AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION OR M 44 COMPOSITIONS TO BE APPLIED TO THE INSIDES UF CASKS AND OTHER VESSELS,
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Murdoch Mackay, of Finsbury, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION OR
M
44
COMPOSITIONS TO BE APPLIED TO THE INSIDES
UF
CASKS
AND OTHER VESSELS,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Murdoch Mackay at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd July 1873.
I, MURDOCH MACKAY, of Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, do
3 hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED COM-
POSITION OR COMPOSITIONS TO BE APPLIED TO THE INSIDES OF CASKS AND OTHER
VESSELS," to be as follows:-
:-
:
My Invention relates to an improved composition or compositions
for coating the insides of casks and other vessels, the object being to
render them perfectly air and water tight, and prevent them from
becoming mouldy, sour, or stinking. The casks or vessels are con-
sequently more easily cleansed and better suited for keeping beer, wines,
fruits, and various liquors in a sound condition.
"

page_text: In the preparation of the said composition or compositions I employ
rosin or colophony of commerce, either alone or mixed with gum san-
darac, or other resin capable of being dissolved in spirits; or I may use
gum sandarac without the admixture of colophony.
The above-mentioned ingredient or ingredients are dissolved in spirit,
and to give body and hardness to the composition I add either carbon,
calcined ochre, or burnt clay, or a mixture of these in a pulverized
state.
The carbon I employ preferably in the form of anthracite, coal, or
lampblack obtained from burnt oil or rosin..
The following are examples of the combinations which may be formed
from the above ingredients, and the proportion of each to every gallon
of spirits which I have found to answer well; but I do not confine
myself to these particular proportions :-
-
'
]

page_text: In some cases I apply the composition in a hot state, and without
heating the wood either before or after when it cannot be done con-
veniently, although it is preferable to employ heat as before described
when it is possible to do so.
6
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Murdoch Mackay in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd January 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MURDOCH
MACKAY, of Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Murdoch Mackay, Her special license
that I, the said Murdoch Mackay, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Murdoch Mackay, 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 "AN Improved Com-
POSITION OR COMPOSITIONS TO BE APPLIED TO THE INSIDES OF CASKS AND OTHER
VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Murdoch.
Mackay, 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 Murdoch Mackay, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 :-
•
My Invention relates to an improved composition or compositions
for coating the insides of casks and other vessels, the object being to

page_text: render them perfectly air and water tight, and prevent them from
becoming mouldy, sour, or stinking. Casks or vessels treated with
the improved compositions are consequently more easily cleansed and
better suited for keeping beer, wines, fruits, and various liquors in
a sound condition; whilst the cost of such composition or compositions
is much less than that of other compositions for a like purpose.
. In the preparation of the said composition instead of employing
shellac as heretofore proposed, I employ rosin or colophony of com-
merce, either alone or mixed with gum sandarac, or other resin capable
of being dissolved in spirits.
The above-mentioned ingredient or ingredients are dissolved in spirit,
and to give body and hardness to the composition I add either carbon,
calcined ochre, or burnt clay, or a mixture of these in a pulverized
state.
The carbon I employ preferably in the form of anthracite, coal, or
lampblack obtained from burnt oil or resin, and not as has heretofore
been proposed in the form of charcoal prepared from willow, the latter
being an expensive ingredient.
The following are examples of the combinations which may be
formed from the above ingredients, and the proportions of each to 1
every gallon of spirits, which I have found to answer well; but I
would have it understood that I do not confine myself to these par-
ticular proportions:―
Rosin or colophony
Gum sandarac
100
2 lbs.)
2 lbs.

page_text: In applying the preparation I first thoroughly dry and heat the inside
of the cask or other vessel, but without charring it, and I then apply
the preparation thereto with a brush, taking care to keep the preparation
well roused when using it; I then blaze off the spirit, and the cask or
other vessel is again heated for a short time until the preparation has
thoroughly penetrated the fibres of the wood. In cases where a second
coating is required the cask or other vessel is again heated if necessary,
and the operation repeated as before described.
When the cask or other vessel is cooled it may be rinsed out with
water to clear it from any smoke or vapour or deposits therefrom
caused by the flaming process, after which it is ready for immediate
use.
In some cases I apply the composition in a hot state and without
heating the cask or other vessel either before or after such application;
when it cannot be done conveniently, although it is preferable to employ
heat as before described when it is possible to do so.
In some cases the cask or other vessel may be coated with a suitable
drying oil before the application of either of my improved compositions
thereto.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
mode in which I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood
that what I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is, the improved composition or compositions for coating the
insides of casks and other vessels, consisting of rosin or colophony of
commerce, either alone or mixed with gum sandarac or other resin
dissolved in spirits, and having combined therewith carbon, calcined
ochre, or burnt clay, or a mixture of these in a pulverized state, in
manner substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Murdoch Mackay, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of January
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.