IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING VEGETABLE MATTERS
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
PAYNE, of Whitehall Wharf, Cannon Row, Westminster, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of
Junc, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessois, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Payne, my exors, admors,
and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Charles Payne, my exors, adîñors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Charles Payne, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING VEGETABLE MATTERS ;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Charles Payne,
should cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, 1, the said
Charles Payne, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained, in and by this present Specification and instrument in writing
as follows, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists of impregnating woods and other vegetable
matters with sulphur for the purpose of preserving them from decay and
destruction by insects, and sulphur being by itself insoluble in water, I employ
for the purpose of effecting such impregnation, a combination of sulphur with
any other substance which will form a sulphuret soluble in water (and not too
expensive), and after this impregnation of wood or other vegetable matter
therewith, I decompose the sulphuret with which it has been impregnated, so
that the sulphur may be set free from its combination, or recombined so as to
form an insoluble sulphuret, and so remain insoluble within the fibre, fabric, or
substance of the wood or other vegetable matter. Any convenient sulphuret
which is soluble in water, such as the sulphurets of potassium, sodium, and
strontium, may be used for the purposes of my said Invention, but I prefer to
use sulphuret of barium or sulphuret of calcium, because, when I use the one
or other of these sulphurets, I am able, upon decomposing it, not only to
set free or recombine its sulphur, so as to be insoluble in water, but also to pro-
duce some other substance or substances also insoluble in water, which may
assist in preserving the wood or other substance, or may render it more durable
and less combustible. The sulphuiet of barium may be manufactured from
the sulphate of barytes in any of the modes usually adopted by chemists for
that purpose, but the mode which I adopt is as follows:-I mix any required
quantity of sulphate of barytes in powder, with a quantity of carbonaceous
matter sufficient to de-oxydize the acid, and also the base of the salt, and I
have found that from one to two parts (by weight) of powdered charcoal or
coke, mixed with sixteen parts of sulphate of barytes,, will be sufficient to
ensure the desired effect. This mixture I subject to the action of the fire in a
reverberatory furnace until it is brought to a bright red or white heat, at which
heat I keep it in the furnace for about an hour, sting it fiequently so that
every part of the mixture may be effectually operated upon. Any small excess
of either of the materials in the mixture operated upon in this manner will
not be productive of any inconvenience, for if the proportion of sulphate of
barytes should happen to be too great, the only mischief will be that the whole
of it will not be converted into a sulphuret of barium, and when the sulphuret
18 dissolved from the unconverted and insoluble sulphate of barytes, the resi
duium may be afterwards mixed with charcoal or coke, and subjected to the

page_text: action of the fire in the furnace, as before mentioned. And if the proportion
of charcoal or coke should be too great, and any of it should happen to remain
unconsumed at the end of the process, the residue may, after the sulphuret
of barium has been dissolved from it, be afterwards mixed with more sulphate of
barytes, and used for the purpose of converting it into sulphuret of barium in
manner aforesaid. The sulphuret of calcium is a well-known article, and it is
unnecessary here to describe the mode of preparing it for the purposes of my
said Invention. The solution of sulphuret must be varied in strength according
to the quantity of sulphur with which the wood or other vegetable substance is
to be impregnated, but in impregnating wood I deem it advisable to use a
solution considerable weaker than a saturated solution, for a saturated solution
(whether the sulphuret of barium or any other sulphuret be used) will, I
believe, be found to impregnate the wood with a larger quantity of insoluble
matter than necessary or convenient for general purposes. In preparing a
solution of sulpheret of barium for the purpose of impregnating wood according
to my said Invention, I make the solution of the specific gravity of about 1 040,
and as the quantity of solution which is kept in use will be constantly dimi-
nishing in strength, I take care to keep it up to the strength I have named by
adding from time to time such portions of the sulphuret, or of a stronger solu-
tion, as may be necessary for that purpose. The solution of sulphuret of barium
is prepared with greater facility by dissolving the sulphuret in boiling water,
and in practice I prepare my solution in that way, and make it a saturated
solution, afterwards adding as much water as may be necessary to reduce the
strength of it, so as to make it of the specific gravity before mentioned. The
solution of sulphuret (whether of barium or calcium) must be kept as much
as conveniently may be from contact with the atmosphere, from which it will
imbibe carbonic acid, and so gradually be decomposed.
In preparing a solution of any other sulphuret, except sulphuret of barium,
for the purpose of impregnating wood or other vegetable substance, I deem it
most advisable (for the reasons before mentioned) to prepare it of such a
strength that it will impregnate wood or other vegetable substance with the
same quantity of sulphur, as a solution of sulphuret of barium prepared in
manner aforesaid would impregnato such wood or other vegetable substance.
For the purpose of impregnating wood or other vegetable substance with solu-
tions according to my said Invention, I place it in a cylinder or other suitable
and convenient vessel which can be made air-tight and be exhausted of air,
and which is strong enough to bear the pressure herein-after mentioned. The
piece of wood or other vegetable substance to be prepared according to my
Invention, and impregnated (for example) with sulphuret of barium, being

