AN IMPROVED EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic William Reeves, of No. 5, Cambridge
Terrace, Notting Hill, Civil Engineer, and John Bell Muschamp, of
No. 33, Pembroke Road, Gentleman, both in the County of Middlesex,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic William Reeves
and John Bell Muschamp at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 15th December 1866.
We, FREDERIC WILLIAM REEVES, of No. 5, Cambridge Terrace, Notting
Hill, Civil Engineer, and JOHN BELL MUSCHAMP, of No. 38, Pembroke Road,
Gentleman, both in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCE," to be as
follows:-
The said Invention relates to the manufacture of a highly explosive
substance by a novel treatment of vegetable fibres, which by preference are
obtained from common rags of various descriptions. The rags are first boiled
for several hours in caustic soda or other alkaline solution, and after being
thoroughly washed are reduced or torn to shreds by means of a rag engine or
other suitable apparatus or machine. A solution of chloride of lime or other

page_text: bleaching agent is employed to complete the disentegration of the fibres,
which solution also bleaches the said fibres and destroys any coloring matter
that might be contained in the various kinds of rags being treated. A small
quantity of diluted sulphuric or other acid is afterwards added to the chloride
of lime. The fibres are then again thoroughly washed, and after being
reduced to the required shortness by a pulping engine or other macerating
machine are by means of a sieve or strainer separated from the water, which
passes away, leaving the fibres in a homogeneous fibrous mass. The said
fibrous mass is then by means of rolls or other suitable pressing machinery
formed into felts or sheets of any required size and thickness, and after being
properly dried is steeped in a solution consisting of sulphuric and nitric acids
combined in- proportions varying according to the purpose for which the
explosive material is to be employed. For some purposes the said two acids
may be combined in equal proportions, while for others the volume of
sulphuric acid may greatly exceed that of the nitric acid. In some cases this
excess may be as much as two hundred per cent. of the latter. The said
sheets or felts are then washed in soda or other alkaline solution to neutralize
the effect of any acid remaining in the fibres, and being dried by a gentle heat
are then ready for use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederic William Reeves and John Bell Muschamp in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th June 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERIC
WILLIAM REEVES, of No. 5, Cambridge Terrace, Notting Hill, Civil Engineer,
and JOHN BELL MUSCHAMP, of .No. 33, Pembroke Road, Gentleman, both in
the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Frederic William Reeves and John Bell Muschamp, Iler special licence
that the said Frederic William Reeves and John Bell Muschamp, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Frederic William Reeves and John Bell Muschamp, our executors, adminis
trators, 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

page_text: 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 "
AN IMPROVED EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Frederic William Reeves and John Bell
Muschamp, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under our, 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.
3.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Frederic William Reeves and John
Bell Muschamp, do hereby declare the nature of our said. Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The said Invention relates to the manufacture of a highly explosive
substance by a novel treatment of vegetable fibres, which are by preference
obtained from common rags of various descriptions. The rags are first boiled
for several hours in caustic alkali or other alkaline solution, and after being
thoroughly washed are reduced or torn into shreds by means of a rag engine
or other suitable apparatus or machine. A solution of chloride of lime or
other suitable agent is then employed to complete the disintegration of the
fibres or pulp, which solution also bleaches the said fibres or pulp and
destroys all colouring matter that might be contained in the various kinds of
rags being treated. A small quantity of diluted sulphuric or other acid is
then added to the chloride of lime. The fibres are then thoroughly washed,
and after being reduced to the requisite shortness by a pulping engine or
other macerating machine are by means of a suitable sieve, strainer, or mould
separated from the water holding them in solution, which passes away, leaving
the fibres in a fibrous mass. The said fibrous mass is then by means of rolls
or other suitable pressing machinery formed into felts or sheets of any required
size and thickness, and after being thoroughly dried are steeped in a solution
consisting of sulphuric and nitric acids combined in proportions varying
according to the purpose for which the explosive material is to be employed.
For some purposes the said two acids may be combined in equal proportions,
while for others the volume of the sulphuric acid may greatly exceed that of
the nitric acid; in some cases this excess may be as much as two hundred,
per cent. of the latter. In some instances the material may be steeped for
about eighteen or twenty hours, whilst in others seventy or eighty hours may
be necessary, this depending on the thickness of the sheets and the rapidity

page_text: of combustion required. The said sheets or felts after having been washed to
remove the free acid are steeped in a strong alkaline solution to neutralize
the effect of the acids which are not entirely removed by washing. This
solution is by preference formed by dissolving in water the proper quantity of
potash, part of which combines with the nitric acid remaining in the fibres of
the material, and forms therein a certain quantity of saltpetre which tends to
preserve the material from chemical decomposition and materially assists
combustion. The sheets may then be washed and dried at a temperature
not exceeding three hundred degrees Fahrenheit and are then ready for
use.
We well know that paper has been already treated with sulphuric and
nitric acids, but paper thus treated has never been successfully used for
explosive purposes because of its want of uniformity and liability to decom-
position. We use the ordinary materials from which paper is manufactured,
but by our improved mode of treatment these objections are entirely obviated
and the cost is materially reduced.
In witness whereof, we, the said Frederic William Reeves and John Bell
Muschamp, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Thirteenth
day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-seven.
FREDERIC WILLIAM REEVES. (L.S.).
JOHN BELL MUSCHAMP.
(L.S.)
Witness,
W. ROBT. LAKE,
8, Southampton Buildings, W.C.