THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL WHALEBONE, OR A SUBSTANCE CAPABLE OF BEING EMPLOYED AS A PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Auguste Louis Nicolas Comte Vander Meere, of
Paris, in the French Empire, for the Invention of "THE MANUFACTURE OF
ARTIFICIAL WHALEBONE, OR A SUBSTANCE CAPABLE OF BEING EMPLOYED AS A
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste Louis Nicolas
Comte Vander Meere at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 6th February 1854.
I, AUGUSTE LOUIS NICOLAS Comte VANDER MEERE, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL WHALEBONE,
OR A SUBSTANCE CAPABLE OF BEING EMPLOYED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR WHALEBONE AND
TORTOISESHELL," to be as follows:—
The Invention consists in softening horn, and rendering it flexible like
ordinary whalebone, by means of glycerine, or other chemical agent having
a similar effect. The horn is shaped or moulded to the required forms, and
immersed in a mixture of white wine or other suitable alcoholic liquid and
nitric or other acid, and afterwards immersed in water for several days.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Auguste Louis Nicolas Comte Vander Meere in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 4th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
LOUIS NICOLAS COMTE VANDER MEERE, of Paris, in the French Empire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Auguste Louis Nicolas Comte Vander Meere, Her special licence
that I, the said Auguste Louis Nicolas Comte Vander Meere, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Auguste Louis
Nicolas Comte Vander Meere, 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 "THE
MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL WHALEBONE, OR A SUBSTANCE CAPABLE OF BEING
EMPLOYED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR WHALEBONE AND TORTOISESHELL," communicated
to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Auguste Louis Nicolas Comte Vander Meere, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Auguste Louis Nicolas Comte Vander
Meere, do hereby declare the nature of the 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 thereof (that is to say):-
The Invention consists in softening horn, and rendering it flexible and
elastic like ordinary whalebone, in manner herein-after described. The horns
are cleansed from grease, and split, opened out, and flattened in the ordinary
manner, and they are then immersed for several days in a bath composed of
five parts by weight of glycerine and one hundred parts by weight of water.
Or in lieu of the glycerine and water I use water alone, which water soon
becomes putrid and ammoniacal, and is to be used in that state, and small

page_text: quantities of water are to be added to it from time to time to supply any loss
by evaporation or otherwise.
After several days immersion in either of these baths, the horn is placed for
one day or for several days in another bath composed of three quarts of nitric
acid of commerce, and two quarts of pyroligneous acid of commerce, and
twelve pounds and a half of tannin, and five pounds of bitartrate of potash, and
five pounds of sulphate of zinc, dissolved and mixed with twenty-five gallons
of water. Vinegar may be substituted for the pyroligneous acid, and white
wine may be substituted for the bitartrate of potash.
Or in lieu of this bath, the horn may be immersed for several days in a hot
or cold bath of water containing animal matter, such as a solution of gelatine
or glue, or the water in which tripe has been boiled, or in which plates and
dishes have been washed after being used for containing animal food. The
horn will now be found to have acquired a suitable degree of flexibility and
elasticity, to enable it to be used as a substitute for whalebone, for the ribs of
umbrellas, and many other purposes. In lieu of operating upon the horn after
it has been flattened out, the horns in their rough state may be treated in the
following manner :-The solid tips of the horns are cut off, to be employed for
handles of umbrellas or other purposes for which they are adapted. The
hollow parts of the horns are treated in the manner herein-before described,
and they are then cleansed from the internal core, and any lumps or projections
are removed, and the horns are split in a longitudinal direction by a saw. The
split horns are heated over a clear fire, and are opened out by means of a
plug of iron or hard wood and a pair of pincers, and they are then pressed
between hot smooth plates of iron or other metal in a hydraulic or other press.
The pressure is applied gradually in order to avoid cracking the sheets of
horn. The metal plates may be heated by steam; and it may be observed that
the greater the pressure to which the horn is exposed, the less may be the
temperature of the plates. The horn and the metallic plates are allowed to
cool in the press, and the horn is wetted with cold water by means of a small
pump before relieving the pressure. The horn may be pressed to the required
thickness in the press, or if too thick it may be divided by means of a saw.
The plates between which the horn is pressed are to be greased or oiled, and
the sheets of horn are to be cleansed from the grease or oil by rubbing them
with the saw-dust of horn, or by means of potash or otherwise, but they are
not to be placed in hot water lest they should return to their original form.
They are again to be placed in one of the baths herein-before mentioned, and
they may remain there until required for use, when they are worked up into
into the required articles by the ordinary means.

page_text: Horns of small dimensions, and the horny hoofs of cows and similar animals,
are more rapidly acted upon than large thick horns, and short pieces may be
united together so as to obtain longer pieces than would otherwise be pro-
curable. For this purpose the parts which are to be united are cut to a slope
or bevil, taking care to avoid the contact of any grease or even the hand of
the workman on the bevilled parts. The pieces of horn are heated, and their
bevilled parts are placed in contact with one another, and the whole placed
between two pieces of beech wood, which are again placed between heated
metal plates, and submitted to a powerful press. The pieces of horn are thus
caused to adhere or unite together. Cold water is thrown against the horn
and pieces of wood until they cease to hiss, and the pressure is then gradually
relieved as the horn cools. Any projecting parts are trimmed off, and the
pieces of horn are then placed in cold water for a few hours, and afterwards
immersed in one of the aforesaid baths until required for use, as herein-before
mentioned. The horn may be stained black by means of a stain prepared by
boiling together in water, logwood, fustic, and sulphate of iron, and adding eight
or ten drops of nitric acid to twenty gallons of liquid. The horn is dipped into
the stain for a few seconds or longer, and is then dried and polished, if required.
The proportions of the ingredients may be varied according to their quality,
and the tint which it is desired to produce; and various other stains may be
employed, as in staining ordinary horn and ivory and other substances. It may
be stained like ordinary horn to resemble tortoiseshell. The toughness and
elasticity which it acquires by the treatment herein-before described renders
it well adapted for making combs, for the binding of books, for covering
ornamental boxes, for chessmen, draughts, frames for pictures, buhl work,
stocks of pistols, ramrods of guns, ribs of umbrellas and parasols, bones of
stays, surgical instruments, whips, and a variety of other purposes. Sheets of
this prepared horn, which on account of its elasticity and flexibility I call
"artificial whalebone," may be engraved, and employed for printing upon paper,
calico, or other substances. When cut into threads, it may be employed for
making brooms and brushes, and these threads may be woven into fabrics, if
desired. In lieu of preparing the horn in the rough state, it may be first
shaped or moulded roughly to the required forms, and then submitted to the
aforesaid process or processes, to render it elastic and flexible, or it may first be
immersed in the glycerine or putrid water bath, and then worked into the
required form, and immersed in the nitric acid bath, and afterwards finished or
polished. In describing the various baths, I have mentioned the best mixtures
with which I am acquainted for producing the required flexibility and elasticity,
but I do not confine myself to those particular mixtures and proportions, as

page_text: the same may be varied, and other acids may be substituted for the nitric acid,
and vinegar and other alcoholic liquids may be employed in lieu of white
wine.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
generally the application of ordinary horn to purposes for which whalebone or
tortoiseshell are commonly used; but what I claim is, the manufacture of the
substance which I term "artificial whalebone," by communicating flexibility
and elasticity to horn, in manner herein-before described. And I claim the
application of the baths as herein-before described for that purpose.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste Louis Nicolas Comte Vander
Meere, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of
August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four.
COMTE VANDER MEERE. (L.S.)
Witness,
CHARLES COWPER,
20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane,
London.