AN IMPROVEMENT IN PREPARING COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA, AND ALLIED GUMS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN PREPARING COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-RUBBER,
GUTTA PERCHA, AND ALLIED GUMS."-A communication from abroad by
Rudolph Franz Heinrich Havemann; of New Brunswick, in the State of
New Jersey, and United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd November 1860.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN PREPARING COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-
RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA, AND ALLIED GUMS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the production of compounds of india-rubber,
gutta percha, and allied gums of a texture and appearance resembling ivory
or bone. The gum is first to be treated with chlorine by either of the two
processes specified in a Patent obtained by me, bearing date the 6th day of
December 1859 (No. 2762); but it is preferred to use that process in which
the gum is reduced to a solution before being subjected to the action of
chlorine. When the gum has been dissolved and treated with chlorine, or

page_text: treated with chlorine and afterwards dissolved, nearly all of the solvent is
washed out with alcohol, a sufficient portion only being left in to keep the
gum in a plastic state. Aqua ammonia is then added, and after grinding or
stirring the mass about till a thorough mixture is effected, powdered sal-
ammoniac and pure lime (oxide of calcium) in a finely powdered state are
added, and thorough incorporation by stirring or grinding is effected. The
compound is then placed in a suitable mould of metal, and subjected to a
heavy pressure, which is to be increased from time to time until sufficiently
condensed, when it is to be removed from the press and exposed to heat until
it becomes perfectly hard, it will then be compact and white, and of a texture
and appearance resembling ivory, and will withstand the action of all varieties
of climate, hot or greasy water, and of acids.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st May 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that 1, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators; and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN PREPARING COMPOUNDS OF INDIA-RUBBER,
GUTTA PERCHA, AND ALLIED GUMS," being a communication from abroad, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
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
by

page_text: Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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) :-
This Invention of an improvement in preparing compounds of india-rubber,"
gutta percha, and allied gums, relates to the production of compounds of
india-rubber gutta percha, and their allied gums of a texture and appearance
resembling ivory or bone. Previous attempts to produce such compounds
have been. only partially successful. A hard white substance is produced by
the process described in the Specification of English Letters Patent granted to
me, and bearing date the Sixth day of December, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-nine (No. 2762); but this takes a very long time to harden, and
when hardened is too brittle and porous to be of much practical value.
The present Invention cousists in the production of a new compound
forming a more perfect substitute for wood, ivory, and bone, and which is
sooner ready for use than the compounds heretofore employed. The improve-
ment is effected the addition to the gum after it has been treated with
chlorine, as described in the Specification of the Letters Patent above
mentioned, of suitable quantities of lime, solution of ammonia, and hydro-
chlorate of ammonia. The gum is first to be treated with chlorine by either
of the two processes specified under Letters Patent obtained by me as
aforesaid, but it is preferred to use that process in which the gum is reduced
to a solution before being subjected to the action of chlorine. When the gum
has been dissolved and treated with chlorine, or has been treated with chlorine
and afterwards dissolved, nearly all the solvent is to be washed out with
alcohol, leaving only a sufficient portion of the solvent to keep the gum in a
plastic state. Aqua ammonia, or liquor ammonia is then added in the pro-
portion of about one-eighth of a drachm to every pound of gum, and after
grinding or stirring the mass about till a thorough mixture is effected, one-
eighth of a dram of powdered salammoniac (hydrochlorate of ammonia)
together with half a pound of pure lime (oxide of calcium) in a finely
powdered state are added to each pound of gum. After stirring or grinding
the whole well together till a thorough incorporation is effected, the compound
is placed in a suitable box or mould of metal, and subjected to a heavy
pressure, which is to be increased from time to time until it is incapable of
further condensation, when it is to be removed from the press and mould or

page_text: box and exposed to heat of about two hundred and forty degrees Fahrenheit,
until it becomes perfectly hard. The compound will then be compact and
white, and of a texture and appearance resembling ivory, and will withstand
the action of all varieties of climate, hot or greasy water, and of acids.
The use of the solution of ammonia and salammoniac (bydrochlorate of
ammonia) in the compound is to effect the thorough incorporation of the lime
with the gum.
Having now described this Invention of an improvement in preparing
compounds of india-rubber, gutta percha, and allied gums, and having
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid, preparing compounds by the admixture of lime,
aqua ammonia, and salammoniac with india-rubber, gutta percha, or any of
their allied gums, or two or more of such gums after such gum or gums have
been treated with chlorine, as herein set forth.
In witness whereof. I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the First day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)