THE MANUFACTURE OR PREPARATION OF EXTRACT OF PERUVIAN GUANO
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"THE MANUFACTURE OR PREPARATION OF EXTRACT OF PERUVIAN GUANO."-
A communication from Alexander Cochet, Chemist, residing at Paris.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
June 1858.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "THE MANUFACTURE OR PREPARATION OF EXTRACT OF PERUVIAN GUANO,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the manufacture of extract of Peruvian guano, for
which
purpose I operate in the following manner:-1 place two and a half
pounds of guano in about six pints of water, & boil the whole till the liquid
is reduced by a third. I then filter it, and obtain about two quarts of extract
of guano, marking about eight degrees of the salinometer.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
Iler reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said
William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"THE MANUFACTURE OR PREPARATION OF EXTRACT OF PERUVIAN GUANO,"
a communication from Alexander Cochet, Chemist, residing at Paris, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clark, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their bands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
For a long time past the grave question of the scarcity and consequently
high price of alimentary substances which has afflicted Great Britain has been
the order of the day. The Government, the scientific, and the industrious
parts of society have made every effort in vain to discover means to avert the
crisis which is becoming each day more alarming in proportion as the popu-
lation increases and no remedy found. The solution of this great problem is
not alone in the different processes abounding for preserving the alimentary
substances and in the change of form and of taste, nor in the improvements in

page_text: agricultural iniplements, nor in the drainage, nor in the clearing of the land, of
which people have no heed for the moment.
The solution lies in the means of augmenting promptly the production of
alimentary substances, which cannot be produced but by the abundance of cheap
manure laid on the ground, which, with sufficient labour, is capable of pro-
ducing double or even three times the amount of crops usually produced, for it
is proved by experience that the production of the earth is in proportion to
the manure put in it, and that our arable land has scarcely a third part of tho
manure that it ought to have.
All husbandmen who know their trade would say, give me manure in abun-.
dance, and I will produce good crops. The market gardeners of London
and Paris, who have it in abundance, afford a striking example; their grounds
all the
are light, and they also produce good and beautiful crops
year round.
If the supply of manure is scant, the only way to remedy the crisis is to find a
new product which shall be substantial and strengthening. The Inventor has
had the good fortune to find both, and to possess the secret of making guano
precisely the same as that of Peru, having the same smell, color, and specific
gravity, and of the same energy and fertilizing power as the best Peruvian
guano, and presenting the same elements on analysis. This guano would
become much cheaper than that of Peru, the more so as the first matters
from which it is manufactured are in such abundance that England
would never want of this precious manure which farmers throughout the
world consider the most powerful; the numerous searches that have been
made on the origin of guano have led to this marvellous discovery. Some
time ago the Inventor announced to the French Government and also to the
English Government this important discovery, and asked them what would be
the reward allowed to make known his secret. No answer was received;
no, they considered the Inventor, as they considered Fulton, and all other
authors of great discoveries, a visionary; therefore the discovery was kept in
profound silence until a change took place, that is to say, until the commercial
property was guaranteed, as is the case with literary and artistic property.
Now, the second part of the discovery which is the especial object worth
patenting, consists in a new, substantial, and strengthening product which by
good fortune has been found in the guano of Peru, to which the name of.
extract of guano is given, of which a description is here appended.

page_text: hours, then let it cool; after separating the clear liquid, a little more than
about a quart of the extract is obtained at ten, twelve, or fourteen degrees of
the hydrometer, depending upon the concentration of the liquid or the quantity
of the guano; add a quart of water to the residue, boil it slightly, let it cool, and
separate the clear liquid which will be about a quart at five or six degrees.
Again add a quart of water and boil it a little, then filter the whole, when
about three quarts and a half of liquid will be obtained at two or three degrees.
All of these solutions should give about two quarts and a half at eight degrees.
If the liquid is more than eight degrees, water should be added to reduce it to
this strength, for if it is more than eight degrees a crystallization would result
which would form a little deposit, and if less than eight degrees, it should be
concentrated to bring it to the required strength. The residue, which is formed
of phosphates of lime and of different insoluble ammoniacal salts, should
weigh from sixteen to eighteen ounces, and which has the same fertilizing
properties as the pure guano, with the advantage of not scorching the plants if
used stronger and in excess in quantity; this manure, which is not soluble, is
absorbed by the roots of the plants in proportion and will benefit a second crop
because it still remains in the earth, while the soluble extract, so precious for
the alimentation of man, is often of little advantage to the plants, as having it
pure it is lost by filtering in the earth, where it is carried by the rain, and
if there is no water, where a large quantity is used, it scorches the plants.
All these facts (the result of experience) proves the importance of this

