IMPROVEMENTS IN RENDERING WOOD MORE DURABLE AND UNINFLAMMABLE
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Romaine, of Sackville Street,
Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RENDERING WOOD MORE DURABLE
AND UNINFLAMMABLE."
Sealed the 17th May 1853, and dated the 7th February 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Romaine
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents; with his Petition,
on the 7th February 1853.
I, WILLIAM ROMAINE, of Sackville Street, Piccadilly, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
'of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RENDERING WOOD MORE
DURABLE AND UNINFLAMMABLE" to be as follows: _
This Invention consists in a new mode or process of preparing
or treating wood, whereby it is rendered às durable as stone, and
retains its tenacity for a greater length of time than wood as hitherto
prepared, and is at the same time rendered uninflammable, and this
may be effected in the following manner, and by the following
means: The wood should be cut "green" to the size required, and
-

page_text: then put into a suitable vessel containing a solution of lime, water,
and and there left until the pores become filled or charged there-
with, which will impart to the wood the properties above mentioned.
.tar,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said William Romaine in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 6th August 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM ROMAINE, of Sackville Street, Piccadilly, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in
the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,
in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Romaine,
Her special licence that I, the said William Romaine, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Romaine, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN RENDERING WOOD
MORE DURABLE AND UNINFLAMMABLE," upon the condition (amongst
others). that I, the said William Romaine, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, 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 Romaine, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described

page_text: and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is
to say):
My Invention consists of a new mode or process of treating
and preparing wood, whereby it is rendered as durable as stone,
and retains its tenacity for a greater length of time than wood
as hitherto prepared, and may also be rendered uninflammable,
and this may be effected in the following manner, and by the
following means:
:
Process No.1, to render wood more durable, I proceed as follows:-
The wood to be operated upon is first cut to the required size and
shape; it is then thrown into an open tank, the inside whereof is
lined with lead, the outside being of wood or other suitable
material. This tank is charged with the following solution, composed
by mixing together lime, tar, and water in the following propor-
tions: To three bushels of unslacked lime I add one gallon of oil or
gas tar, and to these I add as much warm water (of the temperature of
water which comes from the condensers of steam engines) as will
cover the whole of the wood in the tank, and I have found the
above quantities of ingredients or matter sufficient for every 50
cubic feet or load of timber. The solution should be kept at a
boiling heat for about three days, except when treating or preparing
oak, which will require about four days, after which it should be
taken out and dried, which may be effected by placing it in ovens
heated to a temperature of from sixty to seventy degrees of Fahren-
heit's thermometer, or it may be dried by exposing it to the action
of the sun's rays.
And I would remark that this mode of treating
and preparing wood is particularly adapted for railway sleepers,
piles for dock work, and other similar works.
Process No. 2, to render wood uninflammable, I proceed as
follows:-Instead of the lime and tar before mentioned at process
No. 1, I employ either Roman cement, lute, or amianthe (but I
prefer using lute) in the proportion of two bushels to every load of
fifty cubic feet of wood. To this is added the water, and the
process conducted as before described. I would remark that in treating
or preparing wood intended to be used in the East and West Indies

page_text: I propose adding to the before-mentioned solutions or compositions.
about four ounces of arsenic to every load of fifty cubic feet of
timber, to protect it from being destroyed. by insects known and
distinguished in those countries by the name of white ants. I would
also add, that when it is required to expedite the process of
saturating or impregnating the wood so as to fill the pores thereof
with either of the above-mentioned solutions, the same may be
effected by placing the wood in a closed vessel, and forcing the
solution into the pores of the wood by hydraulic pressure or other
suitable means. It is also desirable to operate upon the wood when
green.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be and may be performed, I desire it
to be distinctly understood that I do not intend to limit or confine
myself to the precise proportions of the ingredients or matters
herein-before stated; and I claim as of my Invention of "Improve-
ments in Rendering Wood more Durable and Uninflammable" the
use and application of the ingredients or matters which compose
the solutions herein mentioned in the manner and for the purposes
herein-before particularly described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Romaine, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty;
three
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Patent Agent,
4, Trafalgar Square.
W. ROMAINE. (L.S.)