A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OR PRC- CESSES OR MEAN OR MEANS FOR PRESERVING VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS
Year: 1817

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LUDVIG
GRANHOLM, of Foster Lane, in the City of London, Captain in the Royal
Navy of Sweden, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Majesty King George the Third, by Letters Patent
under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the
Eleventh day of March now last past, did give and grant unto me, the said
Ludvig Granholm, his especial licence, that I, the said Ludvig Granholm, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I or they should
agree with, and no others, 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, and in all His said Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OR PRC-
CESSES OR MEAN OR MEANS FOR PRESERVING VEGETABLE AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS;"
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said Ludvig Granholm, 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 His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the said Letters Patent, reference being thereto had, will more fully
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Ludvig Granholm, do hereby specify my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, in the following description, reference being
also had to the Drawings or plan hercunto attached, that is to say:-
The principal proximate causes of the early decomposition of animal and
vegetable substancos being the contact of atmospheric air (or rather of the
oxygen which it contains) and the too high degree of temperature and moisture
which often prevail, my said Invention consists generally in using the follow-
ing means, and in the apparatus employed for applying them.
First. In inclosing the articles to be preserved in a vessel or apparatus (to
be hereafter described) which I call the receiver, in such a manner that they
will be cut off from all contact or communication with the external air.
Second. In means for reducing the temperature of the interior of the said
receiver and its contents.
Third. In means within the said receiver for absorbing moisture.
Fourth. In means within the receiver for expelling moisture.
Fifth. In abstracting a considerable portion of the oxygen from the atino-
spheric air inclosed in the receiver with the articles that are to be preserved, or
by transferring into the receiver air previously decomposed or deprived
wholly or partially of its oxygen, and thereby displacing the common air
therein.
Sixth. In furnishing means within the receiver by which carbonic acid gas
or fixed air may be produced to expel the common air and occupy its place, or
in displacing the common air by carbonic acid gas prepared in another appa-
ratus and introduced warm or hot into the receiver.
In every case the mean first mentioned is to be used, but always along with one
or more of the others, but how many depends on the shorter or longer time the
substances may be desired to be preserved. If the animal substances or products
are to be preserved for a short period I use at the same time the first and second
of the means before mentioned, or the first and fifth, or the first and sixth.
With any of these the third may also be used. Indeed, the trouble of applying
it not being very great, the third should seldom be omitted in any case, as the
absorption of moisture is always beneficial. These means will preserve the
articles in a sound state in hot weather for a longer period than they could be
kept fresh in the open air. To preserve the said animal substances for the
longest period to which my Invention is applicable, I employ the first, second,
third, fourth, and fifth means together, or the first, second, third, fourth, and
sixth means together; these carefully and properly applied will preserve the
articles a sufficient length of time for household purposes, for the use of

page_text: butchers, of fishmongers, of poulterers, and similar businesses, to which pur-
poses and businesses my said Invention is applicable, and for which it is chiefly
intended. For intermediate periods fewer of these last-mentioned means may
be used; as, for example, the first, second, and fifth may be used together, or
the first, second, and sixth, or the first, second, third, and fiftli, or the first,
second, third, and sixth together. As to vegetable products generally, those
which are known to keep best in rather a moist atmosphere need only to have
the first and second means applied to them; the third or fourth means should not
be used; but to those summer fruits which require a dry atmosphere, I apply
together a greater number of these means, always employing the first and
third together, and with them one or two or more of the other means; as,
for example, the fifth or sixth means, or the second and fifth, or second
and sixth means, along with the first and third. By using these means such
fruits may be preserved fit for use for a longer period than if exposed to
open air.
I now proceed to describe the apparatus which I employ for these purposes,
and the methods by which these means are applied; premising, as will be seen
from the nature and use of the apparatus, that it admits of innumerable modifi-
cations and varieties of form, provided only that its essential requisites be not
lost sight of, which will be fully understood from the description, and that it
may be made of various sizes according as it may be required to be portable or
stationary.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a receiver, consisting of an inside metal
vessel (coloured blue in the Drawing) and an outer cover or jacket made of
cloth, as, for example canvas, or of porous leather (coloured yellow); the space
between these (which is coloured red) is filled and packed with brick dust or
pounded charcoal, or any porous matter which will easily receive water and
again give it off by evaporation, evaporation being the mean I employ for
reducing the temperature of the interior of the receiver. The cavity a (Fig. 1)
is a round or square cup or dish with a flat bottom, which is fastened into
the jacket and descends into the porous matter interposed between the metal
inside and the jacket. The bottom and side of this cup is perforated all over
with small holes, to allow water poured into the cup to pass thence into the said
interposed porous matter till the said matter is saturated with the water; the
said cup, which is in fact a small reservoir, is then to be left full of water
and should be covered with a bit of board, or the board may float in it.
The cup may be of any convenient height, and may be enlarged above to make
it hold a sufficient quantity. The part b, b (Figure 1), between the metal and
the jacket (made dark in the Drawing), is a frame of wood, or several folds

