CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METHYLIC ETHER, AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL ICE
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand Lecomte de Fontainemoreau, of the
General Patent Offices, 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, in the Empire of
France, and 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Patent Agent, for the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METHYLIC
ETHER, AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL ICE."-A
communication from Charles Tellier, residing at Passy, near Paris, in
the Empire of France.
Sealed the 29th July 1864, and dated the 15th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand Lecomte
. de Fontainemoreau at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 15th February 1854.
'I, PETER ARMAND LECOMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of the General Patent
Offices, 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, in the Empire of France, and 4, South
Street, Finsbury, London, Pateut Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
METHYLIC ETHER, AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL ICE," to
be as follows, that is to say :-
The manufacture of methylic ether is effected by causing a reaction of
sulphuric acid on inethylic alcohol. A mixture is made of equal parts of the
two substances, which are heated; when the temperature has attained 120°
centigrade a current of alcohol is caused to arrive constantly into the mixture
Price Rd

page_text: kept up to the aforesaid temperature. The disengaged ether is then washed to
separate all foreign matters. It is then brought on sulphuric acid or alcohol,
and then bymeans offire orwater the pure ether is separated and then subjected
to a proper pressure when it becomes liquid in a suitable receiver. When the
product is obtained it is employed for the manufacture of ice; it is well known
that in converting a liquid to vapour cold is produced and consequently
ice; therefore, if the methylic ether is reduced to vapour it is evident that
cold and ice will be produced in proportion to the quantity of liquid employed,
consequently every kind of apparatus for facilitating the vaporisation of ether
and to produce ice, the result of such gasification, can be employed; but it
must be understood that the ether already employed must be collected to
obtain profitable results. For this purpose I make use of the same means as
I employ in the manufacture of ether; I cause to be absorbed the vaporised
ether by means of sulphuric acid. I thus obtain a new product, the sulpho-
methylic acid, which has the property, as I have already described, to become
decomposed by heat or the addition of water.
In the first mode, when I employ fire, the decomposition commences at
about 50° to 60°, but as a certain pressure is required, and this pressure is
opposed to the decomposition, and as the temperature cannot exceed 120°, it
results from this that I obtain a very small quantity of products. To
obviate this objection I employ supersaturation. For this purpose I decom-
pose the first part of sulpho-methylic acid under two atmospheres only;
I gather the product in a second vessel already containing sulpho-methylic
acid; I thus form a supersaturated liquid which is then easily decomposed,
giving the product sought for abundantly.
The second mode of decomposition takes place by the addition of water. I
prefer in this case to employ alcohol, its rectification being easier than that
of sulphuric acid. I thus operate on alcohol saturated with ether and con-
tained in closed vessels. I cause to arrive a solution of chloride of calcium.
As soon as the decomposition commences it can be greatly assisted by the
action of heat; two layers are immediately formed in the liquid, one of ether
one of water saturated with chloride of sodium and alcohol. The ether is
rectified by a simple distillation or a new washing. As to the mixture of
water and alcohol it is caused to pass in a rectifier which reproduces con-
tinuously the first matters employed.
The methylic ether, like all other gases or vapours easily liquifiable, permits
of the manufacture of ice by a simple process.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Armand Lecomte de Fontainemoreau in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 15th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
ARMAND LECOMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of the General Patent Offices,
10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, in the Empire of France, and 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, Patent Agent, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Peter Armand Lecomte de Fontaine Moreau, Her special license that I,
the said Peter Armand Lecomte de Fontaine Moreau, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Peter Armand Lecomte de
Fontaine Moreau, my executors, administrators, or 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 Iuvention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METHYLIC ETHER, AND ITS APPLICATION TO THE PRO-
DUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL ICE." communicated to me from Charles 'Tellier, a person
resident at Passy, near Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Peter Armand Lecomte de Fontaine
Moreau, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, should par-
ticularly 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 Peter Armand Lecomte de Fontaine
Moreau, 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, reference being had to the
Drawing hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
The manufacture of methylic ether is effected by cansing a reaction of
sulphuric acid on methylic alcohol. A mixture is made of equal parts.of

