liquid this Invention consists in cooking it until edible,
either by boiling in water, steaming, or ovening, and then desiccating it
by any of the usual means; it is then indestructible under common
conditions, and when required for use it is to be rendered soft enough
for mastication by digestion in water for 6 or 8 hours at a temperature
sufficient therefor, say from 170° to 212° Fahrenheit, and it may be

page_text: The foregoing described processes may be modified by saturating the
water with caustic lime, digesting the tuber in it for from 4 to 10 hours
at a temperature of about 114° Fahrenheit. rewashing it in cold water
and steeping it from about 1 to 3 or 4 hours in a cold solution, consisting
on the one part of 2 or 3 parts of sulphuric or nitric acid. or 3 to
6 parts of acetic acid, and on the other part of 1,000 parts of water:
or equivalent quantities of soda. potash. and hydrochloric acid may be
substituted for the lime and the three acids first mentioned. but not so
advantageously: the so treated tuber being then to be placed in the
press and treated as before.
to
This Invention also further consists in digesting the tuber in water
for about 8 hours at a temperature of about 118° Fahrenheit, cooling it
by immersion in water or otherwise separating the liquid from the solid
constituents by mechanical pressure and boiling. condensing. and pre-
in
serving the expressed liquid as herein-before described: and then
place of cooking the separated solid constituents transferring them
the rasping machine of the potatoe feculary, and extracting and utilizing
the fecula in the usual manner. The process or treatment may also be
modified by digesting the tuber in the saturated solution of lime water
for about 8 hours at a temperature of about 114° Fahrenheit, rewashing
it and steeping it in one of the herein-before described acid solutions for
from 12 to 24 hours, expressing the liquid from the solid constituents.
condensing and preserving the former. and transferring the latter to the
rasping machine for the
utilization of the fecula in the
usual manner or soda or potash may be substituted for the lime.
treatment or process may also he modified by omitting the digestion in
the alkaline solution and digesting in one of the acid soltions herein-
before described for about hours at a temperature of about 116°
extraction and
This
Fahrenheit. allowing it to cool and repose in the acid solution or in cold
water for from 12 to 24 hours, and then separating the liquid from the
solid constituents of the tuber by pressure. condensing and preserving
the liquid as before. and transferring the solid to the rasping machine
of the feculary, and extracting and utilizing the fecula in the usual
manner.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Torbitt in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd March 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
TORBITT, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, send greeting.
Victoria. by Her
September, in the
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said James Torbitt. Her special
licence that I, the said James Torbitt, my executors. administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Torbitt, 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, PRESERVATION. AND UTILIZATION OF THE POTATOE." upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Torbitt, 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 immediately after the date of
the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE. that I. the said James Torbitt, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in digesting the washed tuber in water at a
temperature below. the gelatinizing point of starch, but sufficiently
elevated and continued for a sufficient length of time to soften and
render flexible its fibrous structure, so as to permit of the separation of
its liquid from its solid constituents by mechanical pressure, a result
which will be obtained by from four to eight hours' digestion at a
temperature ranging from about 110°° to 1400° Fahrenheit.
The neces-

page_text: sary heat and duration of the process will vary in accordance with the
variations in the state of maturity and inflexibility of the cellular tissue
of the tubers operated on. the more mature and inflexible requiring the
greater heat and more prolonged digestion. but generally speaking about
six hours' digestion in water at a temperature of about 13000 Fahrenheit
will be sufficient, and the tuber is then to be cooled by immersion in
cold water for two or more hours, when it will be found in a condition
to part freely with its liquid constituents under mechanical pressure and
without disruption of its cellular tissue.
And this Invention. further consists in placing the so digested and
refrigerated tuber in a press of any convenient construction, and sepa-
rating its liquid from its solid constituents as completely as practicable
by a gradually applied and increasing pressure extending over six or
twelve or
more hours, according to the degree of flexibility of the cellular
tissue which has been obtained by the preceding processes of digestion
and refrigeration.
And this Invention further consists in condensing by evaporation at
a temperature of about 140° Fahrenheit the so expressed liquid, until
it acquires the consistency of paste or of Liebig's extract of meat, to
which it bears a remarkable resemblance. It is then to be preserved in
any convenient description of vessel, and when required for use is to be
diluted by twenty or thirty times its volume of hot water. with which it
forms a palatable and nutritious soup: or it or the uncondensed expressed
liquid may be used as food for cattle in combination with the fibre of
the potatoe starch manufactories, or with other edible substances.
And with regard to the solid matter of the tuber remaining in the
press after the expression of the liquid this Inventien consists in cooking
it till edible. either by boiling in water or steaming, and desiccating it
by any
of the usual means: it is then indestructible under common
conditions, and when required for use it is to be rendered soft enough
for mastication by digestion in water at a temperature sufficient therefor.
say from 170⁰⁰ to 2120° Fahrenheit; and it may be used as food either
separately or in combination with the herein-before described expressed
liquid or otherwise; or it may be transferred to the rasping machine of
the potatoe starch manufactory, and the fecula separated and utilized in
the usual manner. utilizing also the separated fibre as food for cattle, in
combination with the before-described expressed liquid; but in this case

page_text: the following modifications of the processes will be found more advan-
tageous as regards the quantity and quality of the fecula obtainable from
a given quantity of tuber, viz. :-
The tuber is to be digested in water saturated by caustic lime for
from four to ten hours at a temperature of from about 10000 to 11600
Fahrenheit. according to its state of maturity and natural inflexibility
(six hours digestion in lime water at 104° Fahrenheit will usually be
found sufficient): it is then to be rewashed in cold water and digested
about two hours at a temperature of about 11400 Fahrenheit in a
solution consisting on the one part of about three parts of sulphuric or
nitric acid, or preferably of about six parts of acetic acid, and on the
other part of one thousand parts of water: or equivalent quantities of
soda or potash may be substituted for the lime, or of hydrochloric acid
for the three first-named acids. but not as it is believed so advan-
tageously. The SO treated iuber is then to be steeped in cold water, or
in a cold acid solution of the same description as that in which it was
digested. for about twelve hours: it is then to be placed in the press, the
liquid separated and utilized as before. and the solid transferred to the
rasping machine of the potatoe starch manufactory, and the fecula and
fibre separated and utilized as before, or the digestion in the alkaline
solution may be omitted. and the tuber digested in one of the herein-
before described acid solutions (of which in this case the nitric is to be
preferred) for about six hours at a temperature of about 1160° Fahrenheit:
it is then to be steeped in cold water. or in a cold acid solution of the
same description as that in which it has been digested, transferred to the
press. the liquid separated from the solid constituents, and both utilized
as before.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention. and the manner
in which the same is to be carried into effect. I declare that I claim. -
First. The exclusive right to the treatment of the potatoe by the
processes of digestion and refrigeration herein-before described, having
for result such alteration of its properties as permits of the easy
separation of its liquid from its solid constituents by mechanical
pressure.
Second. The exclusive right to separate by mechanical pressure the
liquid from the solid constituents of the so treated tuber.

page_text: Third. The exclusive right to preserve and utilize by the processes
herein-before described the so separated liquid and solid constituents of
the so treated tuber.
In witness whereof, 1, the said James Torbitt, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of
thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
March, One
JAMES TORBITT. (L.S.)