page_text: of cloth of any kind, or any material fit for the purpose, which is only to
keep the porous matter in its place by being fastened to the metal and to the
jacket by any fit means. The rectangular pieces c, c (Figure 1), represent a
ection of a groove attached to the metal all round the inside of the re-
ceiver, the inner vertical side of which. groove is received into the angular
groove d, d, Figure 2, which represents a section of the bottom of the receiver.
Figure 3 is a horizontal plan of the top; and Figure 4 a horizontal plan
of the bottom of Figure 1. Figure 5 represents a section of the receiver
(Figure 1) and its bottom (Figure 2) joined as when in use.
In Figure 6 the parts are the same as in Figure 1, excepting only that
through the reservoir a there is an opening into the receiver, in which a screw
is to be fitted, or a cock, or a valve for the purpose of closing the opening,
and the lower part is furnished with a double groove 1, 1, (instead of the single
one c, c, in Figure 1), the vertical sides of which are received into the inclined
grooves ff, of the bottom (shewn in section), Figure 7. Figure 8 is a hori-
zontal plan of the top, and Figure 9 a horizontal plan of the bottom of
Figure 6. Figure 10 is a section of the receiver, Figure 6, and its bottom,
Figure 7, joined as when in use.
Figure 11 is a section of the bottom in another form, of which a hori
zontal plan is shewn in Figure 12. This bottom is shewn joined to the
lower part of its receiver in Figure 13, which has no wood or other substance
interposed between the metal lining and the jacket, but has its lower part
formed by continuing the metal from the inner part to the jacket, which is
attached to it; see the Figure 13. The intention of the grooves at the
bottom of the receiver being to receive any fit substance for the purpose of
preventing the passage of air or of gas when the receiver is in its place on its
bottom, the said grooves may be of any form that will answer this end, or,
instead of a groove, the receiver and its bottom may be ground flat, so as to
fit well against each other, with any greasy or tenacious substance interposed by
smearing their faces before joining them. For the grooves soft fat, or hog's
lard, or oil will answer, or even water, especially if its surface be covered with
oil, and if only intended to be used for a short period; but I prefer semi-
liquid or more solid substances to oil or water for this purpose, because the
groove or the vessel serving for the bottom would require to be made deeper
for these fluids than for more solid substances, for in expelling moisture or in
driving a current of warm or hot gas through the receiver (as will be hereafter
described) a partial vacuum is generally produced, and the pressure of the
atmosphere would easily overcome the resistance presented by a small height of
liquid, and thus would common air get into the receiver. The more effectually

page_text: to prevent this, I even use a stiff luting when receivers are employed of the
construction of Figure 13 and 17, or with any other which may with convenience
admit it.
Figure 14, 15, is a vertical section of a receiver without a movable bottom,
the bottom being attached to the lower part of the receiver, Figure 15, and
the upper part, Figure 14, being seperable. The lower part is furnished with
an angular groove i, i, made higher than the metal; the upper part is furnished
with a vertical groove o, o, the inner side of which enters the groove i, i, when
the two parts of the receiver are joined; and through the interposed wood or
metal which keeps the porous matter in its place in both parts there are
vertical holes (see the short vertical black lines), to allow the percolating
water to pass through from the upper to the lower part, when they are joined
together. As cases may occur in which it may bo inconvenient that the
receiver should have any evaporating surface, on account of the damp which it
throws into the air, for which cases I employ a receiver only (without any
jacket), furnished with moveable bottoms and grooves, as before described, or with
the top or lid only moveable; a, groove or grooves (of any convenient form) being
attached to the mouth of the lower part (see Figure 17), to receive the lid,
which should always be furnished with a cock or screw (see Figure 18 or 19),
or a valve may be substituted for such cock or screw. The use of grooves
filled with any substance proper for preventing the passage of air, I do not
claim as new; but they are necessary or at least convenient for such an
apparatus as is required for applying with efficacy the means which I employ
for preserving vegetable and animal products. These means shall now be
more particularly described.
I have already stated generally that the means I employ are, first, cutting
off the contact of the atmosphere; second, reducing the temperature; third,
absorbing moisture; fourth, expelling moisture; fifth, decomposing the air in
the receiver, or by transferring into the receiver air previously decomposed or
deprived wholly or partially of its oxygen, and thereby displacing the common
air therein; and sixth, substituting carbonic acid gas for the air in the
receiver. The receiver and the means already mentioned effect the first,
the second is effected, as already mentioned, by means of evaporation
from the jacket of the receiver. To effect the third I introduce into
the receiver a flat earthon (lish or plate, some fragments of bricks previously
dried by means of heat, reduced to the size of peas or smaller, but the small
dust separated by a sieve; or I introduce any absorbent carth, or a substanco
which has a strong affinity for moisture but which cannot produce inflammable
air, as I consider hydrogen and all its mixtures as inimical to the preservation of

