AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR COATING SHIPS' BOTTOMS, FLOATING, AND OTHER STRUCTURES."
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomas Rowe, of Plymouth, in the County of
Devon, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR COATING SHIPS'
BOTTOMS, FLOATING, AND OTHER STRUCTURES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas Rowe at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th September 1879.
"AN IMPROVED
JOHN THOMAS ROWE, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon.
COMPOSITION FOR COATING SHIPS' BOTTOMS, FLOATING, AND OTHER STRUCTURES."
The Invention consists in the production and use of a new or improved composi-
tion which shall serve as an elastic anti-fouling paint, to be applied in one or more
coats to ships' bottoms, floating or other structures. The improved composition is
formed as follows:-To make 1 cwt., mix and blend the following ingredients, or
their chemical equivalents, in the proportions following or near thereto, viz.:-28 lbs.
of oyster shells scraped clean, 14 lbs. of zinc ore, 10 lbs. of finely powdered American
potash dissolved in terpentine, 3 lbs. cayenne, 4 lbs. alum, 4 lbs. verdigris, 4 lbs.
French driers. The whole of these ingredients being ground and mixed with bright
varnish and then thinned with the same until they assume the consistency of a paint,
which is then ready for use by itself or over coats of common paint.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Thomas Rowe in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th March
1880.
JOHN THOMAS ROWE, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon. "AN IMPROVED
COMPOSITION FOR COATING SHIPS' BOTTOMS, FLOATING, AND OTHER STRUCTURES."
This Invention consists in the production and use of a new or improved composi-
tion which shall serve as an elastic anti-fouling paint, to be applied in one or more
coats to ships' bottoms, floating or other structures. The improved composition is
formed as follows:-To make 1 cwt., mix and blend the following ingredients, or
their chemical equivalents, in the proportions following or near thereto, viz.:-28 lbs.
of oyster shells scraped clean, 14 lbs. of zinc ore, 10 lbs. of finely powdered American
potash dissolved in turpentine, 3 lbs. of cayenne, 4 lbs. alum, 4 lbs. verdigris, 4 lbs.
of French driers. The whole of these ingredients being ground into a powder and
then mixed with bright varnish to form a paste, which assumes afterwards the con-
sistency of a paint by the further addition of bright varnish, and becomes elastic.
By the application of this composition wooden, iron, copper, or other vessels may be
protected against the adhesion and accumulation of marine animalculæ, plants, and
barnacles. I prefer to apply one or two coats of the described anti-fouling composi-
tion to iron vessels. Two coats can be applied to a ship's bottom in one day.
Potash, oyster shells, and zinc ore (or their chemical equivalents) are the principal
ingredients in the described composition, and the application of which I claim as my
Invention, mixed or treated as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas Rowe, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixth day of March, A.D. 1880.
L