page_text: it is the same with the extract of guano, which is not only agreeable when
properly used, but it is wonderfully strengthening. Not only has it been
proved on many poor persons to whom it has been given (seeing they were
perishing), but the Inventor himself has experienced living several months
with bread and soup made in the following manner :-For each meal (three per
day) he boiled sufficient water with a little salt and a spoonfull of the extract,
which formed a sort of gelly, which was poured on bread cut in pieces, and
produced a hash similar and as good as that made of good beef, if vegetables
were added which had been previously boiled. He found himself freed as if
by enchantment of a certain malady which the most skilful doctors could not
cure; he was stronger, more enegetic, and in nimble than if he had the stomach
charged with sucklent meat; otherwise the principle features of this nutritious
extract are not only to establish the stomach and work up the strength debased
by the abuse of pleasure, but also to augment the muscular strength, and con-
sequently cure a number of maladies said to be incurable, such as phthsis,
paralisis, &c., or their prevention would be ensured by a dose of a spoonfull
daily. Independently of the marvellous properties of this new extract of
guano it has others of the utmost importance. Every one knows that good
tools are the soul of industry; England commenced producing them before
building its manufactories, in which exists her wealth. It is only within this
last half century that tools have been manufactured by first studying the
properties of steel and iron; the science is still in its infancy. The art of
working steel in ancient times by the Greeks was in such high perfection, that
they were able to give this metal a softness and suppleness of silk, and made
gloves in which they could write with ease; this manufacture was lost by the
invasion of the barbarians. The Turks possessed a secret to temper steel, this
tempering gave it a sharpness which they termed Damascus, and which no
nation could imitate; that manufacture is also lost. Now the Inventor can say
with pride, and without fear of being contradicted, that he has reproduced this
secret which has been lost for centuries. This secret consists in the application
of my extract of guano to steel and iron; its action hardens the iron, and gives
it properties of steel of an inferior quality, and to that of the first it gives the
fineness, sharpness, and softness of the Damascus manufacture.
This is the formula, which is very simple:-Temper the steel and iron tools.
in the extract of guano at eight degrees, and it produces the results herein-
before described, and moreover, the more they are tempered anew the better
they become, qualities contrary to the ordinary tempering, which, when it is.
missed, renders articles valueless; knives and especially razors are obliged to
be thrown aside, as old iron, because retempering them cannot improve them.

page_text: The 'rovisional I'rotection of this Invention was secured because the
possibility of perfecting the application of this extract of guano was foreseen,
in effect it has succeeded, as will be hereafter seen. This extract of guano
being concentrated to twenty or twenty-five degrees, according to the quality of
the guano, in cooling it crytalizes, forms a paste similar to soap; at this stage
of concentration it has not the bad smell the extract of eight degrees acquires
in several days, and which creates a dislike in those who desire to use it. To
obviate this, about one pennyweight of this paste equals nearly one spoonfull of
the extract of eight degrees, and can be taken in a table spoon as rhubard is
taken, and produces the same effect; but it is betters to distribute it in the
food, as mustard is put in anchovy sauce, mushcrooms, and all sauces which
suit the palate, but which have not the strengthening and medical properties
of which the extract of guano is endowed. Proofs exist that before long this
extract of guano will figure on the tables of gastrometers, and that less
difficulty will be met with in spreading abroad its use among all clases of
söciety that Parmentier had in trying to make people eat potatoes, because the
good effects are palpable, and the incredulous will allow themselves to be con-
quered with pleasuro; but this is not all, this extract of guano in paste has other
marvellous properties; it will suffice to mention one more application to metals.
It can in some way replace the tempering of steel, and improve the inferior
qualities by the ordinary process; this is the recipe:-Rub any tool of bad
quality, which has a bad cutting edge, with the extract of guano in paste, the
next day it will be a bluish black, sharpen the edge on the stone and use it,
you will see directly that it cuts better, renew the application of this paste, and
the next day it will cut still better, and the more you renew the application
the better quality it will become. This extract has been distributed in paste to
cabinet-makers, wheelwrights, carpenters, &c., inviting them to operate on
their worst tools; some days after every one affirmed it gave great satisfaction,
that the tools they had thrown away as useless where the best they had.
Great Britain would appreciate this great discovery better than all other
nations because it is the most industrious. I had almost forgotten to say that
a barber, to whom some had been given, was so overcome with joy at the
results produced on his razors that he ran to his neighbours for all their bad
razors which they could not use, after having given them several coats of this
paste, and rubbed them on the stone, he took them back, each declaring that
their bad razors were transformed into Damascus blades, and could not
understand how so marvellous a transformation was brought about.
The Inventor thinks it necessary to mention these marvellous facts, and
observes that in his opinion it is the animal acid which performs the principal

page_text: part in this operation; it is the phosphoric acid or the uric acid, or perhaps the
two together, which exists in great abundance in the guano, The effect it
produces on steel is the inverse of the effect produced by vegetable and
mineral acids on this metal. This attacking the steel takes away the edge,
while the animal acids which has more affinity for this metal, combines with
it, and gives it softness and the edge that is wanted.
To prove the affinity of the phosphoric and uric acid for the steel, place on
the blade of a razor a little of this paste of the extract of guano on
side only, and the next day on the other side of the blade, a blue stain will
appear, proving that the acids have penetrated the blade and combine in
purifying it.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the manufacture of the extract
of guano, either in a paste or liquid state, and the different applications
thereof, herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
WILLIAM CLARK. (L.S.)