IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF LUBRICATING MATTER OR COMPOSITION
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Caunter, of Stornoway, in the Island of Lewis
and County of Ross, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF LUBRICATING MATTER OR COMPOSITION."
Sealed the 21st June 1864, and dated the 29th December 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Caunter at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 29th
December 1863.
I, HENRY CAUNTER, of Stornoway, in the Island of Lewis and County of
Ross, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF LUBRICATING MATTER OR COMPOSITION," to be as
follows:-
I mix caustic alkali with the tar, crude oil, or grease resulting from the
distillation of peat, in order to obtain saponification thereof. The alkali I
prefer to use is caustic soda of about 1100 specific gravity, in proportions of
about 3 gallons of the alkali solution to 1 cwt. of the product distilled from
peat; but I do not confine myself to that alkali, or to the proportions or
specific gravity stated. With the saponaceous matter obtained I also some-
times combine vegetable or animal grease or oil in the proportions of about
7 per cent. I prefer using palm oil, common tallow, or rosin oil, but do not
confine myself thereto. I also obtain a lubricating matter adapted to various
purposes by macerating or triturating together the tar, crude oil, or grease

page_text: obtained from the distillation of peat, with water, and without the admixture
of alkali or alkaline solution.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Caunter in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
29th June 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CAUNTER, of Stornoway, in the Island of Lewis and County of Ross, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Henry Caunter, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Caunter, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry Caunter, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF LUBRICATING MATTER OR COMPOSITION," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henry Caunter, my executors or adminis
trators, 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 Henry Caunter, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The improvements relate to obtaining a lubricating matter or composition
by the combination of caustic alkali with the tar, crude oil, or grease resulting
from the distillation of peat. The alkali I prefer to use is caustic soda of
about 1100 specific gravity, in proportions of about 3 gallons of the alkaline
solution to 1 cwt. of the product distilled from peat; but I do not confine
myself to that alkali, or to the proportions or specific gravity stated. The

page_text: object of the alkali is to obtain saponification, and with the saponaceous matter
thus obtained I also sometimes combine vegetable or animal grease or oil in
the proportion of about from 5 to 10 per cent. of the saponaceous matter.
The residue of stills when distilling hydrocarbon oils answers well. I, how-
ever, prefer using palm oil, common tallow, or rosin oil, but do not confine
myself thereto. I also obtain a lubricating matter adapted to various purposes
by macerating or triturating together the tar, crude oil, or grease obtained
from the distillation of peat, with water, and without the admixture of alkali
or alkaline solution. For this purpose I take the tar, crude oil, or grease
resulting from the distillation of peat, and place the same, either in the solid
or melted state, in a mixing mill or other suitable machine, and I gradually
add water, either warm or cold, at the same time macerating or triturating
the materials together, by which means combination takes place and a soft
adhesive substance is produced admirably adapted for lubricating purposes.
The proportions I prefer are of water to of the tar, crude oil, or grease,
but I do not confine myself to these proportions. With this mixture I also
sometimes combine vegetable or animal grease or oil, also the residue of stills
after the distillation of hydrocarbon oils, in the proportion of from 5 to 10 per
cent., but do not confine myself to these proportions.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and means which
I adopt in carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that what
I claim is the obtaining lubricating matter or composition from the product of
peat as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Caunter, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
HENRY CAUNTER.
(L.S.)