page_text: placed in a vessel such as I have mentioned, and the vessel closed so as to be
air-tight, I exhaust it of the air which it contains. And I prefer doing so by
first filling the vessel with steam, and then condensing the steam by injecting a
portion of the solution of sulphuret to be employed into the vessel, at the same
time applying cold water to the vessel externally. When a partial vacuum
has been obtained, I allow the solution to flow into the vessel through a pipe
from the reservoir in which it is placed. The stop-cock in the pipe communi-
cating with the reservoir just mentioned is then to be closed, so as to prevent
the ingress of any further quantity of solution. I then work the air pump
until I obtain as good a vacuum in the vessel as possible, and so as to extract
as much of the air contained in the wood or other substance as practicable.
When after one or more trials I find that I have exhausted as much of the
air as conveniently may be, I open the stop-cock before mentioned, so as to
allow the vessel to become filled or nearly so with the solution. I then close
the stop-cock, and by means of a force pump or pumps force a further
quantity of solution into the vessel until I cause the pressure upon the interior
surface of the vessel to amount from one hundred and ten to one hundred and
forty pounds to the square inch, and keep up that pressure for about an hour,
after which I draw off the remaining solution which has not been absorbed.
Having thus impregnated the wood or other vegetable substance with a solution
of sulphuret, I proceed again to impregnate it in a similar manner with an
acid or a solution of some substance or substances in water, which will decom-
pose the sulphurct as already mentioned. If I have first impregnated the
wood or other substance with a sulphuret of barium or of calcium, any solution
or substance in solution may be used which will unite with the barium or
calcium, so that the sulphur may be set free in manner herein-before men-
tioned But (for the sake of cheapness) I prefer for this purpose to use a
solution of sulphate of iron in water, and if the solution of sulphate of
banum or calcium has been used of the strength before mentioned, I prepare
the solution of sulphate of iron so that it shall contain about one pound and
six ounces of the sulphate of iron in each gallon of the solution, but it is
better that there should be an excess of the sulphate of iron in the solution
than the contrary. The various other materials which may be used for the
purpose of decomposing the sulphurets with which wood or other vegetable
matters may have been impregnated, so as to set fice the sulphur in manner
aforesaid, are so well known to chemists that it is unnecessary for me to
describe them, and I need only add that I deem it to be most advisable to
select such a material as will cause all the new subnstaces produced by the
decomposition to be insoluble. The wood or other substance to be operated

page_text: upon according to my said Invention is to be impregnated with the second
solution by the same means as it was impregnated with the first solution, and
as herein-before described, after which the operation is complete. In some
cases it may be deemed proper to dry the wood or other substance operated
upon after being impregnated with the first solution, and before it is impreg-
nated with the second, and more particularly when it is desired to impregnate
the wood or other substance with as large a quantity of solid matter as
possible.
Having now described the mode in which I perform and carry into effect
my said Invention, I hereby declare that I claim as of my Invention, the mode
of impregnating wood and other vegetable matters with sulphur, in a state of
combination so as to be soluble in water, and then decomposing such combina-
tion so that the sulphur may be set fice or recombined so as to form an
insoluble sulphuret, and so remain insoluble within the fibre, fabric, or sub-
stance of the wood and other vegetable matters in manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Payne, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our