IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF SULPHURET OF ANTIMONY, AND IN OBTAINING PRODUCTS THEREFROM
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Glass, of 37, Prince's Street, Stamford
Street, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF SULPHURET OF ANTIMONY, AND IN OBTAINING
PRODUCTS THEREFROM,"
--
Sealed the 25th November 1862, and dated the 19th September 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Glass at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th September 1862.
I, WILLIAM GLASS, of 37, Prince's Street, Stamford Street, Lambeth, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF SULPHURET OF ANTIMONY, AND IN OBTAINING
PRODUCTS THEREFROM," to be as follows
I take any of the well-known sulphurets of antimony, called antimony ores,
or the refined ore called crude antimony, and place them or it, with or without
additional sulphur or antimony, in a crucible or other convenient covered or
close vessel set in afurnace,and heat them or it to redness in a melted or fluid
state, and force upon or into them or it atmospheric air or oxygen gas, pro-
vision being made in the crucible or other vessel for, the ingress of air or.
oxygen,and for the egress of the vaporous products of combustion, viz.,oxide of
Lantimonyand sulphurous acid, which areconducted into tubes, flues,orchambers
[Price 8d.1

page_text: where the oxide of antimony is condensed in fine powder, and the sulphur-
ous acid gas may be collected and used as such, or it may be oxidated or
converted into sulphuric acid by oxygen and steam, as is usually practised
in vitriol works.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Glass in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th March 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GLASS, of 37, Prince's Street, Stamford Street, Lambeth, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our
LordOne thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Glass, er special licence that I, the said William Glass, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Glass, 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 TREAT-
MENT OF SULPHURET OF ANTIMONY, AND IN OBTAINING PRODUCTS THEREFROM,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Glass, 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 William Glass, 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:―
This Invention consists in heating to redness in a close vessel, such as a
crucible, retort, or flattened dish, sulphuret of antimony (antimony ore or

page_text: crude antimony), with or without additional sulphur or antimony, and
projecting upon or into them or it in a melted or fluid state by means of a
fan or pump or by other means, either from the top or from any other
direction, atmospheric air or oxygen gas, or both, provision being made in
the crucible or other vessel for the ingress of air, oxygen, or both, and for
the egress of the vaporized products of combustion, oxides, and sulphoxides
of antimony, and sulphurous acid, which are conducted into tubes, flues, or
chambers, where the oxides of antimony are deposited in fine powder, and
the sulphurous acid gas may be collected or used as such, or it may be con-
verted by oxygen and steam (aqueous vapour) into sulphuric acid, as is
usually practised in vitriol works, or otherwise treated, while a portion of
impure metallic antimony remains in the vessel after the operation has been
continued for some time, and may be purified for metallic antimony of
commerce, or refined for gold, silver, or other metals.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I now proceed to describe
the method I prefer for performing the same.
I construct a brick erection of a furnace or fire-place, similar to those ordi-
narily employed to heat metal pans or retorts, of a size and shape proportioned
to the size and shape of the vessel I propose to employ, taking care that it be
of a size and construction sufficient to raise such vessel and its contents to a
bright red heat. The vessel employed I prefer to be a flattened crucible or
dish of fire-clay, so set in brickwork as to be capable of being heated to bright
redness, but its upper surface or what it may contain completely enclosed by a
covering or arch, extending from front to back of the brick erection of the
furnace,over or by the side ofwhich arch I prefer the fire fluesto be conducted
to a chimney, the front part of the arch 1 prefer to be fitted with a fire-tile
or other suitable means of closing it,capable of being removed for the purpose
of putting in the charge and removing the residue, in which is made a small
hole fitted with a stopper, which may be removed at.pleasure to admit air or
oxygen, or both, or to inspect the process from time to time (other arrange-
ments may, however, be made for introducing the charge), the back part of
the arch being left open and in free communication with a series of flues or
chambers for receiving the vaporized products, which are drawn therein by
connection with a chimneyor other means of draught. These flues or chambers
maybe similar to those ordinarily employed for collecting sublimated products,
and of brick, lead, or other suitable material. In the side or top of the arch
or covering an aperture is left to admit of the insertion of an iron or earthen
tube,which has its end bent or directed so that a current of air forced through

page_text: it shall impinge or blowupon or into the melted charge in the vessel,the other
end of such tube being in connection by preference with a fan or air pump.
These arrangements being made and the vessel heated to redness by the com-
bustion of coke or other fuel,a suitable charge of native sulphuret or crude
antimony proportioned to the size of the vessel employed, either in pieces or in
a melted state, is introduced into it, and the openings thereto or arch closed
with the door above mentioned, and as soon as the charge is red hot, which
may be seen through the sight or air hole, the air or oxygen, or both, is or are
projected or forced through the tube by the fan, pump, or by other means on
to or into it, by which the greater part of the sulphur and antimony will be
converted into sulphurous acid and oxide of antimony, which will be carried by
the draught into the chambers or flues, where the oxide will be deposited and
the sulphurous acid drawn forward to be convertedinto sulphuric acid in suit-
able chambers or flues, or used as sulphurous acid for any convenient purpose.
When antimony is in excess and the admission of oxygen is incomplete or
insufficient, a grayish suboxide is produced; if sulphur is in excess in such
circumstances, a reddish or pinkish sulphoxide is obtained; but if either
sulphur or antimonypreponderates and sufficient oxygen is admitted, a white
oxide is the result of the combustion. The opening or closing of the hole in
front of the arch has been found to regulate these differences when air alone
has been used as the oxidizing agent. When the charge of sulphuret in the
vessel is nearly vaporized the arch door is to be removed and another charge
introduced, and this repeated until the vessel shall have accumulated such an
amount of residue in metal and scoria as to require removal. This may be
done by scraping out the scoria with a rake and ladling out the fused portion
with a suitable or properly shaped ladle. Such fused portion will consist
principally of metallic antimony contaminated with sulphur, and may be
purified by fusion with suitable alkaline fluxes, or should it be found to contain
sufficient gold or silver to render it remunerative to separate them from the
metallic residue, it may be combined with sulphur and treated with air or
oxygen, in the manner above described, or lytharge may be added to it and
heat applied; by either or both of which processes the antimony will be
oxidized, and the residue may be refined for gold or silver. The oxide depo-
sited in the chambers or flues may be removed from time to time as required,
and, if necessary, washed with water, to free it from sulphurous or sulphuric
acid, and when dried, used as a pigment or for other purposes.
Having now described an apparatus which I consider most suitable for the
purpose of carrying out my Invention, the object of which is the production of

page_text: oxide, sulphoxide, and suboxide of antimony, metallic antimony, antimonious,
sulphurous,and sulphuric acids, by the burning of sulphuret of untimony in a
fluid or melted state with pure oxygen, atmospheric air, or both, as above
described, and the obtaining of gold or silver or other metals (if they exist
in the antimony ore or crude antimony employed), as a residue of the above-
described process; yet the form and arrangement of the apparatus may be
greatly varied without departing from my Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Glass, have set my hand and
scal, this 18th day of March, in the year of our Lord 1868.
WILLIAM GLASS. (L.S.)