page_text: animal substances. The fourth mean is effected by introducing into the
receiver a hot brick or bricks, or a hot piece of a brick, according to the size
of the apparatus, or hot fragments of any absorbent stones or earths, but only
such as cannot by any accident produce inflammable air. This differs from
the third mean only in this, that for expelling moisture the absorbents are
introduced hot, but for mere absorption they are introduced cold. To accom-
plish the fifth mean, I introduce into a china saucer or any proper vessel, but
I prefer a silver plate, because not so apt to be broken or liable to melt and
not liable to decompose water, some ardent spirit, or spirit of wine or alcohol;
or I introduce into the receiver a lamp or lamps furnished with ardent spirits
or alcohol, or with fine oil; or I introduce a candle or candles, according to
the size of the receiver; if candles are used, those made of wax are better than
those made of tallow, but I prefer spirits of wine or alcohol to lamps with oil
and to candles; and I set fire to the ardent spirits, the oil lamps, or the
candles, before placing the receiver upon its bottom or closing it (as the case
may be). But when the size of the apparatus or any other consideration
makes it preferrable, I have an opening on the top of the receiver (as is usual in
the common process of chemists) for decomposing air by means of combustion,
for introducing the oil lamps, the candles, or the ardent spirits, after which this
opening is to be closed. In like manner, when it may for any reason be conve-
nient (as when such a receiver as Figure 14, 15, or 17 is used) I have an opening
in the bottom of the receiver, with a groove or grooves, as shewn in Figure 23,
to receive a partial bottom or support, Figure 24, for the cup or bottle or other
vessel eniployed for holding carbonate of lime and sulphuric acid. To effect the
substitution of carbonic acid gas for the common air of the receiver, I introduce
into the receiver, in a plate or a bowl, or a wide-mouthed bottle, some pounded
chalk or marble, or any kind of good limestone, and having previously diluted an
equal weight of sulphuric acid with three or four or five times its weight of
water, I pour the diluted acid over the pounded limestone, or whiting or chalk,
or marble, immediately before placing the receiver on its bottom or closing it with
it's cover, as the case may be, and having allowed the cock, or screw, or valve, to
remain open till the carbonic acid gas liberated from the carbonate by the action
of the sulphuric acid has filled the receiver, I then close the cock, or screw or valve;
or, instead of pouring the diluted acid on the carbonate before closing the appa-
ratus, I sometimes introduce into the receiver a vertical tube (made of glass or
any material by which inflamable air cannot be produced), descending
from the top, and having its lower orifice in a cup (A, Figure 25), containing
the carbonate; the diluted acid is poured in at the upper orifice B, descends
through the tube, and at the bottom falls on the inclined plane n (which is a

