AN IMPROVED MEANS AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING AND PRESERVING LIVE FISH, AND KEEPING WATER FRESH FOR A LONG PERIOD
Year: 1860

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Stevens at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th May
1860. A communication from abroad by Jean Cyrille Noël, of Paris,
in the Empire of France.
I, CHARLES STEVENS, Manager of the British & Foreign Office for Patents.
18, Welbeck Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MEANS
AND APPARATUS FOR TRANSPORTING AND PRESERVING LIVE FISH, AND KEEPING WATER
FRESH FOR A LONG PERIOD," & that it has been communicated to me from
abroad by Jean Cyrille Noël, of Paris, in the Empire of France, to be as
follows:-
The improvements consist in supplying to the water in which the fish are
placed the oxygen which is continually being absorbed by them, and thus
maintain the fish in the same condition as in running water. This is accom-
plished either by throwing the water into the air, or by causing the air to
enter the water in small currents.
For this purpose a box is used having a false bottom in which a number of
very small holes are pierced. The position of the bellows used for introducing
the air may vary according to circumstances, for instance, if the box is to be
conveyed on a man's back, the bellows are placed at the top and set in move-
ment by an arrangement similar to that employed with forge bellows; if, on
the other hand, the box is to be conveyed in a vehicle, an eccentric placed nt
any part of the tube, which runs along the side of the box, prevents the

page_text: water from entering the bellows, & impeding the working of the apparatus; the
tube conveys the air from the bellows to the box opening beneath the false
bottom.
By the first method above mentioned the water is thrown against the top
of the box by means of four or more paddles, and on falling it imbibes a
sufficient quantity of air to become thoroughly saturated with it. The revolu-
tion of the paddles also causes the air to enter by an orifice at the top, and
pass out by openings in the circumference, so that a continual current of
fresh air is supplied. By this means the water can remain unchanged without
any ill effect to the fish. A separation plate pierced with holes prevents the
fish from coming in contact with the paddles. The machine may be set in
movement in various ways, such as by the axle of the vehicle bearing the box,
by a stream of water, or by wind, if the apparatus is placed in a reservoir.
An endless chain of buckets may be employed raising the water above the
surface & throwing it back in a cascade through the air, in short, any
apparatus used for raising water can be made available.
Another variation on the above plan consists in an endless chain of buckets
which not only raise the water and let it fall in a shower through a wire net-
work in the mouth of the buckets, but also carry to the bottom of the
receptacle the air received in the buckets between the emptying of the water
& the re-descent of the bucket. A metal partition plate surrounds the
apparatus and prevents the fish from being disturbed by the buckets.
The principle of this Invention therefor consists in keeping up the supply
of fresh air necessary for the existence of fish in water, whatever may be the
means employed for obtaining this object. The means noticed in the above
description appear, however, the simplest & most practical.
The above Invention can likewise be applied to the preservation of water
which it may be required to retain fresh for a long period, such as for use on
board ship.