IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF WOOL, BOTH IN THE RAW AND MANUFACTURED STATE, BY MEANS OF WHICH THE QUALITY WILL BE CONSIDERABLY IMPROVED
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
PEIRCE, late of George Street, Adelphi, but now residing in Astey's Row,
Islington, 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 Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Ninth day of December, in the fourth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Peirce, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Peirce, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said William Peirce, my executors, administrators,
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 mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF
WOOL, BOTH IN THE RAW AND MANUFACTURED STATE, BY MEANS OF WHICH THE
QUALITY WILL BE CONSIDERABLY IMPROVED;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso, obliging me, the said William Peirce, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, J, the said
William Peirce, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (that is to say):
The object of my Invention is to loosen, detach, and remove the resinous,
glutinous, gummy, and other matters which adhere tenaciously to the natural
fibres of wool, and render. them harsh or rigid, while they block up the pores
and thereby prevent the said fibres from being properly. impregnated with
colouring matter in the dyeing process. This my object is effected by sub-
mitting the wool to the action of certain chemical agents, which will loosen and
detach the resinous, glutinous, gummy, or other adhesive substances therefrom,
and render the fibres soft, pliant, and fine, and more susceptible of receiving
the colouring matters, and as the fibres can then be more effectually dyed or
impregnated with colouring matter. Garments made of the fabric, manu-
factured of the prepared wool, will not be liable to wear white at the seams,
as often occurs under the present mode of dyeing. The chemical agents that
I find to answer this purpose best are acids, either. vegetable, animal, or
mineral. Any acid, however, will produce the desired effect. I shall therefore.
confine the description of my process-to one only-(pyroligneous acid), merely
observing that the process must be conducted in precisely the same manner,

page_text: into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the
precise proportions in which the ingredients may be mixed, as they may be
varied to suit circumstances, but I claim as my Invention the application
of any acid, animal, vegetable, or mineral, for the purpose of loosening,
extracting, or detaching the superfluous animal matter from wool, and thereby
making it of a finer quality, and rendering it more suitable for receiving
colouring matter in the dyeing process.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Peirce, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of June in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
WILLIAM (L.s.) PEIRCE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Seventh day of June, in

page_text: :.
In the Matter of Letters Patent granted the Ninth day of December,
One thousand eight hundred and forty, to William Peirce, for his
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF WOOL BOTH
IN THE RAW AND MANUFACTURED STATE, BY MEANS OF WHICH THE
QUALITY WILL BE CONSIDERABLY IMPROVED."
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDER OF ALTERATION, entered pur-
suant to the Act passed in the Session of Parliament, held in the fifth
and sixth year of King William the Fourth, intitled "An Act to amend
the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions."
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL. COME, I, William
Peirce, of Astey's Row, Islington, in the County of Middlesex,; send. greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, for Herself, Her
heirs and successors, did give and grant unto me, the said William Peirce,
my executors, administrators, and assigns; Her Letters Patent under the Creat
Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the Ninth day of Decem-
ber, in the fourth year of Her reign, for a certain Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PREPARATION OF WOOL, BOTH IN THE RAW AND MANUFACTURED STATE, BY
MEANS OF WHICH THE QUALITY WILL BE CONSIDERABLY IMPROVED:" And whereas, I,
the said William Peirce, in pursuance of a proviso in the said in part recited
Letters Patent contained, did cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery, on the Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-one: And whereas since the grant of the said
Letters Patent, and the inrolment of the said instrument in writing or Speci-
fication, I have discovered and been advised that the title of the said Letters
Patent will express and describe the said Invention with greater accuracy if
certain words in the said title be omitted: And whereas I. have ascertained that
the sulphuric, muriatic, nitric, acetic, pyroligneous acids may be used with
greater advantage for the preparation of wool than other acids, but that of the
said acids the acetic and pyroligneous are preferable: And whereas I bave been
further advised and informed that the said Specification may be rendered more
clear and useful to the public by stating the result of my experience and my
present practice as to the quantities of the said acid, and the manner in which

page_text: they are employed by me: And whereas I am desirous, for the reasons
aforesaid, to enter a Disclaimer and Memorander of Alteration of and in part
of the title of the said Invention and of the Specification, and have obtained
leave of Her Majesty's Attorney General, certified by his fiat and signature
according to the form of the Statute in such case made and provided, to enter
such Disclaimer and Memorander of Alteration.
KNOW YE THEREFORE that I, the said William Peirce, for the reasons
aforesaid, do hereby disclaim in the title of my said Invention the words "by
means of which the quality will be considerably improved:" And I do hereby
also disclaim the use of all acids except the sulphuric, muriatic, nitric, acetic,
and pyroligneous acids: And I do declare the quantities which I find to answer
of the said acids to be as follows:-3 lbs. of sulphuric acid, specific gravity.
1.842, with ten gallons of water; 3 lbs. of. muriatic acid, specific gravity 1.2,
with ten gallons of water; 3lbs. of nitric acid, specific gravity 1-45, with ten
gallons of water; 3lbs. strongest acetic acid, specific gravity 1.060, with ten
gallons of water; 3 lbs. of pyroligneous acid, specific gravity 1.05, with ten
gallons of water: And I do further declare that I saturate fifteen pounds of
wool (which has been scoured) for about three hours in any of the above
solutions; the liquor is then well pressed out and the wool rinsed in two or
three waters, and afterwards steeped or, washed in an alkaline solution, and
that which I prefer is a solution of carbonate, of potash, or soda ash, made
with about 1lbs. of potash or soda ash dissolved in twenty gallons of water:
And I, the said William Peirce, do hereby further declare that I believe the
acetic and pyroligneous acids to answer best for the purposes of my said
Invention: And I, the said William Peirce, do further declare that my reasons
for the said Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration are those above stated,
and that the said Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration is not such
Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration as extends to the exclusive right
granted by the said Letters Patent.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Peirce, have hereunto set my
hand, this Fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord Oue thousand
Lood and forty-three
Taken and acknowledged by William Peirce,
(party hereto) at the Public Office in the
County of Middlesex, this Sixth day of May
W. PEIRCE.

page_text: To the Clerk of the Patents of England.
This is to certify, that the above-named William Peirce, of Astey's Row,
Islington, in the County of Middlesex, has applied to me for leave to enter
with you the above-written Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration of part
of the title and Specification of a certain Invention, for which Letters Patent
were granted to him under the Great Seal of Great Britain, dated at West-
minister, the Ninth day of December One thousand eight hundred and forty,
and to which a Specification was duly enrolled; and having considered of the
said application, and no abjection having been made to the 'same, I have
accordingly granted leave to the said William Peirce to file his' said Dis- 1
claimer and Memorandum of Alteration, pursuant to the Statute passed in the
fifth and sixth years of the reign of His laté Majesty King William the
Fourth, entituled "An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for
Inventions.
"