page_text: these two substances which are heated; when the temperature has attained
one hundred and twenty degrees centigrade a current of alcohol is caused to
arrive constantly into the mixture kept up to the aforesaid temperature. The
disengaged ether is then washed to separate all foreign matters; it is then
brought on to sulphuric acid or alcohol, and by means of fire or water the
pure ether is separated, and then subjected to a proper pressure when it
becomes liquid in a suitable receiver; when this product is obtained it serves
for the manufacture of ice. It is well known that in converting a liquid to
vapour cold is produced, and consequently ice; therefore, if the methylic ether
is reduced to vapour, it is evident that cold and ice will be produced in
proportion to the quantity of liquid operated upon, consequently every kind
of apparatus for facilitating the vaporisation of ether and produce ice the
result of such gasification can be used; but it must be understood that the
ether already employed must be collected to obtain profitable results. For
this purpose I make use of the same means as in the manufacture of ether;
I cause to be absorbed the vaporised either by means of sulphuric acid; I
thus obtain a new product, the sulpho-methylic acid, which has the property,
as I have already described, to become decomposed by heat or the addition of
water.
In the first mode, when I employ fire, the decomposition commences at
about fifty to sixty degrees centide, but as a certain pressure is required, and
this pressure is opposed to the decomposition, and as the temperature cannot
exceed one hundred and twenty degrees, it results from this that I obtain a
very small quantity of products; to obviate this objection I employ super-
saturation. For this purpose I decompose the first part of sulpho-methylic
acid under a pressure of two atmospheres only; I gather the product in a
second vessel already containing sulpho-methylic acid; I thus form a super-
saturated liquid which is then easily decomposed, giving the product sought
for abundantly.
The second mode of decomposition takes place by the addition of water. I
prefer in this case the use of alcohol, its rectification being easier than that
of sulphuric acid; I therefore operate on alcohol saturated with ether, and
contained in close vessels. I cause to arrive a solution of chloride of calcium;
as soon as the decomposition commences it can be greatly assisted by the
action of heat. Two layers are immediately formed in the liquid, one of ether,
and one of water saturated with chloride of calcium and alcohol. The ether
is rectified by a simple distillation or a new washing; as to the mixture of
water and alcohol, it is caused to pass into a rectifier, which reproduces con-
tinuously the first matters. The methylic ether, like all other gases or

page_text: vapours easily liquifiable, permits of the manufacture of ice by a simple
process.
Methylic ether has not yet been commercially manufactured, and the
means made known by science for its production are as dangerous as they
are ineffectual and costly, whereas I obtain it easily by the
processes herein-
after described, reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed, and to
the Figures marked thereon.
Figure 1 represents fully the mode of operating. A, B, is a boiler con-
taining a worm b, b, and agitator c, c. I introduce from the reservoir C, by
means of the tap d, sulphuric acid at about sixty-six degrees centigrade into
the boilet, when the level e, e, is reached the tap d is shut off, and the tapf
being opened methylic alcohol contained in reservoir D is aliowed to run
into the boiler A, B, either liquid or in a state of vapour by means of a special
apparatus. As soon as the alcohol reaches the acid a violent reaction takes
place, and a rather large quantity of ether is produced; the production is
regulated by the agitator c, c, which facilitates also the intimate mixing of
the liquids, the formed vapours escaping through the tube g. g. The agitating
and the feeding of alcohol is thus continued until the first volume of acid is
doubled. When this is obtained the supply of the alcohol is stopped, t
mixture is heated, and its temperature is raised by degrees to one hundrb.
and twenty degrees centigrade at most by means of the worm b, b, through
which passes some water steam at one and a half to two atmospheres. The
heating can be effected by any other mode provided a certain temperature be
not exceeded, otherwise decomposition of alcohol takes place, and carbon and
sulphurous acid are produced. The tapfis then opened and a small stream of
alcohol is allowed to run off, which is decomposed as soon as it arrives, aud
forms water and methylic ether, which egress through the tube g, g. The
operation is carried on until the acid is no no longer suitable for the rapid
decomposition of the alcohol; the acid is then drawn off through the tap h,
this acid can by rectification or otherwise be still rendered useful, and is
replaced by a fresh supply of new acid, and the process is each time carried
on as herein-before described. It has been stated that through the tube g, g,
a mixture of water, steam, and ether escapes from the boiler A, B. To
collect the pure ether the mixture of steam is washed in the vessels 1 and 2;
1 contains water, and 2 sulphuric acid saturated with ether. These two
vessels contain the worms i, i,,, in which a stream of cold water circulates.
In the vessel 1 the water condenses the greater part of the water steam drawn
in, and the sulphuric acid in the vessel 2 takes up the whole of the particles
of water which the ether vapours contain. These ether vapours being now

