AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR SILVERING METALLIC ARTICLES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Benoit Advielle, of Paris, Merchant, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR SILVERING METALLIC ARTICLES."
Sealed the 1st April 1856, and dated the 7th November 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION .left. by the said Louis Benoit Advielle
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his 'Petition, on the
7th November 1855.
I, LOUIS BENOIT ADVIELLE, of Paris, Merchant, do hereby declare the
nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR SILVERING METALLIC
ARTICLES" to be as follows:-
The improved process is as follows:-I disolve 3 ounces of silver in about
6 ounces of nitric, acid, whereby I obtain nitrate of silver; I likewise dissolve
about 32 ounces of cyanuret of potassium in 10 quarts of water, and I pour.
this solution into the nitrate of silver, whereby I obtain a cyanuret of silver
very white and soluble. To this I add about 6 ounces of whiting, and this
forms a composition which I denominate "argentine," which should be kept in
bottles of blue glass to protect it from the action of light. Note: for whiting
may be substituted cream of tartar, talc, or other similar substance. To make
use of this composition, I dilute a portion of this composition with ten times
its. weight of water, first shaking the bottle well to stir up the whiting or

page_text: undissolved cream of tartar, &c., and I plunge the articles to be silvered into
the diluted solution, or wet. them with it: with, a cloth. When the articles are
well impregnated with the solution, they are:rubbed with very dry whiting, and
when they are well covered with material they are: washed and rubbed with a
dry linen, when they quickly become white and brilliant.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Benoit Advielle in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
BENOIT ADVIELLE, of Paris, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself,.Her. heirs and successors, give, and grant unto me,
the said Louis Benoit Advielle, Her special licence that I, the said Louis
Benoit Advielle, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Louis Benoit Advielle, 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 Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR SILVERING METALLIC ARTICLES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Benoit Advielle, 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 per
formed, 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 Louis Benoit Advielle, do herebý
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 thereof, that is to say:―
My improved process is as follows:-I dissolve 3 ounces of silver in, about
6 ounces of nitric acid, thereby obtaining nitrate of silver; I likewise dissolve

page_text: about 32 ounces of cyauret of potassium in 10 quarts of water, and I pour
this solution into the nitrate of silver, whereby I obtain a cyauret of silver
which is very white and soluble. To this I add about 6½ ounces of well
pounded whiting, and thus obtain a composition which I denominate "argen-
tine water," which should be kept in bottles of blue glass to protect it from the
action of light. I would observe that cream of tartar, talc, or other analogous
substances may be employed as substitutes for whiting. I apply this com-
position to the silvering of metallic articles as follows:-I immerse the articles
in a bath, composed of 1 part of argentine diluted with 2 parts of water, or if
the article should be too large, I wet it with a piece of linen. Care must be
taken to shake the bottle, to stir up the whiting which is precipitated. When
the article is well impregnated with the liquid, it is to be rubbed with very dry
whiting, and when it has received a good coating of material it is to be washed
and rubbed with a dry cloth, and the article will assume a white and brilliant
appearance. The proportion of "argentine water" to the water in the bath
may be augmented, and the silvering will be more solid, but the process then
becomes dearer and not so prompt.
I claim with respect to this process, firstly, the formation of the compound
which I denominate "argentine water," as herein-before described; and, lastly,
the mode of applying it to the silvering of metallic articles herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Bénoit Advielle, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
CHARLES REYNAUD.
LOUIS BENOIT ADVIELLE. (L.S.)