IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUPERPHOSPHATES, TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE MAKING OF BREAD AND IN OTHER PURPOSES IN THE ARTS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUPERPHOSPHATES, TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE
MAKING OF BREAD AND IN OTHER PURPOSES IN THE ARTS."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Anthony Pollak, of Washington, D. C., in the
United States of America.
Sealed the 26th July 1864, and dated the 11th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at.
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th February 1864.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUPERPHOSPHATES, TO BE EMPLOYED IN
THE MAKING OF BREAD AND IN OTHER PURPOSES IN THE ARTS," a communication
to me from abroad by Anthony Pollak, of Washington, D. C., in the United
States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the production of a superphosphate to be employed
in the manufacture of bread or for any desired purpose in the arts.
In

page_text: preparing this superphosphate the following ingredients and proportions are
employed: To ten thousand pounds of water are added one thousand pounds
of oil of vitriol. To this mixture are added with constant stirring fourteen
hundred pounds of burned bones, and a brisk agitation is maintained for
from sixteen to eighteen hours, when the whole is drawn into a suitable
vessel and thoroughly lixiviated.. The result is a liquid superphosphate of
lime, from which seven-ninths of the lime of the original phosphate of lime
have been withdrawn, and which is free from excessive phosphoric acid and
comparatively free from gypsum. This extract is concentrated in suitable
vessels, and as the evaporation proceeds finely ground thoroughly calcined
bones are added to the solution in the proportion of ten pounds for every ten
wine gallons, standing at 25° Baumé. If not concentrated to this strength,
a quantity of bones corresponding to the strength should be taken, namely,
four-tenths of a pound for each degree of Baumé for every ten gallons. The
concentration is continued till the powdered bone ceases to be perceptible
between the thumb and finger, and the liquid assumes a viscid and creamy
consistency. The essential body produced at this stage of the process is a
white crystallizible compound of lime and phosphoric acid, which on cooling
solidifies, and may be exposed to ordinary atmospheric air indefinitely long
without absorbing moisture.
It should be observed that is essential for the production of this product
that there should be no surplus phosphoric acid present, and that tho
proportions above given must be very nearly adhered to. The proportion of
ten pounds above given is subject to a slight variation, but as an ordinary
rule of manufacture in a large way it is most desirable. This crystalline
superphosphate of lime will be found too concentrated for convenient practical
use in bread making and in other applications to the useful arts, and there-
fore, for the purpose of securing a homogeneous body of increased extent of
surface, and sufficiently diluted for ordinary use, the liquid, when, as before
stated, it has assumed a viscid creamy consistency, is removed from the fire, is
slightly diluted with gelatinized water made such by the addition of boiled
starch, and is occasionally stirred for several hours to prevent aggregation in
crystalline groups. When it has become cool, for each degree of Baumé of
the original ten gallons, seven-tenths of a pound of dry, throughly washed
potatoe starch is added and intimately incorporated, adding if necessary water
from time to time, until no dry starch grains are visible. The mass is then
spread on a floor in parcels of about a quarter of a cubic foot bulk each, and
allowed to dry in a moderately warm room for several days. When
sufficiently dry to crumble readily, it is granulated by passing through a