page_text: sufficiently purified are introduced into the vessel 3, which being completely
empty serves merely to collect the particles of hydrated acid which the current
of gas may draw off with it. Each of these three vessels is provided with a
discharge cock s, s¹, s", by which the useless residues are drawn off from time
to time. The ether egressing from the vessel 3 could be directly reduced to a
liquid state if that operation had not the double disadvantage of requiring a
useless excess of resistance in all the parts of the apparatus, and a greater
elevation of temperature, by which the alcohol contained in the boiler A, B,
would be carbonized. These defects will be avoided by forming with the ether
a new body, the easy decomposition of which will permit of forming pure
ether and rendering it promptly liquid. This new body contained in the
reservoir F is sulpho-methylic acid, which is produced by causing methylic
ether to react on sulphuric acid. The following operations easily produce
this result, that is to say, the practical condensation of ether:-
Firstly, saturation -The ether vapours contained in the vessel 3 are
dissolved without much pressure and at a rather low temperature in sulpho-
methylic acid, and saturate the latter.
Secondly, desaturation.-The above stated mixture being raised to a tem-
perature of about one hundred and twenty degrees (this degree cannot be
exceeded without causing its decomposition into carbon and sulphurous
acid) allows the ether to vaporise slowly, but does not contain enough ether
to permit proceeding satisfactorily to a prompt condensation, it is therefore
a preparatory desaturation.
Thirdly, supersaturation. The ether produced by the desaturation is
collected in this case with pressure in another volume of sulpho-methylic
acid at a low temperature, but stronger than in the first operation. This
is a saturation carried on in a liquid already saturated.
Fourthly, condensation. This supersaturated liquid being treated as
described in operation No. 2 on account of its richness, and by applying a
pressure of four to five atmospheres, will disengage a quantity of ether
sufficient for a proper distillation. This ether is made to pass through a
worm surrounded with cold water, where being condensed it is collected in a
pure state in vessels sufficiently strong. These various operations, either
successive or simultaneous, are carried on without stopping, if several vessels
be employed for saturating, and others for desaturating, and reciprocally.
The arrangement of this part of the apparatus can be varied, but I con-
sider it sufficient to describe that represented in Figure 1, in which X, X, is
a column formed of three vessels, 4, 5, and 6, in which the first operation
or saturation is carried on. Each vessel is provided with a worm, in which

page_text: circulates cold water to take up the latent caloric of condensation,as also that
of combination, which the solution of ether disengages in the acid. This
arrangement is employed in the ordinary manufacture of gaseous solutions
F, receiver for the mixture of sulphuric and sulpho-methylic acids. This
liquid containing very little ether is introduced into the vessel 4 of column
X,X, through the ingress tap m, left open each time the egress tap 2 of
vessel 6 has been used; m³ is a tube for conducting the surplus or excess of
the acid into the vessel 5 ; n is a tube for conducting the surplus acid into the
vessel 6, until it reaches a point or level marked 1,1; o, o, o, is a pipe serving
to conduct the ether vapours from the vessel 3 into the vessel 6 through the
valve u, which to facilitate its repair may be placed outside; u, ull, similar
valves for the vessels 5 and 4 to let pass into the vessel 5 the vapours escaping
from the vessel 6 and into vessel 4 the vapours coming from vessel 5; such
an arrangement allows, if necessary, of saturating more energetically the
liquid contained in the vessel 6, through which passes at first the gas; p is a
cock for introducing into the vessels of desaturation M. and N the saturated
liquid coming from vessel 6; r, r, r1, r¹, steam worms for heating to a
temperature of one hundred and twenty degrees centigrade at most, the vessels
M and N in which the second operation or desaturation is carried on under
a pressure of about two atmospheres; the number of vessels M and N can be
varied; O, vessel in which the third operation or supersaturation is at first
performed, and after it the fourth or condensation. In order to operate more
quickly, two vessels O acting together can be employed; the supersaturation
is carried on in one, and the condensation in the other, and reciprocally;
o, o, o, worm of the vessel o, into which passes successively cold water or
steam according as supersaturation or liquification is carried on. It will be
better to employ two worms in each vessel, one for the water and the other
for the water steam; H is a worm surrounded with cold water, in which the
ether is condensed and collected in H', from which it is abstracted through
the tap p¹ to conduct it into the receivers P, from which the air has been
exhausted; m¹¹, m¹¹, discharge cocks of the vessels M and N. The de-
saturated acid to make room for the saturated acid coming from the chambert
is forced by an excess of pressure into the pipes x, x, x1, x¹, which conduct it
into the worm V, surrounded with cold water, and thence into the mixed acid
receiver F, from which it returns through the c ck m into the vessel 4 for
another operation; E is the receiver for the water feeding the worms and the
chambers of condensation. The arrangement of the herein-before described
apparatus may vary. The number of the vessels can be increased or lessened,
and they may be differently connected. Their mode of operatingaswellastheir

