A NEW MATERIAL FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CORDAGE, CANVAS, AND LINEN, AND GENERALLY AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR HEMP AND FLAX
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Poitiers, of Malden Terrace, Пlaverstock
Hill, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A
NEW MATERIAL FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CORDAGE, CANVAS, AND LINEN, AND
GENERALLY AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR HEMP AND FLAX."
Sealed the 13th April 1854, and dated the 7th February 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Poitiers at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th.
February 1854.
I, EDWARD POITIERS, of Malden Terrace, Haverstock Hill, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
of "A NEW MATERIAL FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CORDAGE, CANVAS, AND LINEN,
AND GENERALLY AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR HEMP AND FLAX," to be as follows:-
The material, the application of which constitutes my Invention, & which
is new in the manufacture of cordage, canvas, linen, & generally as a sub-
stitute for hemp & flax, is the fibres of the leaflet of the palm tree, found
indigenous to & in large quantity in Africa. The leaf of the palm tree, as
well known, consists of a long stem to which the leaflets are appended. The
leaflet also consists of a hard stein, with the remaining portion principally
composed of a fibrous material. This fibre of the palm is of a staple about

page_text: eighteen inches long, & may be scutched & cleaned by machinery in a manner
similar to hemp & flax, and is applicable as a substitute for those materials,
& may by the same or analogous means be converted into cordage, canvas,
and other articles of manufacture produced in those materials.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Poitiers in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
POITIERS, of Malden Terrace, Haverstock Hill, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in, the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Poitiers, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Poitiers,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Poitiers, 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 for "A NEW MATERIAL FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CORDAGE, CANVAS, AND LINEN, AND GENERALLY AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR
HEMP AND FLAX," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward
Poitiers, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 Edward Poitiers, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
The material, the application of which constitutes my Invention and which
is new in the manufacture of cordage, canvas, and linen, and generally as a
substitute for hemp and flax, is the fibres of the leaflet of the palm tree "Elais,
Guiniensis," found indigenous to and in large quantity in tropical Africa.

page_text: The leaf of this palm tree, as well known, consists of a long stem to which the
leaflets are appended. The leaflets also consist of a hard stem or spine, and
with the remaining portion principally composed of a fibrous material. This
fibre of palm may be scutched and cleaned by machinery, and in manner
similar to hemp and flax, and is applicable as a substitute for those materials,
and may by the same or analogous means be converted into cordage, canvas,
and other articles of manufacture produced in those materials. The different
species of the palm tree are exceedingly numerous, some of which are extremely
fibrous in their formation, others possessing very little fibre. Some of these, I
am aware, have been extensively used in the manufacture of cordage and
coarse woven fabric, as for instance "coir," which is the fibre of the "cocoafera."
Now
my Invention of the application of the fibre of a certain species of palm
to the manufacture of cordage and woven fabrics refers specifically to the fibre
of the leaflets of the palm tree known in botany as the "Elais Guiniensis,"
which is found in great quantity in tropical Africa, more especially Western
Africa between the tropics, the application of such fibre to the purposes
before mentioned being new.
"
The fibrous material is obtained from the leaflet of the "Elais Guiniensis."
The leaflets having been stripped from the main stem of the leaf are subse-
quently deprived of a hard horny spine occupying the centre of the leaflet,
which spine is discarded, the remainder being the raw fibrous material, the
subject of my present Invention. This fibre is exceedingly tenacious, and is, I
believe, more than double the strength of hemp, and therefore extremely well
adapted for the manufacture of cordage, more especially cables, hawsers, tow-
ropes:
also for the standing and running rigging of ships, and ropes for mining
and other purposes where extraordinary tenacity is required. In selecting the
raw material, I take by preference those leaves of the "Guiniensis," nearest
the top of the tree, gathering them at a time previous to their attaining the
dark green colour which the leaf assumes, as at that stage a change takes
place in the fibre, and it becomes less tenacious than before. The leaflets
having been stripped, as before described, the fibre which is disposed parallel
with the horny spine in the leaflet may be separated from the other substances
with which it is combined by means similar to that employed in separating
hemp and flax from the refuse vegetable matters of which these fibrous plants
are partially composed. The ordinary flax scutching apparatus is applicable
for divesting this palm fibre of its refuse vegetable matter, and the operation
may either be conducted with the raw material in its natural state, or it may
be steeped, steamed, or otherwise macerated previous to scutching, as practised
in scutching flax; such maceration may further be accompanied by the use of

page_text: alkalies for the more effectual separation of the fibrous material from the
refuse matter. The subsequent operations of heckling and combing in the
preparation of flax may also be resorted to in the further cleansing and
preparation of this palm fibre. The fibre of the "Guiniensis" is of fine
quality, and applicable for the manufacture of cordage, as well as for finer
manufactures, and may be spun into threads or yarns, treating or omitting to
treat such yarns with tallow, pitch, tar, or other oleaginous or bitumenous
matters as may be found expedient or advisable according to the character of
the manufacture. The threads or yarn may subsequently be converted into
cables, hawsers, and all kinds of cordage, or into canvas or other woven fabrics
in a manner and with machinery or apparatus similar to that employed in the
manufacture of articles of hemp or flax.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing
the same,
I would have it understood that I am aware of the application of
the fibrous part of some species of the palm to the manufacture of cordage
and woven fabrics heretofore, but that what I claim as my Invention is,
the use and application of the fibre of the leaflet of the palm tree "Elais
Guiniensis," herein-before specifically set forth in and to the manufacture of
ropes, cordage, and woven fabrics.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Poitiers, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
WILLIAM CLARK,
Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
EDWARD POITIERS. (L.S.)