IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION AND UTILIZATION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Webb, of 24, Lawrence Pountney Lane, in the
City of London, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
APPLICATION AND UTILIZATION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS FOR THE MANUFACTURE
OF PAPER." A communication from abroad by Joachim John Monteiro,
of Lisbon, in the Kingdom of Portugal, Merchant.
Sealed the 8th August 1865, and dated the 18th March 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Webb at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th March
1865.
I, JOHN WEBB, of 24, Lawrence Pountney Lane, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE APPLICATION AND UTILIZATION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS SUITABLE FOR
THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," a communication to me from abroad by
Joachim John Monteiro, of Lisbon, in the Kingdom of Portugal, Merchant,
to be as follows:-.
This Invention has for its object the employment of a new fibrous substance
suitable for the manufacture of paper, and consists in the employment of the
woody fibre or structure, or that portion which remains after the decortication
or the stripping off of the bark from a tree known as the Adansonia digitata...

page_text: This woody fibre or structure thus obtained is suitable for the production of
pulp or stock after having been submitted to the usual processes to which
fibrous materials are generally submitted for the production of paper.
One process which I have found to give good results is, firstly, to submit
the woody fibre to the action of alkalies, and after having been cleansed and
washed then to submit it to the action of an acid solution, and finally to the
action of a solution of chloride of lime or other suitable bleaching agency, the
pulp thus resulting after having been washed may be employed for the manu-
facture of paper, but I do not confine myself to this mode of treatment, as
several of the well-known methods now employed for rendering woody fibre
and fibrous materials suitable for the manufacture of paper may advan-
tageously be employed. My Invention consists therefore in the application
and utilization of the woody fibre of the Adansonia digitata to and in the
production of paper pulp, and does not relate to any special method of
preparation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Webb in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 13th
September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WEBB, of 24, Lawrence Pountney Lane, in the City of London, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said John Webb, Her special license that I, the said John
Webb, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Webb, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Chaunel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF CERTAIN MATERIALS SUITABLE FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF PATER," a communication to me from abroad by Joachim John
Monteiro, of Lisbon, in the Kingdom of Portugal, Merchant, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Webb, my executors or adminis-

page_text: trators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 John Webb, 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,
that is to say-
The said Invention has for its object the employment of a new fibrous sub-
stance suitable for the manufacture of paper, and consists in the employment
of the woody fibre or structure, or that portion which remains after the decor-
tication or the stripping off of the bark from a tree known as the Adansonia
digitata.
In order to prepare and obtain this woody fibre in a state suitable for the
production of stock or paper pulp the bark is first removed and the residual
portion is either passed between rollers so as to extract and separate the whole
or a large portion of the softer portion, and is then subsequently washed in
water and dried, or the decorticated. portion may be immersed in water for a
sufficient period so as to effect the partial or entire disintegration or separa-
tion of the softer portion from the fibrous constituents, and may then, if neces-
sary, be submitted to the action of squeezing rollers, and finally to a drying
process, or the decorticated portion may be subdivided and then dried. The
crude fibrous material thus obtained may then be subjected to any of the
usual processes employed in the production of stock or paper pulp. I have
found that a good result may be obtained by submitting the crude fibrous
material to the action of a weak caustic alkaline solution at an elevated
temperature, and after having been washed then subjecting it to the action of
dilute sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, and after having been again washed in
water subjecting it to the bleaching action of chlorine or of hypochlorite of
lime, or of soda, as is well understood by paper manufacturers, but I do not
confine myself to this method of treatment, as several modifications and other
processes may be employed with good results. The fibrous substance thus
obtained may be employed either alone for the manufacture of paper, or it
may be mixed with rag or other pulp, or with other materials suitable for the
production of paper.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel

page_text: and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the application and use to and
in the production of pulp suitable for the manufacture of paper of the woody
fibre or structure of the Adansonia digitata.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Webb, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Ninth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-five.
JNO. WEBB. (L.8.)