page_text: plate of glass, china, or pottery), to prevent any of the acid from spurting over.
After the acid has been poured in, the upper orifice B is to be closed with a
stopper or with a cock previously soaked in melted wax or tallow. When the
receiver, which is to be furnished with a tube for this purpose, has not a move-
able bottom but a moveable top or lid, as Figure 17, then the said tube is bent
at its top into a right angle, to allow of its being carried through to the outside
of the receiver (as shewn in Figure 26), where it is joined by any fit cement
to its mouthpiece or funnel o. When hot absorbents are employed to expel
moisture and the sixth mean is also to be used, then the sulphuric acid should
be introduced by means of the tube (Fig. 25 or 26), when bubbles cease to be
produced in the oil or water in the cup of the cock (Figure 18), or screw
(Figure 19). Sometimes I produce my carbonic acid gas in a separate appa-
ratus, and then transfer it into the receiver, but this I do only when I mean
to introduce it in a rarified state; and I rarify it by making it traverse a tube
or worm heated by passing through hot water or steam (or by any other known
means) in its passage into the receiver. In this case the fourth mean is not
necessary, as the heat of the carbonic acid will drive off sufficient moisture by
being allowed to flow freely through the receiver for a short time. The car-
bonic acid gas s should be admitted into the receiver at the top and descend by
a tube similar to that in Figure 25 or 26 to the bottom of the receiver, that
it may occupy the lower place under the lighter atmospheric air, and discharge
the latter by the open cock, or screw, or valve, at the top, which is to be shut
when the effervessence grows languid in the apparatus in which it is produced.
For this process I use at least double the quantity of carbonate and sulphuric
acid that I employ for producing it in the receiver as above described. The
cock, screw, or valve being shut, and the gas apparatus being separated, the
orifice of the tube, say, for example, B, Figure 25, is then to be closed with a
stopper or cock, as before directed. As to the quantity of marble or other car-
bonate of lime to be used with a given quantity of sulphuric acid, no precise
directions can be given, because different specimens of limestone or other car-
bonates yield sometimes very different quantities of carbonic acid. The operator
must proportion the quantity of sulphuric acid to the quality of the carbonate.
It may, however, be useful to remark, as some kind of guide, that eleven or
twelve ounces of the washed chalk sold under the name of whiting will gene-
rally yield about a cubic foot of carbonic acid gas by saturating it completely with
sulphuric acid, and that a cubic inch of marble will yield about six gallons of gas,
and that one hundred parts of lime require about one hundred and forty parts
of sulphuric acid for their saturation. But in practice, the carbonate being the
cheapest ingredient of the two, it should be used considerably in excess, to pre-

page_text: vent any unnecessary waste of sulphuric acid. Almost any of the other acids
may be substituted for the sulphuric, but the latter is preferable. Other
means may be employed for procuring carbonic acid, as stated in chemical
works, but I prefer such as I have described, for the making of carbonic acid
is not any part of my Invention, but the mode in which I use it in the purpose
to which I apply it. As I sometimes transfer carbonic acid from a separate
apparatus into my receiver, as above mentioned, so I also sometimes transfer
air previously decomposed, or deprived wholly or partially of its oxygen, in a
separate apparatus, transferring a quantity sufficient to displace the common
air. But in this case, if the fourth mean is also to be employed, I do not begin
to introduce the decomposed air till after bubbles appear to cease in the oil or
water of the cup of the cock, Figure 18, or screw, Figure 19. I introduce the
<lecomposed air at the bottom into an ascending tube, to be discharged by it
into the top of the receiver, while the displaced air escapes by an opening at
the bottom, which is to be carefully closed when the requisite quantity of gas
has been introduced, which is known by transferring a known measure from
the apparatus that furnished the decomposed air. As to the quantity of ardent
spirits necessary to decompose the air in a receiver of a given size, this depends
on the strength of the spirits; half an ounce of such alcohol as is usually to
be met with in the market is found to be sufficient to decompose three thousand
cubic inches, as far as can be effected by combustion, in the way already de-
scribed. As to the quantity of candle for the above purpose, about four inches
of a candle of one inch diameter will be sufficient.
On the foregoing process or processes, mean or means, which my said In-
vention is performed, I have yet further to remark, that I never apply heat to
the exterior as one of the means, or a part of any of the means, for effecting
my object, though I employ heat externally to rarify the carbonic acid
transferred in a rarified state from another vessel, as before mentioned.
gas
when
I have mentioned the use of a cock or a screw for cutting off the communi-
cation with the external air. These may be of any of the forms in common
use, and fit for the purpose intended. The following I have found to answer
very well:-
Figure 18 is a cock, with a passage drilled up its axis to any convenient
height, meeting another passage at a right angle. In the barrel or shell of the
plug or key there is a corresponding hole, to which a little descending pipe p is
joined, the lower orifice of which is to be covered with oil or water in a cup or
box, but I prefer oil. While the opening in the key and in its barrel coincide,
a free passage is allowed for the escape of air or gas when increased in volume
by the heat employed to expel the moisture, or when displaced by carbonic

