IMPROVEMENTS IN MACERATING SUBSTANCES TO BE EMPLOYED PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton; of the Office for Patents
66, Chancery Lane; in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACERATING SUBSTANCES TO BE EMPLOYED
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th March 1856.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN MACERATING SUBSTANCES TO BE EMPLOYED
IN THE PROCESS OF DISTILLATION, to be as follows:-
The distillation of maize or indian corn, and some other grain not usually
employed for this purpose, presents such difficulties in practice as to prevent
their employment in place of rye or barley when the ordinary process of
maceration is followed. It has been found that by operating upon the meal of
maize and other grain not hitherto employed for distillation, for the reasons
above stated, in a different manner to that usually adopted, these substances
may be usefully employed. The Inventor of the present improvements has
discovered that he can obtain a good result by steeping the meal in a certain
[Price 8d.1

page_text: quantity of water at the temperature of from 5 to 60° of the centigrade
thermometer, then allowing it to remain in a quiescent state for a short time,
after which a quantity of boiling water should be added to the mass, so as to
increase the temperature thereof to about 80° centigrade. The materials
macerated in this manner may be advantageously employed in the process of
distillation. This process of maceration, however, although perfectly successful,
experimentally, is open to certain objections when carried out on a large scale,
and therefore it is proposed to carry on the operation in the manner hereafter
described, with the assistance of a suitable apparatus, consisting principally of
a semi-cylindrical vessel made of inetal, and surrounded with a casing or jacket,
so as to allow of steam being admitted into the space between the vessel and
its jacket for the purpose of heating the contents of the vessel. For every
two pounds weight of meal placed in the vessel must be supplied about 3
quarts of water, at about 60° centrigrade. The meal is supplied gradually, and
and is mixed with the water by means of a rotating stirring apparatus. When
the meal and water have become completely mixed, steam must be introduced
into the jacket to heat the ingredients in the vessel to about 80° centigrade,
after which the steam may be shut off, and the mass in the vessel left in a
quiescent state. After the expiration of about an hour the temperature of the
matters in the vessel will have fallen to about 65° centigrade, when somemalt
may be added, in the proportion of from 40 to 50 pounds of maltto every 200
of the meal or other matters, and when the whole has been again well stirred
and mixed, steam may be again admitted into the jacket, so as to raise the
mass to an uniform temperature of about 63° centigrade. After about an
hour and a half of maceration the saccharified matter may be drawn off into a
vat or fermenting vessel, and one quarter of water and three quarters of the
cold clear liquid remaining from the previous day must be added, in order to
reduce the temperature to about 25° centigrade, then add about 2 pounds
of yeast of beer for every two hundred pounds of macerated meal. After about
2 hours all the thick part will be deposited at the bottom, and the clear
liquid may then be drawn off through suitable cocks into a shallow vessel,
placed above the fermenting vat, where it is maintained at a temperature of
27 or 28°. A small quantity of yeast of beer, previously mixed with water,
is then added, and after a few hours fermentation will be set up, and the
liquid will be covered with a layer of light white froth. After 16 hours, this
froth, which is yeast, may be removed, and this operation may be renewed
two or three times. The liquid may then be run into the fermenting vat
below, and the alcoholic fermentation set up.
The matters which the Inventor proposes to employ in this new process of

