IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING THE WALLS, CEILINGS, WAINSCOTS, AND OTHER PARTS OF BUILDINGS FROM HUMIDITY
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Victor Péan, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the
Empire of France, and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING THE WALLS, CEILINGS,
WAINSCOTS, AND OTHER PARTS OF BUILDINGS FROM HUMIDITY."
Sealed the 12th March 1858, and dated the 19th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Victor Péan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
October 1857.
I, VICTOR PEAN, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France,
and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PROTECTING THE WALLS,
CEILINGS, WAINSCOTS, AND OTHER PARTS OF BUILDINGS FROM HUMIDITY," to be as
follows, that is to say:-
:
My Invention consists in protecting the walls, ceilings, wainscots, and other
parts of buildings from humidity, by coating the same. with glass made
adherent to sheets of wood or other material, in the following manner :-
Thin veneer or sheets of wood are coated with paint, and when dry, glass,
cut to a suitable size, is made to adhere to it by means of the following com-
position:-Take of linseed oil, one pound three ounces; litharge, in powder,
nine ounces; mix the litharge with the linseed oil, and then add a sufficient
quantity of plaster of Meudon to form a paste.
The composition thus formed is applied on the painted side of the wood,
and the glass is afterwards placed on it, and the whole is fixed by nails and

page_text: putty to the wall; a small space being left between the wall and the glass,
which may be filled up with sand, if required. Wainscots and ceilings may
be treated in a similar manner.
After this operation, the protection coating may be hung with paper, or
painted.
If paintings or decorations are to be applied, the exterior surface of the
wood must be first covered with the following coating:-Take of painter's
size, linseed oil, plaster of Meudon, of each a proportional quantity, mix the
plaster with the size and oil.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Victor Péan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, VICTOR
PEAN, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, and of
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Victor Péan, Her special licence that I, the said Victor Péan,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Victor Péan, 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROTECTING THE WALLS, CEILINGS, WAINSCOTS, AND OTHER PARTS OF BUILDINGS
FROM HUMIDITY," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Victor
Péan, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Victor Péan, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what mariner the same is to be per-

page_text: statement, that is to say:-
;
My Invention consists in protecting the walls, ceilings, wainscots, and other
parts of buildings from humidity by coating the same with glass made
adherent to sheets of wood, or other material susceptible of receiving the
application of glass, by means of the composition hereinafter described.
MODE OF OPERATING.
To facilitate the understanding of the description, wood is here only referred
to as the substance to which the glass is to be applied.
I take a sheet of wood about six feet long, a foot broad, and about one-
twelfth of an inch in thickness, and apply a thick coat of paint on the side on
which the glass is to be placed. After being left to dry at least twenty-four
hours, it is then placed on a table and coated on the painted side with the
following composition:-Linseed oil, about seventeen and a half ounces
(avoir.); litharge, about nine ounces (avoir.); Meudon, white.
The litharge is mixed with the linseed oil, and the Meudon white is then
added in sufficient quantity to form a composition or paste of the necessary
consistence to be spread with a trowel. Window glass cut into squares of any
suitable dimensions are then applied in juxtaposition on the side of the
wood coated with composition, which renders the adhesion complete. It is
necessary to apply the glass so as to leave a space of about one-third of an
inch on one side of the length of the wood uncovered by the glass, and to
make the glass exceed the wood about the same distance on the opposite side
of the length of the sheet of wood.
MODE OF APPLICATION TO WALLS.
When the height of the wall to be covered is ascertained, I mark it on the
wood side of the covering. On the mark a cut is made with a saw as far as
the glass; I then cut the glass with a diamond at the same height to separate
the part of the covering to be used. Before applying the covering, holes are
made in the wood to the glass, at about two inches from each edge of the
sheet of wood, and at every twenty inches in height. I afterwards place in
these holes a small piece of putty, about the size of a nut, and also cover with
putty each edge of the glass side and the corresponding parts of the wall.
I then apply the glass side of the covering to the wall and press heavily on
each edge, and on each of the pieces of putty in the holes. I, lastly, knock
nails in the holes, and cover their heads with putty. The putty being applied
on the edges of the glass, and on the corresponding parts of the wall, leaves a
space between the glass and the wall, which space is filled with sand.

page_text: :
If
Each sheet of covering is placed successively either in height or breadth in
a similar manner, and about twenty-four hours after the application I can
apply any kind of paper or paper-hangings without injuring the same.
paintings or decorations are to be applied, the external surface must be coated
with the following composition:-Painter's size and linseed oil, in proportionate
quantities; Meudon white.
I mix the Meudon white with the size and oil so as to form a paste. If
there are plinths and cornices on the part of the wall to be operated upon,
they must first be detached, and when the covering is applied they may be
replaced in the usual manner.
MODE OF APPLICATION TO CEILINGS AND WAINSCOTS..
Wainscots, ceilings, pannels, and other woodwork prepared with the glass
coating may be applied to rooms, shops, and other places to be covered with
wood for the purpose of preserving them from humidity, which wood alone
effects but imperfectly.
The materials and mode of manufacture are the same as for the application
to walls, but the method of applying it may vary according to the nature of the
work. When the surfaces to be coated are of great width, care should be
taken to apply the wooden edges on glass and the glass edges on wood, on
opposite sides in the width and height of each sheet of covering. The wooden
face of the covering may be painted or ornamented as usual.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine
myself to the use of wood as a coating body, as any other suitable materials
may be employed in lieu thereof, nor to the precise mode of operating. But
what I claim is, the mode of protecting walls, ceilings, wainscots, and other
woodwork of buildings from humidity by the application of an insulating
covering composed of glass, made adherent to sheets of wood by a composition,
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Victor Péan, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
VICTOR PEAN. (L.S.)
Witness,
M. F. MENNONS.