page_text: sieve of quarter-inch meshes, and spread out in a current of heated air of a
graduated temperature of from 110° to 170° Fahrenheit. When thoroughly
dried it may be pulverized, and is ready for use. This gives a superphosphate
of lime, of which one hundred parts will neutralize twenty-one parts of
hydrate of soda. If a weaker acid is required more starch may be added, if
a stronger less starch will be required.
It is also proposed to prepare other superphosphates or double super-
phosphates of properties closely resembling those of the superphosphate of
lime above described, in which the lime is in part replaced by soda, potassa, and
magnesia respectively. In preparing these superphosphates the Inventor
adds to the extract of the burned bones treated with the oil of vitriol and
water, and leached, as above described for each degree of Baumé, for every
gallon 0.0144lbs. avoirdupois of hydrate of soda, or 0.0203lb. avoirdupois of
hydrate of potassa, or 0.0180lb. avoirdupois of hydrated carbonate of magnesia,
or corresponding equivalents of carbonates of soda and potassa, or caustic
magnesia, and concentrates to an emulsion of fine crystals when the viscid
liquid on cooling and standing in each case solidifies. The mass in either
case does not absorb moisture in ordinary atmospheric air. From this point
he treats each in the same manner as he does the superphosphate of lime.
with gelatinized water and dry starch, or other farinaceous or equivalent
dilutants, and drys at a graduated temperature, increasing their extent of
surface, facility of reduction to powder, and uniformity of action. The double
superphosphate of magnesia and lime is slightly more soluble than the
superphosphate of lime, and the corresponding soda and potassa compounds
is more soluble than the magnesia compound, giving to them the quality of
more prompt action in the neutralizing of alkalies and decomposing alkalina
carbonates than is possessed by the superphosphate of lime.
The proportions above given may be varied slightly without detriment, but
it is found that the best consists of base and acid in proportions between four
atoms of base to three atoms of acid, and four of base to four of acid, and in
which the soda or potassa or magnesia replace about three-sevenths of the
atoms of the base. These superphosphates are used in the preparation of
self-raising flour by sifting intimately together one and sixty-six hundredths
pounds of dry bi-carbonate of soda, three and sixty-nine hundredths pounds
of the diluted superphosphate, and one hundred and ninety-one pounds of
wheaten flour. It is also used in the manufacture of what are commonly
called yeast powders or baking powders by intimately mixing recently and
thoroughly dried superphosphate and bi-carbonate of soda in the proportion
of twenty parts of the former and nine of the latter.

page_text: Packages may also be prepared containing parcels of equivalents, soda and
superphosphate, for given weights of flour, as for twenty-five pounds. It may
also be supplied for use as simple superphosphate for various purposes in
the arts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
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 MANUFACTURE OF SUPERPHOSPHATES, TO BE EMPLOYED IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF BREAD AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES IN THE ARTS," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Anthony Pollak, of Washington, D. C., in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of
them, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to the manufacture or production of a super-
phosphate, to be employed in the manufacture of bread or for any desired

page_text: purpose in the arts.
In preparing this superphosphate the following
ingredients and proportions are employed:-To ten thousand pounds of
water are added one thousand pounds of oil of vitriol; to this mixture are
added with constant stirring fourteen hundred pounds of burned bones, and a
brisk agitation is maintained for from sixteen to eighteen hours, when the
whole is drawn into a suitable leach or vessel and thoroughly lixiviated. The
result is the production of a liquid superphosphate of lime, from which seven-
ninths of the lime of the original phosphate of lime have been withdrawn, and
which is free from excessive phosphoric acid and comparatively free from
gypsum. It is important to notice that if the proportions of oil of vitriol had
been materially larger, say eleven hundred and twenty pounds of oil of vitriol
to fourteen hundred pounds of bones, the product would have contained an
undesirable excess of phosphoric acid, and a correspondingly large per-centage
of gypsum which is soluble in free phosphoric acid. This extract is con-
centrated in suitable vessels, and as the evaporation proceeds finely ground
thoroughly calcined bones are added to the solution in the proportion of ten
pounds to every ten wine gallons, standing at 25° Baumé. If not concentrated
to this strength a quantity of bones corresponding to the strength should be
taken, viz., four-tenths of a pound for each degree of Baumé for every ten
gallons. The concentration is continued till the powdered bone ceases to
be perceptible between the thumb and finger and the liquid assumes a viscid
and creamy consistency. The essential body produced at this stage of the
process is a white crystallizable compound of lime and phosphoric acid, which
on cooling solidifies, and may be exposed to ordinary atmospheric air indefinitely
long without absorbing moisture.
It should be observed that it is essential for the production of this product
that there should be no surplus phosphoric acid present, and that the proportions
above given must be very nearly adhered to. If, for instance, the proportions
above used bad been of four pounds of bones, the result would have been a
superphosphate of lime in which there would have been free phosphoric acid
injurions to the manufacture. The proportion of ten pounds above given is
subject to a slight variation, but as an ordinary rule of manufacture in a
large way it is most desirable.
Although I have given the essential features of this Invention, I desire to
give further instructions for the convenience of practical manufacturers. This
crystalline superphosphate of lime will be found to be too concentrated for
convenient practical use in bread making and in other applications to the
useful arts, and I therefore resume the description of the process, which, after
this point is for the purpose of securing a homogenous body of increased extent