page_text: distillation are maize or indian corn, dari, rice, peas, beans, and some other
analogous grains or seeds. These matters may be employed either alone or
mixed together, and from 20 to 2 per cent. of malt and a small quantity of
rye may be added at the discretion of the manufacturer.
By this improved process of maceration three valuable products may be
obtained, viz. 1st, alcohol may be distilled from the fermented matters;
2nd, yeast of excellent quality, nearly colorless and tasteless, is also obtained,
and from its peculiar properties is admirably applicable for the manufacture
of bread; 3rd, the residuum, after the alcohol has been extracted and the
yeast removed, will be found extremely useful as food for fattening cattle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th September 1956.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-sixth, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said
William Edward Newton, myexecutors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 MACERATING SUBSTANCES TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE
PROCESS OF DISTILLATION," being a communication from abroad, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I. the said William Rdward Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The object of this Invention is so to conduct the macerating operation
preparatory to the process of distillation that certain substances hitherto
difficult of treatment or impracticable to be used by distillers may be advan-
tageously employed and rendered capable of yielding a triple produce, viz³,
alcohol, yeast of excellent quality, and a nutritious article of food for cattle.
The distillation of maize (indian corn) and dary by the aid of the macerating
process generally employed for corn, presents serious difficulties, which have
not permitted till now the profitable employment of these grains as sub-
stitutes for rye and barley; first, because the meal of those grains saccharifies
in an imperfect manner during the ordinary maceration, and gives con-
sequently little density and alcoholic principles as compared with the starch
it coutains; secondly, because after the dilution of the mass of macerated
matter a large part of the meal ofmaize and of dary precipitates to the bottom
of the macerating tub,and forms a deposit or sediment similar to a sandy mass.
This sediment produces little or no alcohol during the vinous fermentation,
and proves a great hindrance to the process of distillation, as it obstructs the
cocks of the tubs, the pipes of the pumps, and the several divisions of the dis-
tilling apparatus. It also gathers and attaches itself to the bottom of the boiler
heated by uncovered fire, and may cause dangerous accidents. To prevent
these impediments and dangers the following plans have been suggested:-
First, the extracting system, similar to that used by brewers, but which will
not answer for distillation, there being by this system great deficiency of yield,
besides which the principal impediment is not quite removed.
Secondly, the diluting of the meal of maize and of dary in a certain quantity
of water at from one hundred and twenty-two degrees to one hundred and forty
degrees Fahrenheit, left to repose some time, and then adding boiling water in
order to raise the mass to a temperature of one hundred and seventy-six
degrees Fahrenheit. This, although it may succeed as an experiment, can
never be profitably used, for reasons easily to be comprehended by persons
acquainted with the art of distillation, the addition of boiling water having
the effect of agglomerating the meal, and presenting too great a body of
macerated matter to ferment properly at the necessary temperature.
I shall now proceed to describe the new method of macerating maize
and dary, which has been found to produce very satisfactory results.

page_text: erator about three quarts of water are introduced (at the
temperature of one hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit) for every two
pounds of the total quantity of the meal intended for maceration. Rotary
motion is then given to the paddles or stirrers, and the meal of maize or of
dary, each separate or mixed together, is introduced. After the meal is
thoroughly moistened, and whilst the paddles are rotating,steam is let into the
steam jacket, and the whole mass is heated to a temperature of one hundred
and seventy-six degrees Fahrenheit. When this temperature is attained, the
supply of steam is cut off, and the mass is left to repose. It will, however,
be necessary every now and then to give motion to the paddles. In about
three quarters of an hour, or at the utmost an hour, the macerated meal will
have sunk to one hundred and forty-nine degrees Fahrenheit. This is the
most favourable moment for adding the malt, which is now done in the pro-
portion of forty or fifty pounds of the latter to two hundred pounds of loaded
meal of maize or dary. When the whole is perfectly diluted and mixed,
steam is again introduced into the steam jacket, and the temperature of the
whole mass of matter contained in the macerator is raised to one hundred
and forty-six degrees Fahrenheit. After one hour and a half or two hours
maceration, the saccharified substance is let out from the nacerator into the
fermentation tub, which is filled with one quarter of water and three quarters
of residue (well cooled and settled) obtained from the preceding day's working,
in order to obtain a mean temperature of from twenty-two degrees to twenty-