page_text: several parts and shape can be varied. The sulpho-methylic acid can be
made to circulate in another vessel to meet worms containing other, steam, or
cold water, or the two latter, namely, steam or water, can on the contrafy by
means of worms mee: the sulpho-methylic acid remaining in the same vessels,
therefore the modifications are of no importance, provided the fundamental
operations are carried out according to the herein-stated conditions. The use
of the mixture of sulphuric and sulpho-methylic acids is not absolutely neces
sary. In certain cases alcohol or any other dissolvant can replace it,
the vapours or ether can be received in the alcohol, and render available
the difference of affinity which these two bodies have for water to collect
the ether.
Having described the process for the manufacture of methylic ether, I will
now describe the means of producing cold. The production of ice does not in
itself offer any difficulty. It is well known that by any of the processes
hitherto employed, and by reducing to vapour any liquid, cold is obtained
according to the proportion of latent heat it carries with it, and which caloric
is taken from the surrounding bodies. This being premised, if from a reservoir
P, Figure 1, a certain quantity of liquid ether is made to escape through a
worm, Figure 2, the instantaneous evaporation produced will carry off with it
a determined quantity of caloric from the worm, and from the liquid in which
this latter is immersed. The cooling will necessarily be produced, and then
the congelation will be obtained. This congelation will continue as long as
this reservoir P yields ether, which from the liquid state will pass to that of
vapour; this mode of operating causes the loss of ether, and will therefore
raise the price of ice to a high rate. To obviate this defect I put in one
of the vessels M,N, Figure 1, which are alternately used (and the number
of which, as before stated, can be increased) weak sulpho-methylic acid which
I take from the reservoir D, Figure 1. I approach the vessel M near the
refrigerator, Figure 3, and cause a stream of cold water to pass through the
worm r, 1, of vessel M. I set the tap p to the worm of the refrigerator,
Figure 2, in which the ether was vaporising before its complete escape into
the atmosphere. This ether will be then usefully collected in the sulpho-
methylic acid contained in the vessel M, which will abstract it until it is
saturated. The vessel M, Figure 1, being disengaged after the operation,
and being set in its place will be desaturated from the collected vapours, which
will be afterwards condensed again in another recipient P,as before described,
when speaking of the manufacture of ether. The operation as performed near
the refrigerator, Figure 3, with the vessel M, can be carried on also with the
vessel N, Figure 1, or with any other similar vessel, which will be successively

page_text: taken after being desaturated from the apparatus, Figure 1, and which will
be replaced saturated, and brought back again afterwards in its primary
condition, and so on so long as ether vapours can be collected, that is to say,
so long as the vessel P or any other vessel in its place is not completely
empty. On this simple operation is founded the new mode of producing cold,
that is to say, the home manufacture of ice without machinery. Each con-
sumer will only require a refrigerator, Figure 3, that is to say, a kind of
trough, the size of which will be suitable to his wants; this trough will
contain a worm in which cold will be produced. To that trough will
be connected by means of tubes two moveable recipients, one similar to the
vessel P, Figure 1, will be full of distilled ether, the other, M, Figure 1, will
be filled with sulpho-methylic acid in sufficient quantity for collecting all the
ether contained in vessel P. When it is necessary to generate cold the tap R,
Figure 3, is opened, when the ether rushes from the vessel P into the worm
of the trough, where having been vaporised it will produce the required
cooling,and be collected without any loss of acid in the vessel M, therefore
no fire, no motive power, no preparationsare required; a single moderating tap
will be required. It will be easy to understand that as soon as the recipient P
is empty, and its contents have been taken to increase the contents of vessel M,
the production of cold becomes only possible in the trough, Figure 3, when
two new recipients are placed in a position similar to that of the first. By
this mode of operating large establishments can manufacture ice in any
quantity. Figure 4 shews an arrangement of apparatus for that purpose.
In this Figure A represents the vault containing the moveable recipients D
and E, F, G. The cooling liquid contained in the vessel D by its evaporation
produces cold within the upper stories of the house. The other recipients are
for containing the substances by which the vapours are collected. The latter
recipients are arranged in such a manner that the most saturated can be
withdrawn and the others pushed back to bring in one completely desaturated.
Each of these recipients is internally provided with a worm to take up the
caloric disengaged from it. In the room B is placed the vessel L, L, serving
to utilise the cold produced as herein-before described through the tubem of
the recipient D; the cooling liquid is made to arrive, whilst at the same time
the vapours escape through the tube o, o, into the receivers E, F, G; under
the congelator are three worms O, P, Q, which serve to cool beer, and other
drinks pass through them for that purpose. The uncongealable liquid which
surrounds the said worms is separated only from the liquid in the congelator
by a metallic bottom pervious to the caloric (this arrangement can be replaced
by a column having similar advantages, Figure 5). Z, Figure 4, represenst