page_text: of surface and sufficiently diluted for ordinary use. When the liquid, as before
stated, has assumed a viscid creamy consistency, it is removed from the fire, is
slightly diluted with gelatinized water made such by the addition of boiled
starch, and is occasionally stirred for several hours to prevent aggregation in
crystalline groups. When it has become cool for each degree of Baumé of
the original ten gallons, seven-tenths of a pound of dry thoroughly washed
potatoe starch is added and intimately incorporated, adding, if necessary,
water from time to time until no dry starch grains are visible. The mass is
then spread on a floor in parcels of about a quarter of a cubic foot bulk each,
and allowed to dry in a moderately warm room for several days.. When
sufficiently dry to crumble readily it is granulated by passing through a sieve
of quarter-inch meshes, and spread out in a current of heated air of a graduated
temperature of from 110° to 170° Fahrenheit. When thoroughly dried it
may be pulverized and is ready for use. This gives a superphosphate of lime
of which one hundred parts will neutralize twenty-one parts of hydrate of soda.
If a weaker acid is required more starch may be added, if a stronger less
starch will be required.
The Inventor also prepares three other superphosphates or double super-
phosphates of properties closely resembling those of the superphosphates of
lime above described, in which the lime is in part replaced by soda, potassa,
and magnesia respectively. In preparing these superphosphates the Inventor
adds to the extract of the burned bones treated with the oil of vitriol and water,
and leached as above described for each degree of Baumé, for every gallon,―
0.0144 lb. avoirdupois of hydrate of soda, or,
0.0203
0.0180
"
"
"
"
""
potassa, or,
hydrated carbonate of magnesia, or,
corresponding equivalents of carbonates of soda and potassa or caustic
magnesia, and he concentrates to an emulsion of fine crystals when the viscid
liquid on cooling and standing in each case solidifies. The mass in either
case does not absorb moisture in ordinary atmospheric air. From this point
the Inventor treats each in the same manner as he does the superphosphate
of lime with gelatinized water and dry starch or other farinaceous or equivalent
dilutants, and drys at a graduated temperature, increasing their extent of
surface facility of reduction to powder and uniformity of action. The double
superphosphate of magnesia and lime is slightly more soluble than the super-
phosphate of lime, and the corresponding soda and potassa compounds are
more soluble than the magnesia compound, giving to them the quality of more
prompt action in the neutralizing of alkalies and decomposing alkaline
carbonates than is possessed by the superphosphate of lime.

page_text: The proportions above given may be varied slightly without detriment, but
it is found that the best consists of base and acids in proportions between four
atoms of base to three atoms of acid, and four of base to four of acid, and in
which the soda or potassa or magnesia replace about three-seventh of the atoms
of the base. These superphosphates are used in the preparation of self-raising
flour by sifting intimately together one and sixty-six hundreths pounds of dry
bi-carbonate of soda, three and sixty-nine hundreths pounds of the diluted
superphosphate, and one hundred and ninety-one pounds of wheaten flour.
They are also used in the manufacture of what are commonly called yeast
powders or baking powders by intimately mixing recently and thoroughly
dried superphosphate and bi-carbonate of soda in the proportion of twenty
parts of the former and nine of the latter. It is also proposed to prepare
packages containing parcels of equivalents of soda and superphosphate for
given weights of flour, as for twenty-five pounds for example. The super-
phosphates may also be supplied for use as simple superphosphates for various
purposes in the arts.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the berein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
1st. The manufacture of superphosphates substantially as herein-before
described.
2nd. The application and use of the superphosphates above referred to in
the manner and for the purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Ninth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-four.