page_text: acid gas, and by turning the key a little way so that the passage may cease to
coincide with that in the shell or barrel, all communication with the atmo-
sphere is cut off.
.
Figure 19 is a male and female screw for the same purpose. Through the
female screw there is an opening connected with a descending pipe, the lower
orifice of which is to be covered with oil or water in a cup or box. When the
screw is up the passage is open (as shewn in the Figure), when screwed down
it is shut, covering the orifice of the descending pipe of the cock (Figure 18),
or the screw (Figure 19) with oil or water is very convenient, as affording
means for determining when the communication with the atmosphere should
be cut off, for while moisture is expelled or air displacing by carbonic acid, a
portion of the air keeps rising through the oil or water in bubbles. If moisture
is to be expelled the passage for escape is allowed to remain open till the
bubbles cease to come out with rapidity; if the air is to be displaced by car-
bonic acid gas generated in the receiver the passage should not be closed till
the bubbles cease to rise through the oil or water; either of these will answer
also when decomposed air is to be used. When this is the case the communi-
cation with the atmosphere may and ought to be cut off as soon as the first
sudden expansion of the air by the heat of the inflamed spirit of wine has
made its escape, which will be known by the bubbles ceasing to flow rapidly
through the oil in the cup of the cock or screw. Instead of allowing the air
to escape through the top of the receiver it may be made to descend through a
pipe passing down from the top of the inside almost to the bottom of the
receiver, and terminating in a cup or box of oil in the inside of the receiver,
as at A, Figure 20, to the outer orifice of which a screw (like Figure 21) or a
ground stopper or plug may be attached, or the descending pipe from the top of
the inside may come through to the outside into a cup or box of oil furnished
with a cock or with a ground stopper or plug (see Figure 22). In every case it is
proper, for the more effectually preventing all communication with the exter-
nal air, that a little fat, or wax, or luting, should be applied round the shoulder
of the cock, or screw; the barrel of the first, and the female screw of the other,
being made of such depth as to allow room for this.
In the previous description of my apparatus I have confined myself to
apparatus of a comparatively small size, such as might suit private families,
and be moveable from one apartment to another. But on the same principles
I also construct what may be proper for butchers, fishmongers, and dealers in
provisions of various kinds; but for the business of such tradesmen, in place
of a jacket of cloth or leather and interposed porous matter I sometimes
cover the metal receiver with porous bricks or tiles or thin porous stones,

page_text: which I apply to the metal with plaster of Paris, or mixtures of plastic with
bone ashes or other substances to render it porous and fit for the purpose; and
when the size may require it I apply outside of the said bricks or tiles or thin
porous stones a framing made of wood or of metal to keep them in their place.
For small sized receivers earthenware jackets are sometimes made in one piece,
and the space between the jacket and the metal lining is filled with porous
matter as above, or the space between may be kept full of water without
porous matter, but I prefer filling the space with porous matter. When the
apparatus is made on a large scale, such as may be required for particular
tradesmen in their business, then the bottom and sides of the receiver form one
large vessel, with a door or shutter, which can be opened for the purpose of
introducing or taking out the articles, and again closed air-tight by means of
luting if necessary. To the smaller receivers handles may be attached for the
convenience of moving them. Proper supports for the different articles should
also be provided in receivers, especially in those of larger size. For this pur-
pose wood is preferable to iron, because the latter, if not well coated with japan
or other fit means, can decompose water and produce hydrogen; and because
of this, when the metal part of the receiver is made of any metal which
can decompose water, it should be well painted or japanned or coated with
varnish.
For the sake of brevity I have confined my description to receivers of a
rectangular form, but they may be made cylindrical, or of any form that may
not be inconvenient or troublesome in the construction. As the maintenance of
a low temperature in the receiver is of great importance, it should rest on
some bad conductor of heat, to prevent heat from being communicated through
the bottom. Any of the known bad conductors of heat may be employed for
this purpose, as a bed of charcoal, or of common deal well coated with pitch
or with rosin; and this non-conducting bed may either be attached to the
receiver or its bottom, or may be placed separately for it to rest upon when
the preservation has been effected by heated carbonic acid gas or by decom-
posed air. On taking the articles out of the receiver the cock, or screw,
or valve should be previously opened to prevent the pressure of the external
air from retarding the separation of the upper and under parts of the
receiver.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ludvig Granholm, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thou
LUDVIG (L.s.) GRANHOLM.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Eighth day of September,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid. Ludvig Granholm came before
our Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Eighth day of September, in the year above written.