page_text: an ice cupboard; cold is therein produced by means of the tubes a, a, with
which it is provided, and which serve to lower the temperature to the required
degree, the upper part can be employed as a congelator; Figure 4 represents
a modification for the passage in and out of the cooling substances. The
vessels E, F, G, as well as vessel D, can remain fixed; in this case they are
connected by a moveable tube with the carriage M, by which the
pure ether
and sulpho-methylic acid are carried from the factory to the consumers' houses.
This carriage serves also to take back from private houses the mixture of
ether and sulpho-methylic acid which requires to be regenerated as before
described; for these purposes the carriage M is divided into three air-tight
compartments, one for the pure cooling liquid, one for the absorbing liquid,
and one for the mixture to be carried back to the works. The Figure 4 is
sufficient to explain how the operation takes place. The liquids used to
operate with that apparatus are prepared in a separate manufactory, according
to the process herein-before described; it is not always possible to generate
cold without the use of machinery, it is therefore necessary to arrange at the
house of the consumer not only the refrigerator but also the whole or part
of the apparatus represented in Figure 1. The apparatus may be constructed
of small dimensions, and will answer as well if complete, and will thus allow
of every person manufacturing his own methylic ether, as well as his own
sulphuric acid or etherised alcohol. If the consumer desires only to have a
part of the apparatus in Figure 1, he will in that case have to buy the ether
and acid mixture at a manufactory, and will only have to distil these
substances after they are combined for the production of cold. These
mixed apparatuses, that is to say, apparatuses by which cold is generated
and ether reproduced, can be made either in their whole or in their separate
parts of a very great variety of forms. I will confine myself, however,
to the description of two apparatuses as examples, and which correspond with
the two processes herein-before described in Figure 1 in the manufacture of
ether for collecting and condensing the vapours. These two processes are,-
firstly, the supersaturation of the sulphuric acid, and the decomposition by
heat of the compound produced; secondly, the solution in the alcohol, and the
separation of each compound by means of water. Thus I employ two kinds
of apparatus; first,apparatuses for operating by supersaturation; secondly, an
apparatus for operating by decomposition of water. It is unnecessary to
specially describe an apparatus for carrying out the supersaturating processas
it is merely necessary to refer to the description of the apparatuses represented
by Figures 1 and 3, and to combine them more or less near to one end of a
worm of any suitable refrigerator. (Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 shew several

page_text: different arrangements of refrigerators.) 1 adjust a reservoir of ether, and to
the other end I adjust one or more vessels, which, together or separately, will
first collect the ether vapours, that is to say, produce saturation; secondly,
release these vapours, that is to say,produce desaturation; thirdly, send these
vapours to be saturated again into one or several other vessels, which is super-
saturation; fourthly, the latter vessels in becoming desupersaturated will send
back the ether entirely distilled into the same reservoir it left when the
operation began, and from which it will be again sent back to perform the
same journey, and produce similar effects.
The above described operations maybe obtained bythe apparatus Figure 6,
which, however, may be varied. In Figure 6 X, X, is the saturating vessel;
M,the desaturating vessel; 0, supersaturating and desupersaturating vessel;
these two operations, described as being performed in the same vessel O, may
be carried on separately, like those performed in the vessels X, X, and M,
and contrarywise, the operations carried on by the two latter vessels can be
performed in one; H is the worm, in which the ether is condensed; P is a
reservoir for the liquid ether, and connected by means of the tube o, o, o, to
the refrigerator; E is the boiler to produce steam at one and a half to two
atmospheres.
It will easily be understood that the above-described operations are similar
to those already described for the manufacture of ether. It is therefore
superfluous to repeat that each time I condense or saturate it is necessary to
take up the latent caloric of condensation or combination by means of a
current of cold water, and that on the contrary, every time I desaturate it is
necessary to effect the separation of the lighter products by means of a water
steam worm, or otherwise; if this separation be effected by other means than
heat, it causes me to operate with water separating apparatuses, which are
more specially employed when the ether is collected in alcohcl, either for the
manufacture of ether or for that of ice. Most of the ethers are very soluble
in alcohol, and much less in water or other liquids, such as glycerine, for
instance, for which, however, alcohol preserves its affinity; it follows, there-
fore, that if I cause pure ether to be observed by alcohol to saturation, and
if afterwards a certain quantity of water or glycerine be brought into the
mixture, a separation of the first mixture will immediately take place, and the
ether will form a layer of an oily appearance, and swim on the surface of the
last formed solution ready to be decanted. The other thus collected can be
purified before it is employed by being made to pass through a special vessel
upon a desiccating substance, which will take up the watery or alcoholic parts
drawn with it. The alcohol and water which have formed the mixture by

