TREATING THE TOBACCO PLANT IN ORDER TO MANUFACTURE PAPER
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Richard Archibald Brooman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
February 1861.-A communication from abroad by Messrs. Michel
Chominot and Picard, of Marseilles.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "TREATING THE TOBACCO PLANT IN ORDER TO MANUFACTURE PAPER," (com-
municated to me from abroad by Messrs. Michel Chominot and Picard, of
Marseilles,) to be as follows:-
Hitherto paper for making cigarettes and other purposes has not been suc-
cessfully made from the tobacco plant even when mixed with other substances
generally used in the manufacture of paper.
The object of the present Invention is the production of a paper of pure
tobacco, whether for making cigarettes or for wrapping or envelopping; and
one important point in this Invention is, the gathering the juice which escapes
through the metal cloth employed in the manufacture of the paper, to apply
on and enrich the pulp with its aroma.
I proceed to describe successively the different operations followed for the
manufacture of paper of pure tobacco without the admixture of any other
substance.
First operation. I take indifferently the ribs, root, leaves, stem, and bark of

page_text: the tobacco plant and tobacco waste, mixed or separately, and place the same in
a vessel of metal, wood, or other suitable material; I fill the vessel with tobacco
and cold water, in order that the water may absorb all the albuminous matters,
nicotine, nicotianine, matate of lime, (matate de chaux,) acetic acid, nitrate,
muriate, and sulphate of potass, chloride, and phosphate of lime. After soaking
some hours, I remove the tobacco and place a fresh supply of tobacco in the
water, and repeat this operation until the water has become saturated and
ceases absorbing the matters above named. Heat from a naked fire or in the
state of steam, may be applied, and then the water acts more quickly; whether
the process be carried on in a cold or heated state, an agitator will expedite
the operation.
Second operation. The tobacco treated as aforesaid is distilled by any
ordinary means to extract the essential oil, which is carefully preserved.
Third operation.-The saturated water from the first operation is evaporated
under heat down to the consistence desired, in some cases to a resinous state,
which is used for coloring matter.
Fourth operation.-A vessel is about half filled with hot or cold water, to
which is added, at the choice of the operator, vegetable alkalis (potass),
mineral alkalis (soda), animal alkalis (ammonia), in a liquid or solid state.
The operator selects at will soda sulphates, nitrates, muriates, acetates,
azotates, carbonates, and bicarbonates, borates, hydrochlorates, citrates, oxalates,
and tartrates of soda, of potass, of ammonia, of lime, or of alumina, alcohol,
quick or slack lime; also the following acids: acetic, antimoniac, azotic, boric,
carbonic, citric, hydrocyanie, oxalic, hydrosulphuric, sulphuric, tartaric, nitric,
and muriatic; also the salts and crystals of soda, effervescing soda, natron
salts, salts of tartar and ammonia, sea salt, salts of nitre, of sorrel, and Glauber
salts, the chlorides of soda, of potass, of ammonia, of lime, or of alumina.
As some of these chemicals are too expensive, preference is given to salts of
soda. When sufficiently dissolved, the vessel is filled with tobacco, and the
contents are made to boil for a time, which varies according to the quality of
the tobacco. When sufficiently boiled, heat is withdrawn or cut off, and the
liquid is allowed to flow out of the vessel, in order that the tobacco may be
thoroughly washed by repeated supplies of clean cold water to remove all
trace of the soda. The tobacco will remain after the last water is drawn off
nearly in a state of pulp; it is then completely triturated and subjected to the
usual processes for converting pulp into paper; heat will facilitate the trans-
formation into paper, though the whole process may be carried out in a cold
state, though preference is given to the employment of heat, as described.

page_text: This paper is preferable to all others for cigarettes, and if it be desired to
impart a strong tobacco odour to it and a dark colour, it is dipped in a liquid
obtained by dissolving the resinous product resulting from the third operation
before named, in the essence of tobacco; or, sheets of felt are saturated with
this liquid, and a sheet of tobacco paper is placed between two sheets of the
felt and subjected to heavy pressure; the paper is then removed, dried, and
glossed by being passed through glazing rolls.