IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE MATERIALS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davies, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn,
in the County of Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City
of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE MATERIALS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Aloïs Chevalier Auer de Welsbach, Aulic
Councillor, and Director of the Imperial Printing Office, Vienna.
Sealed the 18th February 1862, and dated the 16th December 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Davies at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
December 1861.
I, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE MATERIALS,"
(a communication to me from abroad by Aloïs Chevalier Auer de Welsbach,
Aulic Councillor, and Director of the Imperial Printing Office, Vienna,) to be
as follows:-
These improvements in the manufacture of textile materials consist, firstly,
in the employment or use for the manufacture of textile fibres of certain
parts of the leaves and stalk of the plant known as "Indian corn" or

page_text: "maize," in lieu of the materials hitherto employed for such purposes; and,
secondly, in a novel and peculiar process whereby the fibrous portions of such
plant are separated from the other parts of the same, and reduced to a state
in which they are capable of and suitable for being prepared, spun, and woven
by the machines and processes ordinarily employed in the preparation, spinning,
and weaving of flax, hemp, and other similar textile materials. The leaves
which surround the grain, as well as the stalks, are placed separately in a
-steam boiler, where they are exposed during several hours to the boiling or
steaming process.
Ordinarily steam alone is sufficient to separate the filamentous matter from
the other portions of the plant; sometimes, however, according to the quality
of the fibrous material, it is necessary to add to the water a little lime or
solution of soda.
During the boiling process the textile matter separates itself from the other
constituent parts of the plant, and precipitates itself by reason of its greater
specific gravity to the bottom of the boiler; whilst the lighter parts continue
to remain in suspension in the liquid, so that when the latter is drawn off the
textile matter alone remains at the bottom of the boiler. The boiling being
terminated, the textile material is removed from the boiler to be washed
and dried. After drying the filaments are heckled in a similar manner to
flax or hemp, and they may then be spun and woven in the ordinary
manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davies in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
June 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Пer Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Davies, Her special licence that I, the said George Davies,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Davies, my exécutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF TEXTILE MATERIALS," a communication to me from
abroad by Aloïs Chevalier Auer de Welsbach, Aulic Councillor, and Director
of the Imperial Printing Office, Vienna, upon the condition, amongst others, that
I, the said George Davies, 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 George Davies, 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 in writing, that is to say:-
These improvements in the manufacture of textile materials consist, firstly,
in the employment or use for the manufacture of textile fibres of certain
parts of the leaves and stalk of the plant known as Indian corn or
maize, in lieu of the materials hitherto employed for such purposes; and,
secondly, in a novel and peculiar process whereby the fibrous portions of such
plant are separated from the other parts of the same, and reduced to a state
in which they are capable of and suitable for being prepared, spun, and
woven by the machines and processes ordinarily employed in the preparation,
spinning, and weaving of flax, hemp, and other similar textile materials. The
leaves which surround the grain, as well as the stalks, are placed separately in
a steam boiler, where they are exposed during several hours to the boiling or
steaming process.
Ordinarily steam alone is sufficient to separate the filamentous matter
from the other portions of the plant; sometimes, however, according to the
quality of the fibrous material, it is necessary to add to the water a little lime
or solution of soda.
During the boiling process the textile matter separates itself from the
other constituent parts of the plant, and precipitates itself by reason of its
greater specific gravity to the bottom of the boiler, whilst the lighter parts
continue to remain in suspension in the liquid, so that when the latter is
drawn off the textile matter alone remains at the bottom of the boiler. The
boiling being terminated, the textile material is removed from the boiler to be

page_text: washed and dried. After drying the filaments are heckled in a similar
manner to flax or hemp, and they may then be spun and woven in the ordinary
manner.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for
"Improvements in the Manufacture of Textile Materials," together with the
manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical
effect, I would remark in conclusion that I claim as the Invention commu-
nicated to me by the aforesaid Aloïs Chevalier Auer de Welsbach, firstly, the
employment or use for the manufacture of textile fibres of certain parts of the
leaves and stalk of the plant known as "Indian corn" or "maize," in lieu of
the materials hitherto employed for such purposes, as above set forth; and,
secondly, the novel and peculiar process above described, whereby the fibrous
portions of such plant are separated from the other parts and reduced to a
state capable of and suitable for being prepared, spun, and woven by the
machines and processes ordinarily employed for such purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Davies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
GEORGE DAVIES. (L.S.)