A CERTAIN IMPROVED METHOD OF SEPA- RATING THE DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF POTATOES AND OTHER VEGETABLES
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
ANDERSON, of Abbotsford Place, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Starch
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eleventh day of November, in the
twelfth year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Anderson, Her especial licence, sole privi-
lege and authority, that I, the said James Anderson, my exors, adiñors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said James Anderson, my exors, adiñors, 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, within the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also within all Her Majesty's Colonies and.
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A CERTAIN IMPROVED METHOD OF SEPA-
RATING THE DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF POTATOES AND OTHER VEGETABLES;" in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, requiring that I, the said
James Anderson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, shall
particularly 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
enrolled in Her said 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
James Anderson, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and..

page_text: the manner in which the saine is to be performed, is described and ascer-
tained in and by this present instrument in writing, as follows, that is
to say :-
My said Invention consists of a novel or improved mode or means whereby
I am enabled correctly to separate or divide potatoes or other vegetables into
two or more classes, according to their various economical values. The prin-
ciple upon which my system .or plan of separation is founded has reference to
the fact of the ascertained variation of the specific gravity of the potato and
other vegetables or roots in nearly strict agreement with the relative economical
value of the substance thereof. I have found by experiment that a potato
containing about twenty per cent. by weight of solid nutricious matter is of a
specific gravity equal to 1.080 distilled water at a temperature of 56 degrees of
Fahrenheit's thermometer, being considered as unity; or, in other words, it will
sink in a liquid indicating a density of about 16 degrees of Twaddell's hydro-
meter. Again, a potato possessing about thirty per cent. by weight of solid
nutriment is of a specific gravity equal to 1.120, and will sink in a liquid of
about 24 degrees of Twaddell's hydrometer. I make use of the principle
evidenced in these general facts in the separation of the roots, by placing
parcels of them loose in vessels or pools of a liquid the specific gravity of
which is equal to that of the required classes of such roots. I find that the
specific gravity of potatoes varies as a general rule from 1.075 to 1.120, or
from 15 degrees to 24 degrees of Twaddell's hydrometer; I therefore make my
testing or separating liquid, which may be water with the addition of a quantity
of common salt, clay, or other suitable substance, of such a density as to agree
with the lightest of the class of potatoes which I intend to pick out or separate
as the best. The potatoes then upon being put into such liquid, say, of
specific gravity, 1.100, or about 20 degrees of Twaddell's bydrometer, will be
almost immediately divided as required into two classes, those whose specific
gravity exceeds that of the liquid will sink to the bottom, whilst all such as
fall short of that point will float; the floating potatoes are then taken from
the surface of the liquid, leaving the heavier and more valuable ones at the
bottom.
::
If it is required to effect the separation into more than two classes, the pro-
cess may be repeated by again placing the lighter or heavier potatoes in a
liquid of less, or greater specific gravity.
Various other vegetables, such as turnips, carrots, and parsnips, may be effec-
tually and economically separated by this process, care being taken to suit the
specific gravity of the separating liquid to that of the roots or seeds, as experi-
mentally ascertained.

page_text: The advantages of this mode of separation by gravity are of the greatest
importance for ascertaining the commercial value of potatoes and other
vegetables, whether intended for domestic use or for manufacturing purposes.
Having now described and pointed out the particulars of my Invention or
improvement, and the manner in which the same is or may be used, applied, or
carried into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine myself
to any particular mode or plan of immersing potatoes or other vegetables in
vessels containing liquids of different densities, neither do I claim the abstract
use of any apparatus, instrument, or vessel which I have had occasion to
describe herein; but what I do consider to be new, and therefore claim
as the Invention or improvement secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent, is, the system, method, or process of assorting,
separating, or dividing potatoes and other roots or vegetables into different
classes or qualities, according to their ratios of specific gravity, by the use or
means of a liquid or liquids the specific gravity of which is in accordance with
that of the separate or different classes of roots which may be required to be
obtained, in whatever manner or by whatever means the same may be applied
or put in practice.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Anderson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
JAMES (L.S.) ANDERSON.
Signed and sealed in the presence of
WILLIAM JOHNSON, Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid James Anderson came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, 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.