IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING HIDES AND SKINS TO RENDER THEM SUITABLE TO BE MADE INTO STRAPS FOR DRIVING MACHINERY, AND TO BE USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH LEATHER IS COMMONLY EMPLOYED
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Harris, of Villa Street, Walworth, in the
County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING
HIDES AND SKINS TO RENDER THEM SUITABLE TO BE MADE INTO STRAPS FOR
DRIVING MACHINERY, AND TO BE USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH
LEATHER IS COMMONLY EMPLOYED."
Sealed the 16th October 1861, and dated the 25th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Harris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
April 1861.
I, WILLIAM HARRIS, of Villa Street, Walworth, in the County of Surrey,
do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING
HIDES AND SKINS TO RENDER THEM SUITABLE TO BE MADE INTO STRAPS FOR
DRIVING MACHINERY, AND TO BE USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH LEATHER
IS COMMONLY EMPLOYED," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in treating hides and skins
to render them suitable to be made into straps for driving machinery, and to be
used for other purposes for which leather is commonly employed. For this
purpose, the hide or skin is in the first place unhaired and otherwise pre-
pared as is usual previous to tanning, and it is dried more or less completely;
it is then immersed in a bath of milk, and soaked therein until the milk has
thoroughly penetrated it; afterwards it is removed from the milk bath, and
placed in a bath containing tar, in which it is kept until the desired effect is
produced; lastly, the tar is cleaned off, and the surface of the hide or skin
is dressed so as to render it suitable for the market. Or, in place of this
method of treatment, the hides or skins prepared as is usual for tanning are
hung up to dry, and when dry they are put into a bath composed of meal

page_text: (made from cereals), milk or serum, and tar combined with a small quantity
of ammonia. When completely saturated, the hides or skins are taken out,
wiped clean, and hung up to dry; afterwards they are dressed as usual if
necessary. Hides and skins when thus prepared become very tough, and
hence very suitable for the manufacture of the driving straps of machinery.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said William Harris in the Great Scal Patent Office on the
25th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HARRIS, of Villa Street, Walworth, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
-thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Harris, Her special licence that I, the said William Harris, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William.
Harris, 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 TREATING HIDES AND
SKINS TO RENDER THEM SUITABLE TO BE MADE INTO STRAPS FOR DRIVING
MACHINERY, AND TO BE USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES FOR WHICH LEATHER IS COMMONLY
EMPLOYED," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Harris, 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 William Harris, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in treating hides and skins

page_text: to render them suitable to be made into straps for driving machinery, and to
be used for other purposes for which leather is commonly employed. For this
purpose the hide or skin is in the first place unhaired and otherwise prepared
as is usual previous to tanning, and it is dried more or less completely; it is
then immersed in a bath of milk, and soaked therein until the milk has
thoroughly penetrated. Skimmed milk answers the purpose perfectly well, and
the hide or skin should remain in it until it is perfectly saturated, which will
be in about 80 to 100 hours; the hide or skin is afterwards removed from
the milk bath, and when drained is placed in a bath containing tar, in which
it is kept until the desired effect is produced. I prefer that the tar bath
should consist wholly of Stockholm tar, and the time necessary for producing
the effect will usually be from 230 to 280 hours. The hide or skin is then
removed from the bath, and the tar carefully scraped off; it is then hung up
to dry, and during the drying, which occupies a few days, it is dressed with
"dubbing," as is usual with curriers, and is then ready for the market. The
temperature of the milk and of the tar baths should not be allowed to fall
below 60°, as cold interferes with the process. In some cases, in place of
employing only milk and tar in the process, I employ, in addition, meal made
from cereals, and in some cases also a little ammonia.
When using these materials I add the meal, by preference oatmeal, to the
milk in the proportion of one peck of meal to 45 gallons of milk, and I also add
lb. of ammonia; this bath is employed as a substitute for the bath of milk
only, and produces a somewhat softer and more supple article. On coming
out of the bath, the hide or skin goes through the tar bath, and is finished as
before. As respects the use of ammonia, I would remark, that I have been
in the habit of employing it, but doubt now whether it serves any useful purpose
in the process. As a substitute for milk, I employ in some cases the serum
of blood, a mixture one half fresh blood and the other half water being
employed in place of milk in making the bath. Hides and skins when thus
prepared become very tough, and hence very suitable for the manufacture of
the driving straps of machinery.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Harris, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
W. HARRIS. (L.S.)