page_text: which the ether has been separated must be rectified to recover without much
loss the elements required for another operation. This operation is easily
performed by means of any ordinary distilling apparatus, slightly modified,
however, according to the substances employed.
Until now I have described the separating agent acting in a cold state.
Much better resuits however are obtained by employing a temperate heat to
increase the power of the separating agent. The arrangement of apparatus
for this purpose is shown at Figure S. Suppose the cooling vessel, Figure 8,
has been at work, and the alcohol has collected the vapours formed, to separate
them, I make use of the separating apparatus, which is composed, firstly, of a
boiler E, E; secondly, a separating column G, G; thirdly, of a distilling
column H, H; fourthly, of a double pump I, I'; fifthly, of two reservoirs
J, J. The solution composed of alcohol and ether, which has formed in the
absorbing vessel A of the congelator B is forced into the column G, G,
by one of the pumps I; the other pump forces in at the same time a portion
of the separating liquid These two pumps are connected with the reservoirs
J, J', which separately contain each of the two liquids. The separation is
effected by reason of the difference of affinity, and by the action of the heat
coming from the boiler into the column G, G, through the small pipe K.
The liquid ether passes into the upper part of the column, and the hydrated
alcohol remains in the lower part, thus when there is a sufficient quantity of
ether to surround the float 1, 7, it falls, and the ether runs off through the
tube a,a,a,a,and enters the reservoir of the congelator, when it is employed
as before described. The alcoholic liquid enters slowly the boiler E, E,
separating at the same time from the ether it 'retained, when it has reached
the water bath M, M, of the boiler it receives more completely the action of
the heat. The rest of the ether separates and returns through the conduct
pipe K, whilst the hydrated alcohol is forced back into the distilling column
O, P, R, which is constructed on the same principle as ordinary apparatus of
the same kind, and which it is therefore useless to describe. It is easy to
understand that the alcohol is condensed in the worm l, l, and caused to
return close to the congelator whilst the liquid from which the alcohol has
been separated reaches the boiler E, F, when it is boiled it goes to be cooled
at S₁, and thence to the pump 1, by which it is again put in circulation. If
the alcohol is distilled under the pressure of several atmospheres, which is
possible water steam at a pressure of several atmospheres, will be produced
by the condensation. This steam may be employed as a motive power, and
consequently reduce the expense of producing ice to a mere nothing.
And having now described my Invention, and the best mode of putting the

page_text: same into execution I do not confine myself to the details either as regards
the form, dimensions, or construction of the apparatus, or to the proportions
of the chemical agents, or order of the operations, as they may vary without
deviating from the principle of the said Invention, but what I claim as
new and intended to be protected by the herein in part recited Letters
Patent is,-
First, the manufacture on a commercial scale of methylic ether collected,
first, in a gaseous state in a mixture of sulphuric acid, and sulpho-methylic
acid, and afterwards separated therefrom by water or heat as herein-before
described and represented in Figure 1, of the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly, the obtaining the same resultas herein-before claimed byreplacing
the mixture of acids by alcohol and substituting for water as a separator any
other suitable liquid as herein-before described.
Thirdly, the production of artificial ice by the vaporisation of such methylic
ether and collected in the said acids or alcohol and afterwards separated
therefrom by means similar to those employed in the manufacture of ether
as herein-before described and referred to in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Armand Lecomte de Fontaine
Moreau, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day
of August One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
H*. GILBEE,
4, South St.,
Finsbury,
London.
L'DE FONTAINEMOREAU. (L.S.)