IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF VINEGAR
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Collins, of 32, St. Ann Street, Liverpool,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF VINEGAR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Collins at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd January
1854.
I, JOHN COLLINS, of 32, Saint Ann Street, Liverpool, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
VINEGAR" to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the arrangement of apparatus in such
manner that the three processes of vinegar making may be carried on in different
compartments of the same apparatus. For this purpose a vessel is divided into
compartments. In the upper compartment the process of vinous fermentation
is carried on, and from this compartment the fermented liquid is drawn or run
into the second, where there are wood chips or cuttings impregnated with
vinegar. From this second compartment, when the acetous fermentation is
accomplished, the vinegar is filtered by passing through the next compartment,
which is packed close with filtering materials, by preference, fine sawdust
packed close, and the vinegar is drawn off by a glass or other suitable pipe
and cock, or valve.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Collins in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd July
1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
COLLINS, of 32, Saint Ann Street, Liverpool, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself,. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Collins, Her special licence that I, the said John Collins, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Collins, 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
VINEGAR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Collins,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 1, the said John Collins, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the saine is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof (that is to say) :-
DESCRIPTION AND EXPLANATION OF THE APPARATUS OR PLANT, AND OF ITS
WORKING.
It will be seen by the accompanying Drawing that the shape of the instru-
ment is a hollow oblong, rounded like a barrel, and flattened at each end.
The top end or chamber No. 1, is open. The instrument is meant to stand
upright, the base being somewhat broader than the top, for the purpose of
giving it greater stability in that position, and enlarging the capacity of the
stock chamber or compartment No. 4. It is constructed altogether of wood,
and may be put together after the manner of an ordinary cask, proper care
being taken to make it perfectly air and water tight, and sufficiently strong to
be serviceable. It may be constructed-of-any size (to produce, say, from twenty-

page_text: five gallons, the minimum, to forty thousand gallons, the maximum,) compatible
with the period of time requisite for its operations, and according to the
exigencies of the occasion for which it is required. The shape, as well as
general construction, however, are capable of considerable modification, accord-
ing to circumstances.
It will next be seen on reference to the Drawing that the instrument is
divided into four compartments or chambers, each having its own individual
office and acting independently of the others, but the simultaneous action of
the whole producing the result desired.
The compartment or chamber No. 1, is that into which the prepared wash
or materials to be operated upon is put, and in which the first process (desig-
nated by the inventor as the vinous fermentation) takes place. The wash or
substance to be employed may, for example, be of the description and prepared
in the manner following, that is to say :-
Mix twenty ounces of good molasses or sugar with one gallon of pure water,
adding about six per cent. (by weight) of yeast, and set to ferment for five or
six days at a temperature of about 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Then transfer the pre-
paration to chamber No. 1, letting the mixture stand undisturbed for twenty
hours, for the purpose of completing the vinous fermentation, upon the expiration
of which period the fluid may be turned into chamber No. 2, when the remain-
ing actions of the instrument will go forward in regular order.
(In order to render the commencing process more intelligible, it may here be
stated that this process, namely, vinous fermentation, being completed, and the
first great chemical change wrought, the liquor discharges itself into chamber
No. 2, by the tap or cock marked B, situated on the outside, and communicating
with both chambers (Nos. 1 and 2), which are separated from each other by a
solid bottom, indicated on the Drawing by a dark line.)
Chamber No. 2, having received the liquid, as shown above, the action of
aceteous fermentation instantly commences by means of a packing of loose
chips previously arranged in the chamber, and carefully prepared according to
the rule given below. The liquor whilst undergoing this transition acquires
the next and most important element of vinegar, and percolating through the
punctured bottom below (indicated on the Drawing by a dotted line), the holes
of which are a quarter of an inch in diameter, finds its way into chamber
No. 3.
At this stage, the important qualities of general chemical composition,
neutritiveness, pungency, and flavour being acquired, and the descending fluid
having, in all its constituents essentially transformed itself into pure vinegar, the
process of clarification begins in chamber No. 3. This important process
is

page_text: effected by means of a bed of fine sawdust (also prepared according to the rule
given below), previously packed and pressed into the chamber. Having per-
colated through this bed, the liquid finally makes its way through another
punctured bottom (also indicated by a dotted line) into chamber No. 4, (called
the stock chamber, and designed to receive the article in its finished state,)
reaching which the whole process is considered complete. It is then conducted
by a glass tube from chamber No. 4, through chambers 3 and 2, and should be
drawn off for use, or to make room for fresh supplies of the raw preparation
at chamber No. 1. It will be understood that the combined and continuous
processes need never be suspended, and that the instrument may be used
without intermission so long as the supply and extraction are properly
belonged
Take common hard wood of any kind, and having cleaved it into pieces of
about two inches long and one broad, let the pieces be well boiled in water
until all impurities are removed, and let the wood be then dried and afterwards
charred in a suitable oven or retort; when, by means of the oven or retort, it has
attained a high degree of temperature, let it be immersed in highly concentrated
alcoholic acid, and after being thoroughly impregnated, the wood becomes fit
for use, and forms the true basis of the aceteous fermentation that takes place
in chamber No. 2. A period of twenty-four hours only is necessary from the
time chamber No. 2 receives the liquid in a state of vinous fermentation
from chamber No. 1, to effect this chemical change, and impart to the liquid
the active incipient qualities of pure vinegar. It cannot be too strongly
enforced that the careful preparation of the chips, and their judicious arrange-
ment in chamber No. 2, form two of the most important conditions of the
successful issue of the operation.
MODE OF PREPARING SAWDUST FOR CHAMBER No. 3.
The manner of preparing the clarifier, sawdust, and fitting it for the
important office of filtration, is substantially similar to the preceding. Let it
be, however, of the finest description that can be obtained, and when duly
prepared, well packed and pressed into the proper chamber. It then acts
as a thorough purifier, contributing the last essential quality, that of trans-
parency.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself

page_text: to the exact details described, but what I claim is, the manner of manufacturing
vinegar, herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Collins, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
JAMES HILL
Accountant,
34, North John Street,
Liverpool.
JOHN COLLINS. (L.B.)