IMPROVEMENTS IN HIVES OR APPARATUS FOR BREeding and CuLTIVATING OYSTERS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augusto Michel, of Lorient, in the Departement
of Morbihan, and Republic of France, Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HIVES OR APPARATUS FOR BREeding and CuLTIVATING
OYSTERS."
Scaled the 5th February 1875, and dated the 30th November 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Auguste Michel at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th November 1874.
I, AUGUSTE MICHEL, of Lorient, in the Department of Morbihan, and
Republic of France, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HIVES OR APPARATUS FOR BREEDING AND
CULTIVATING OYSTERS," to be as follows :—
This Invention relates to the construction of hives or apparatus for
breeding and cultivating oysters.
I mould in cement, concrete, or in beton, consisting of cement, lime,
and sand, rectangular vessels or troughs which I will presently describe,
the material used being such as will set solid without baking, and will
.

page_text: withstand the action of water, and the moulding being effected by
packing the material when in its soft state into the recesses of moulds
made of the required shape, which can be taken apart when the material
has set.
One form of vessel so moulded is a rectangular trough, open at top
and having its bottom pierced through by numerous holes, with bosses
or raised ribs projecting upwards round the edges of these holes. In
moulding these vessels I provide in the mould a number of pins attached
to a plate, which pins I force through the beton in the mould by means
of screws geared together and worked by hand, so as to make the holes
and raise the embossed lips round them. These vessels with perforated
bottoms have in all cases two opposite ends, but some of them are made
without sides when it is desired to have a more complete wash of water
across them. The ends also are made to project down below the level of
the bottom, so as to form legs or supports on which the vessel rests,
leaving a free passage for water under the bottom.
The other form of vessel is also an open rectangular trough, but
without perforations through its bottom, and these vessels like those
formerly described are made with ends projecting down to form stands,
or their lower edges are made to fit the upper edges of the perforated
vessels, so that when they are put upon the latter they serve as covers to
them.
A pair of the vessels described, the lower one perforated and the
upper one placed on it as a cover, form a hive, and a number of these are
arranged side by side to form a breeding and rearing bed, being placed
on the sand or gravel of the beach when it is sufficiently firm, or on
timber sleepers when the beach is soft and yielding. The lower
perforated vessels receive the oyster spat, and are kept clean by the
wash of water through them. The upper vessels besides serving as
covers to the lower vessels form nurseries for rearing and fattening the
oysters removed from the lower vessels, having the advantage of always
containing water and protecting the animals against enomies and changes
of weather.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Auguste Michel in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th May 1875.
-
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTE
MICHEL, of Lorient, in the Department of Morbihan, and Republic of
France, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-four, in
the thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Auguste Michel, Her
special license that I, the said Auguste Michel, my exccutors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Auguste Michel,
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 thercin 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 HIVES OR APPARATUS FOR BREEDING AND CULTIVATING
OYSTERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Auguste
Michel, 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 Auguste Michel, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say:
This Invention relates to the construction of hives or apparatus for
breeding and cultivating oysters.
-
I mould in cement, concrete, or in beton, consisting of cement, lime,
and sand; rectangular vessels or troughs which I will presently describe,
the material used being such as will set solid without baking, and will.

