IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND APPLICATION OF MUSTARD FOR CURATIVE PURPOSES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Emile Guenin, of Henrietta Street, Covent Garden,
in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PREPARATION AND APPLICATION OF MUSTARD FOR CURATIVE PURPOSES."―A
communication from abroad by Paul Rigollot, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, Chemist.
Sealed the 22nd October 1867, and dated the 26th April 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Emile Guenin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
April 1867.
I, EMILE GUENIN, of Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND APPLICATION OF MUSTARD FOR CURATIVE PURPOSES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the application of mustard prepared in the
following manner, and applied on paper to form sinapisms.
I first take a sheet of impervious paper and spread thereon a coat of a
viscous liquid, composed of india-rubber, one ounce; sulphuret of carbon,

page_text: one pound; essence of petroleum, one pound. After this has been spread
evenly on the surface of the paper I pass mustard in powder through a sieve
which is caused to fall on the varnish, being uniformly applied over all its
surface in sufficient thickness. Before the volatile liquids, consisting of
sulphuret of carbon and essence of American petroleum, are completely
evaporated I pass the sheet with the mustard applied between two rollers
for the purpose of rendering the layer of uniform thickness and ensuring its
adhesion to the sheet of paper; the sheets are then cut up into squares
of three or four inches and applied as sinapisms. I am aware that pul-
verulent matters have been fixed on paper or fabrics by the aid of gelatine
or size, such as for some kind of paperhangings, emery, glass, and sand
papers; but in the case of mustard, in order to preserve its properties when
applied to the skin, it is necessary to employ a viscous liquid prepared without
the aid of water or alcohol, which would destroy its properties.
The Invention consists essentially in the production of sinapisms in the
form of sheets in the manner described, whereby is obtained,-
1st, a saving in material.
2ndly, greater cleanliness and facility of manufacture.
3rdly, all disagreeable odours are avoided, and irritation of the eyes of the
patient or those attendant thereon.
4thly, there is no linen required, as is the case when applying the ordinary
mustard cataplasm.
5thly, these sinapisms may be carried in a portfolio ready for instant
application, it being simply necessary to damp them in water for a few
seconds.
6thly, sinapisms thus prepared with mustard powder deprived of its fixed
oil are not hygrometric, and consequently do not lose their active properties
with the lapse of time.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Emile Guenin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3
23rd October 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EMILE
GUENIN, of Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord

page_text: One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Emile Guenin, Her special licence that I, the said Emile Guenin,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Emile Guenin, 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 PREPARATION AND APPLICATION OF MUSTARD FOR CURATIVE PURPOSES," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Paul Rigollot, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, Chemist, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Emile
Guenin, 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 Emile Guenin, 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:
These improvements in the preparation and application of mustard for
curative purposes consist in preparing sheets or pieces of paper, linen, cotton,
or other cloth, or other suitable thin pliant fabric or material, in the manner
as will be explained hereafter, causing to adhere thereto in a permanent
manner, by means of any suitable flexible adhesive medium or cement, a thin
layer of mustard seed or mustard flour, deprived or not entirely or in part of
its fixed oil, in such manner that the thus prepared sheets or pieces may
be applied to any part of the human body instead of the sinapisms or mustard
poultices hitherto made use of for curative purposes.
The mode of preparing is as follows:-On a sheet or piece of paper, linen,
cotton, or other cloth, or other suitable thin flexible fabric or material I spread
by means of a brush or in any other suitable manner a thin layer of a suitable
adhesive or sticking liquid or varnish, which after becoming dry remains
sufficiently pliant for the purpose, making use by preferance of an adhesive
solution obtained by dissolving 1 lb. of india-rubber in about 20 lb. of essence
of petroleum, coal naphtha, sulphuret of carbon, or other suitable volatile
solvent. Whilst the liquid or varnish is still in the liquid state I apply

page_text: thereto by means of a sieve or in any other suitable manner a thin layer,
say, of about of an inch thick either of mustard seed or mustard flour, if
wished the seed or the flour may have been deprived previously by any
known or suitable method and either partly or entirely of its fixed oil.
Immediately after the layer of mustard seed or mustard. flour has been
applied, and whilst the india-rubber solution or other adhesive medium made
use of is still in the liquid state, I cause the sheet or piece to pass between
a pair of rollers for the purpose of imparting a uniform thickness to it
throughout, and if necessary crush the seeds, after which the same is left to
dry and is then ready for use. In regard to the adhesive solution or varnish
employed for cementing the mustard seed or the mustard flour, according
to which of them has been made use of, I wish to remark here that a solution
of india-rubber answers best for the purpose, as it causes the seeds or the
flour to adhere in a permanent manner to the sheet or piece of paper, cloth,
or other fabric made use of, whilst the thus prepared sheet or piece remains
sufficiently supple or pliant for allowing the same of being applied to any
part of the human body. A cementing solution prepared by means of a
watery menstruum would not do so well, as the water would cause the
evolution of part of the volatile essential oil of mustard, which oil forms
the principal acting part of this latter in sinapisms, spirits of wine preventing
the evolution of the said volatile essential oil would neither be suitable as a
menstruum, as it would in great part prevent the acting of the said oil in the
sinapism. A solution of india-rubber in essence of petroleum, coal or other
naphtha, or other suitable volatile essence or oil, or in sulphuret of carbon,
answers fully for the purpose of permanently cementing the mustard seed or
mustard flour to the paper or fabric and impart the required flexibility to
the thus prepared sheets or pieces.
For applying the prepared sheets or pieces or improved sinapisms to the
human body a piece of the required size is immersed for a few moments in
cold or lukewarm water and at once applied to the part of the body where the
sinapism is required, and in such manner as to cause the mustard to touch
the skin.
Having thus described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be put into effect,
I declare that what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim
as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, causing to adhere in a permanent manner a thin layer of mustard
seed or of mustard flour to the surface of sheets or pieces of paper or
other suitable thin flexible fabric or material in such manuer that the thus

page_text: prepared sheets or pieces may be applied to the human body and serve instead
of sinapisms or mustard poultices hitherto made use of for curative purposes,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Emile Guenin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
GEO. WHITE,
Patent Agent,
68, Queen Street,
Cheapside.
E. GUENIN. (L.S.)