CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THREAD, YARN, AND VARIOUS TEXTILE FABRICS FROM CERTAIN FIBROUS MATTERS
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STRIBBLEHILL
NORWOOD MAY, of Fitzroy Square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman;
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twentieth day of July,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Stribblehill Norwood May, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Stribblehill Norwood May, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Stribblehill Norwood May, my exors, adññiors, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all
Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF THREAD, YARN, AND VARIOUS TEXTILE
FABRICS FROM CERTAIN FIBROUS MATTERS;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso, that I, the said Stribblehill Norwood May, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and

page_text: seal, to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Stribblehill Norwood May, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
to be as follows (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to the application in the manufacture of the vegetable
fibre or fibres of various textile and fibrous exotic and other plants, such as the
banana, and plantain of every kind and variety, the aloe, penguin, vacois,
rajmar, and all textile plants or trees indigenous to a tropical climate. These
plants or trees I first cause to be crushed by rollers or other available means,
and by which the juicy or liquid moisture is extracted therefrom. I then comb,
scrape, and brush them by means of iron or other combs and scrapers and
strong brushes, and which may be worked either by hand or suitable machinery,
until by the action of the said comb or combs, scrapers and brushes, they are
thoroughly freed and cleansed from superabundant moisture or glutinous and
other substances, as aforesaid, the pure fibre alone remaining. I then well
wash and dry the said fibre, and afterwards immerse it in a solution of alum,
muriate of ammonia, and salt water, or any other suitable solution, by either
of which preparations the tenacity of the said fibre is preserved, a softness is
given thereto, and a cylindrical form is obtained, and by which process neither
the fibre or the filaments thereof lose any of their pliability or strength. I
then spin the said fibre by the usual and known methods as is ordinarily
adopted by spinners of flax, hemp, or silk, and according to the fineness and
quality of the thread or yarn thus obtained I use it for making in imitation of
all or any manufactured articles as are now made of silk, wool, or linen, or
other similar fabrics, or I use it in conjunction and mixed with silk, wool,
or linen, or other like substances, which when desirable may be dyed in any
and every variety of color or colors. When the fibre or the refuse thereof is
intended to be made into paper it is reduced into a pulp by the same process
as is used in making paper from rags, and it may be used in conjunction and
mixed with rags or any other suitable substance, or paper may be made or
composed entirely of the said fibre or the refuse thereof. When I require
to make the paper manufactured therefrom white, I first steep it in a solution
composed of quick lime, soda, and water, or any suitable means I find
best adapted for that purpose, and either before or after the pulp has been
boiled or steamed in the above mentioned or other suitable solutions, until all
the glutinous matter is extracted therefrom; it is then taken from the boiler

page_text: or steamer and afterwards well cleansed and washed, and will then readily
take the bleaching.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark that I do not confine
myself to any particular method or methods of obtaining the fibres or other
substances, as aforesaid; but what I claim is, the manufacture from the
fibre or fibres of the before-mentioned plants and trees thread or yarn, and
imitations of all or any kind of articles that are or can be made of silk, wool,
linen, or other similar fabrics, also paper and other like substances.
In witness whereof, I, the said Stribblehill Norwood May, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighteenth day of January, in
the year
of our Lord 1853, the aforesaid Stribblehill Norwood May came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eighteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.