page_text: three degrees Fahrenheit. About two pounds of beer yeast are next added
to two hundred pounds of macerated meal, which is diluted in the fermentation
tub. After an hour and a half or two hours' rest, the whole thick part of the
mixture will be found deposited at the bottom of the tub, and by means of a
set of taps placed one above the other at different levels, all the thin or clear
liquid may be drawn out, care being taken to let it run through a close sieve,
to separate the dirt or floating grains from the clear liquid, which runs out into
a trough or a small cistern, whence it is drawn by means of a pump into a
trough ten or twelve inches high, placed in a room over the cell of fermen-
tation, and situated in such manner that a permanent and equal temperature
of fourteen degrees to seventeen degrees Fahrenheit may be preserved. There
must then be added for every twenty-two gallons of clear liquid and thick
substance remaining in the fermentation tub about a quarter of a pound of
beer yeast.previously diluted in a little quantity of must or water. A perfect
fermentation will have taken place in a few hours, and the liquid will be covered
with a layer of white flaky foam, which is the yeast. After sixteen hours of
fermentation, this yeast may be removed by means of a large skimmer. This
skimming operation is repeated twice or three times, till the twentieth hour,
after which the liquid is let off into the fermentation tub (whence it was pre-
viously drawn) where the alcoholic fermentation is completed, which will be
terminated the following day, viz', forty-eight hours after the maceration. The
yeast thus gathered should be immediately diluted in three or four times its
quantity of cold water,and run through a close sieve into a tub, and be taken
to a thoroughly cool place to settle for about twelve hours. After this the
water is run off and the yeast put into bags, which are subjected to pressure
to squeeze out any water it may contain. This yeast is white, and almost
without taste or smell, and is well adapted for making bread, for ferimenting
molasses, syrup, and juice of beet root. &c.; its principal merit. is, that it
imparts no colour nor flavour to the bread.
The yeast may also be procured and gathered from the fermentation tub
itself. The meal intended for this manufacture should be ground as fine as
possible, and well bolted to free it from the coarse grain. Secondly, by con-
ducting the maceration and fermentation as above described, and the diluted
matter having deposited its sediment, and a layer of white foamhavingformed
on the surface of the liquid, there is no necessity to draw off or decant the
liquid into another trough. By this improved mode of operating, the whole
remains in the fermentation tub. It will be sufficient to mix it with the
second gathering of yeast, and to re-stir the mass. At the beginning of the
fermentation, it is necessary to remove with the skimmer the brau and other

page_text: of
extraneous particles floating upon the surface of the liquid. Fifteen or
sixteen hours after the commencement of the fermentation, a great quantity
yeast will be seen floating on the surface of the tub. This yeast must
be removed, and washed and pressed as before mentioned. In conclusion,
the Inventor remarks, that he proposes to operate upon grains as proper
for distillation, maize, dary, rice, and the grain of sorgho, peas, beans, and
horse beans.
The distiller may, as he wishes, use these different grains separately or
mixed together in divers proportions, provided he takes care to proceed in
the process of saccharification according to the new mode of maceration, as
hereafter recapitulated, and that by the addition of twenty to twonty-five
per cent. of malt, to which may be addod a certain quantity of rye, accord-
ing to the judgment of the operator.
Secondly, the new method of macerating maize, dary, rice, fecula of
potatoes, or any other focula, may be defined as the dilution of the meal of
these grains in a vessel heated by stean, and by preference in the macerating
machine above described for heating by degrees, and by simple contact, as
before described. and so as to give to the diluted mass of the meal a tempera-
ture of one hundred and seventy-six degrees Fahrenheit, taking care that it
be not clotted and without addition of boiling water, in order to obtain the
desired temperature without incrusting the heated sides of the vessel.
The temperature of one hundred and seventy-six degrees Fahrenheit is
given as the most convenient degree to predispose the meal to receive ad-
vantageously the saccharificating virtue of the diastase contained in malt,
which perfectly decomposes it during the course of maceration when it has
previously been submitted to the temperature of one hundred and seventy-
six degrees Fahrenheit during a certain time, and after this brought again
to one hundred and forty-nine degrees Fahrenheit. Now the whole mass
of matter thickens and keeps in proper suspension during the course of the
vinous fermentation. It will be found that the yield of alcohol from maize,
dary, and rice, is equal and even superior to that of rye, and the incon-
venience resulting from the deposits or sediment of the non-decomposed meal
is removed, as the whole remains in suspension, and acts exactly as ryc
meal macerated with malt according to the ordinary system.
Thirdly, a new yeast, particularly applicable to bread-making, is by this
improved mode of operating obtainable from maize, dary, rice, the grain of
sorglo, peas, beans, horse-beans, fecula of potatoes, or any other fecula,
and the same may be collected in abundance when proceeding according to
the aforesaid method.

page_text: Fourthly, the whole of the residuum from the distillation of the macerated
meal, treated as above mentioned, is applicable to the feeding and fatting
of cattle and pigs. About a third part of the remaining liquid is useful
for succeeding operations.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)