THE PREPARATION OF CERTAIN SUBSTANCES FOR MAKING CANDLES, INCLUDING A WICK PECULIARLY CONSTRUCTED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MOSES
POOLE, of the Patent Office, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Ninth day of June, in the sixth year of His reign, did, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Moses
Poole, His especial licence that I, the said Moses Poole, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Moses Poole, my exors, adññors,
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 Invention of "THE PREPARATION
OF CERTAIN SUBSTANCES FOR MAKING CANDLES, INCLUDING A WICK PECULIARLY
CONSTRUCTED FOR THAT PURPOSE," communicated to me by a certain foreigner
resident abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging
me, the said Moses Poole, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in His 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, 1, the said
Moses Poole, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in the following description thereof (that is to say):-
I do declare that the Invention for the preparation of certain substances for
making candles, including a wick peculiarly constructed for that purpose, con-
sists in the mode or modes of refining tallow or any kind of animal fat. In
order to effect this, it is necessary, first to convert the component parts of the
tallow or fat into acids, and afterwards to separate one acid, which is in a liquid
state, from the other, which is solid. The first acid is fit for most of the
purposes to which ordinary oil is applied, and the second is the substance
intended to be made into candles; there are several processes by which the two
acids may be obtained, one by saponification and another by distillation of the
tallow or fat. The first (viz.), the saponification, may be done by soda, potash
or any alkali, as lime, for instance. The soap thus obtained is to be decom-
posed by any acid according to the alkaline base employed. This decomposition
should be made in a large quantity of water, kept well stirred during the
operation, and warmed by steam introduced into it; when allowed to stand, the
component acids of the tallow or fat rise to the surface, while the water which
is drawn off carries with it the saline matters, fresh water being thrown on if
necessary to wash more completely any sorts which may remain; when suf-
ficiently washed, if allowed to cool, the whole forms a solid mass, which, on
being submitted to the action of a press like oil seed, the liquid acid runs off' in
the form of a substance resembling oil, and there remains a solid matter similar
in every respect to spermaceti, and which is fit for making candles. The
distilling process is effected by submitting the tallow or fat to heat in any
ordinary alembic or distilling apparatus; to facilitate the evaporation a small
quantity of steam may be introduced, which will be condensed over with the
other products in the worm or other cool receiver which may be used. The
operation may be prolonged by keeping up a continual supply of tallow or fat
into the alembic; but in this case the products distilled over must be watched
and as they become colored the receiver changed, so as to separate the different
qualities. The substance containing the two acids obtained by this operation of
distilling is purified by washing with warm water, as in the preceding opera-
tion; exposure to the air and sun, and the use of alcohol as practised on wax,
may likewise be useful. The liquid and the solid are then separated by
pressure, as before described. These operations may likewise be combined for
the sake of obtaining the acids more free from saline matter, that is to say,
after having obtained them by saponification they may be distilled and then

page_text: separated by pressure, as before. I do not claim the distinct processes of
saponification or distillation, but the combined use of the pressing for the
important object of separating the liquid from the solid acid with either or both
of the processes.in question.
The wick I propose for candles made of the substance above described, is
composed of cotton thread, or yarn, rather hard twisted, laid as wire is on
certain strings of musical instrument; and for this purpose I propose to have
the cotton laid on straight wires, of suitable dimensions as to length and
diameter, in the same way that is usually practised in making musical strings.
The wires then covered with cotton are to be let in the moulds as the common
wicks are, and when the candle is quite set the wires are to be drawn out.
In witness whereof, I, the said Moses Poole, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.