CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE STRENGTHENING AND PRESERVING OF LIGNEOUS AND TEXTILE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 Twenty-third day of March, in the third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Newton, 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, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE STRENGTHENING AND PRESERVING OF LIGNEOUS AND TEXTILE SUBSTANCES,"
being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Newton,
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 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, I, the said
William Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement and description thereof,
as communicated to me by the before-mentioned Foreigner residing abroad,
(that is to say):
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS on the Process of Preserving and Strengthening
Vegetable Substances, Ligneous and Textile.
The preservation of vegetable substances from decay has for a long time been
the subject of the researches of many persons; various means have been in
succession suggested to increase the durability of wood, timber, cordage, linen,
or other woven fabrics and yarn, all which substances are to be included under
the general denomination of ligneous and textile substances. Painting and tar-
ring, or outward covering or coating, in the most extensive acceptation of these
words, has been most generally resorted to to effect the above-named purposes;
these processes are the most popular, and have been employed from the
earliest times; successive Inventors (save a few exceptions) have merely varied
the proportions or changed the ingredients employed to form outer and super-
ficial coatings, without any intimate or natural adherence with the substances
to be preserved, and of late years endeavours have been made to cause the
preservative matters (such as essence of tar, or essential oil of tar, sulphate of
copper, corrosive sublimate, and various other chemical matters) to penetrate
into or between the fibres of the wood, either by the agency of heated stoves
or steam, or by turning to account the vegetable life which still exists in
trees after they have been felled. And although the effect of this vegetable life
has been long known and resorted to, it remains however questionable if the
ingredients hitherto employed, either for coatings or internal infusions, have
yielded to the desired or intended satisfactory results; and it may be here
remarked that the major part of the principal ingredients hitherto employed
for the preservation of timber, &c. have been the following, (viz.) oxide of
lead, sulphate of soda, mineral oil of coal tar, oxide of zinc, carbonate of soda,
rosins of different kinds, sulphate of iron, carbonate of baryta, muriate of
soda, sulphate of zinc, sulphuric acid, quick lime, sulphate of copper, acid of
tar, animal glue, sulphate of lime, neutral salts, animal wax, sulphate of
magnesia, selenites, corrosive sublimate, sulphate of baryta, vegetable oil, nitrate
of potash, sulphate of alum, animal oil, marcassite, mundic peat, marcassite of
baryta, &c. The various processes which have been hitherto employed have
given only a transitory protection, and that very often of short duration. Vain
has been the strife against the dry rot in timbers, and the heating or rotting

page_text: of sails and cordages. Rosinous and oily matters, when employed for those
purposes, are soon dissolved and evaporated, mineral coatings are washed off
or oxfoliate, and the ligneous and textile fibres they were to cover and protect
(chiefly against capillary attraction so natural to them) are left exposed to the
destructive influence of heat and damp. Confident that as yet no method of
preservation both effective and easy of application has been discovered, the
said foreign Inventor submits to the public the following process, which, he
states, is the result of many years' observation :-
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT PATENTED IMPROVEMENTS.
The ingredients to be employed under this Invention as preservative
are, on the one part, gallic acid, tan, tannin from oak, or the other
families or classes of vegetables which contain it or yield it on infusion or
other process, and, on the other part, such oily, albuminous, and gelatinous
matters, from either the vegetable or animal kingdom, as the first-named
ingredients are capable of coagulating, drying, and rendering solid. If a
fine paint or coating is required, it may be or is to be made with extract
of tannin dissolved or mixed in oil, and if a coarse paint is desired, it may or is
to be made by introducing or mixing bruised or ground bark of oak and pine
trees, or such tannin matters, in the oil, which will thus have become saturated
with the antiseptic properties, and the tar coating or covering may or is to be
prepared with pulverized or ground bark or gall nuts, bullocks' blood, fecula,
to which are to be added animal oils And the pitch coating or covering is or
may be composed or compounded of the same matters, to which should or
may be added tallow, wax, and a greater proportion of rosin. Most of these
mixtures are or should be prepared without heat, but for the pitch, the matters
will be required to be melted by a slow fire.
Operation or Mode or Method of Application for the Purposes of
Strengthening and Preserving.-The modus operandi varies according to
the greater or less degree of preservation, and even of solidification, which
it is desirable to obtain.
Firstly, to preserve oak timber from decay, and to increase the solidity of
ligneous fibres even to the heart thereof, the tree must be felled when
the sap is rising. The bark is to be removed, and the timber squared, or left
in a rough state, as preferred. It must or should, however, be immersed with
as little delay as possible in water: stagnant water is preferable. The timber
must be allowed to soak from six to eight months, then taken out, and allowed
to dry under shelter.
Secondly, the preservation depends on the combination or absorption of
the tan or tannin matter with or through the mucilaginous parts of the tree.