page_text: withstand the action of water, and the moulding being effected by.
packing the material when in its soft state into the recesses of moulds
made of the required shape, which can be taken apart when the material
has set.
One form of vessel so moulded is a rectangular trough, open at top
and having its bottom pierced through by numerous holes, with bosses
or raised ribs projecting upwards round the edges of these holes. In
moulding these vessels I provide in the mould a number of pins attached
to a plate, which pins I force through the beton in the mould by means
of screws geared together and worked by hand, so as to make the holes
and raise the embossed lips round them. These vessels with perforated
bottoms have in all cases two opposite ends, but some of them are mado
without sides when it is desired to have a more complete wash of water
across them. The ends also are made to project down below the level of
the bottom, so as to form legs or supports on which the vessel rests,
leaving a free passage for water under the bottom.
The other form of vessel is also an open rectangular trough, but
without perforations through its bottom, and these vessels like those
formerly described are made with ends projecting down to form stands,.
or their lower edges are made to fit the upper edges of the perforated
vessels, so that when they are put upon the latter they serve as covers to
them.
A pair of the vessels described, the lower one perforated and the
upper one placed on it as a cover form a hive, and a number of these
are arranged side by side to form a breeding and rearing bed, being
placed on the sand or gravel of the beach when it is sufficiently firm, or
on timber sleepers when the beach is soft and yielding. The lower
perforated vessels receive the oyster spat, and are kept clean by the
wash of water through them. The upper vessels besides serving as
covers to the lower vessels form nurseries for rearing and fattening the
oysters removed from the lower vessels, having the advantage of always
containing water and protecting the animals against enemies and changes
of weather.

page_text: '
Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of troughs with solid bottoms, the
form shewn in Fig. 4 having its legs at the ends shouldered so as to fit
over lower vessels, as shewn in Fig. 6, where two of these troughs are
represented as placed over a lower range of troughs of the kind shewn
in Fig. 2..
.:
In Fig. 5 a trough with solid bottom is shewn as placed over a trough
of the kind represented at Fig. 1.
:
The general arrangement of a number of these troughs so as to form a
nursery is shewn in perspective at Fig. 7, the troughs being placed on
timber sleepers, which might be dispensed with, when the beach is
sufficiently firm. The upper troughs serve not only to cover over those
below, but also provide basins, never emptied of water, in which are
placed the oysters for feeding after they are removed from the perforated.
troughs beneath. These lower troughs being open at the sides as well
as perforated at the bottom allow a wash of water through them, so as to
clear out mud and sand, while the spat lies in the hollows between tho
bosses or ribs of the-bottoms.
When it is necessary, owing to muddiness of the water, to clear out.
and wash the lower troughs by hand simple cover plates may be used
instead of the upper troughs, as being lighter to remove and replace.
Fig. 8 represents a side view, Fig. 9 a transverse section, Fig. 10 a
plan, and Fig, 11 an end view of the mould which I employ for the
troughs with solid bottoms.
v
With a trowel and a rammer, such as is shewn at Fig. 12, I fill the
cavities of the mould with the cement composition, and having dressed:
it off at the sides I, withdraw the catches f,f, remove the ends b, b, and
the top and bottom, leaving the core n in its place till the composition
has sufficiently set to permit of its removal. To avoid. loss of time I
provide several cores n for each mould. The mould above described is
made of wood faced with zinc or galvanised sheet metal to facilitate
separation of the moulded material.
For moulding the troughs with perforated bottoms I employ a mould,
such as is shewn in longitudinal and transverse section at Figs. 13
and 14, side and end views being shewn at Figs. 15 and 16 respectively.
In this case a number of pins i, i, are attached to a plate m, which is
moved to or fro by screws t connected by gearing" with a pinion P

page_text: worked by a hand wheel o. The pins i, i, being set forward 'the cavities
of the mould are filled with the cement composition, a pronged rammer,
such as is shewn at Fig. 17, being employed along with a trowel. The
pins i, i, are then withdrawn and the mould is taken off, the core n
being left in the trough till the material has sufficiently set to permit of
its removal.
:
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim-
First. The use for breeding and cultivating oysters of rectangular
vessels or troughs, open at the sides and with embossed perforated
bottoms, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
Second. The combination of rectangular vessels or troughs, such as
are above referred to, with troughs having solid bottoms, such troughs
being fitted to be set upon the former as covers, substantially as herein
described.
Third. Constructing the vessels referred to in the preceding claims of
cement, concrete, beton, or analogous water resisting material which sets
without baking by moulding the same when in a plastic condition, sub-
stantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Auguste Michel, have hereunto 2
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
Witness,
CHARLES ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
23, Boulevard de Strasbourg.
A. MICHEL. (L.S.)