page_text: For all woods in general, but chiefly for the weak and porous ones, it is
proper to add a quantity of tan to the water in which the immersion takes
place.
sap
is
Thirdly, white woods and other ligneous substances, which do not possess
the same preservative principles as oak, must also be felled when the
rising the capillarity and the vegetable life, which exists after the tree is cut,
must be made use of, in order to cause animal oils saturated with tannin to be
attracted and absorbed by the fibres of these kinds of woods, and by this means
produce artificially what nature produces in oak trees and other vegetable
bodies organized to last a long time.
Fourthly, for the external coating or painting of oak timber and other
woods tannin matters are to be employed as siccative materials instead
of mineral oxides, and fat animal oils instead of vegetable oils. This painting
or outer coating is to be laid as usual with common paints, and colouring
matters may be added to this preparation or compound, if thought desirable.
Fifthly, for coating or painting the ends of timber, a thick paint or covering
should be used; the capillary attraction must be stopped, in order to suppress
or stop any inspiration of humidity; in fact, the ends of the timbers to be
preserved should or must be regularly tanned to produce the desired effect;
and
Sixthly, if two pieces of timber are to be placed in contact at their ends or
their sides, the surfaces in contact should be carefully covered with the before-
named thick tan paint or coating. By these means, as complete a preserva-
tion may be obtained as if the pieces of timber were separated from one
another.
Seventhly, in order to promote the aggregation and tannic solidification of
the ligneous fibres, chiefly in the extremities of the pieces of timber to which
capillary attraction does most injury, the mixture of oil and tannin should be
moderately warmed, so as to obtain a more easy penetration, and were it not
for the trouble of using a cauldron or boiler, it is recommended, and is desirable
always, that the paint or covering should be laid on the wood in a warm state.
Eighthly, in cases of deteriorations of ancient date, of decayed tenons, or
where the decay has taken place, even when the dry rot is manifest, its
progress may be checked by the above-named tannin paints or coverings.
The inspired parts must or should be carefully washed with a mixture of
sulphuric acid and water. The pores of the wood being thus opened are then
to be covered or coated over with tan paint.
Ninthly, in order to substitute for or apply, in lieu of old paint, a coating of
the tan mixture, the surface of the timber must be previously washed with
spirits of turpentine.

page_text: Tenthly, when treenails are to be driven in ships' sides, or when pegging a
vessel, the hole made by the auger and the treenails should be greased with
tallow or fat, impregnated with tannin matter. Wooden pegs will thus be
made to last much longer; and if the same mixture or compound is applied
to bolts of iron, they will be less oxidated than when used without preparation.
And for caulking, the tow to be used should not be tarred, but impregnated
with a thick compound of greasy matters, concreted with tannin instead of tar,
and the tow then used as in common. For pitching, or such kind of coating,
there should be added to the tan tar a quantity of rosin sufficient to produce
a consistent mixture. The principles of tannin will thus be preserved
unaltered; the protection of the wood and the tow will thus be completely
effected by the tannin and greasy substances. When treating or operating
upon cordage or ropes it is recommended to spin the rope yarn as usual; but
instead of coating the yarn and ropes with common tar, the tan tar is to be
used in lieu thereof, as above stated with reference to caulking. In order that
the coating or mixture may penetrate more rapidly into the fibres of the yarns
and ropes, and that the same may dry soon, heat may be applied under the
vessel containing the tan tar used for this purpose. As regards the preserving
of fishing nets, it is well known that fishermen commonly tan their nets to
preserve them; and for this purpose they merely dissolve tan bark in boiling
water; they then dip or immerse their nets in the solution, and the tannin is
partly absorbed by the yarn or cord, but without being fixed or firmly
adhering thereto, therefore it is washed away after being used, particularly in
summer, when the tepidity of the waters accelerates its dissolution. In order
to preserve or tan nets in a more permanent manner, the yarn to be used in
making the same should be immersed in the before-named tan tar; or if the
net be made, it should be impregnated with indissoluble ingredients, by being
dipped in a hot bath of tannin and oils, or concretable greases. For the pre-
servation of sailcloth, sacks, and other articles or materials, proceed as
follows-Sails. For hemp and flax sailcloth use as a coating tan paint, or
immerse the said cloth or materials in a warm bath of the same substances;
and cotton sails, if so treated or operated upon, will thence derive an unex-
pected solidity. It is obvious that if yarns be prepared after this manner,
before they are woven into cloth, the preservation will be more certain and
6 more lasting. When treating bleached or coloured articles, as cottons, hemp
or flax tissues, and yarns, by submitting these different articles to the action of
discoloured tanning substances and oils, or to colourless albuminous substances,
the colour of the said yarns and tissues will not be altered or injured, while
they will become imputrescible. By this process cotton yarn will acquire a

page_text: form of preservation, and its fibres an adherence or cohesion, an elasticity
grounded on the same principles, or somewhat like those imparted by nature
to flax and hemp; and it may be remarked that by a contrary operation
one might boldly destroy, previous to spinning, part of the aggregation of the
fibres, being certain of restoring to the hemp and flax before or after their
weaving their primative force of fibrous adherence.
And, lastly, it is stated by my said correspondent that the various processes
to be employed in every circumstance for the strengthening and preserving of
fibrous substances, either ligneous or textile, as they have been herein-before
explained and set forth, are grounded on a general theory resulting from an
attentive examination of nature's phenomena, and its modes of destruction
and preservation.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Newton, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.