IMPROVE- MENTS IN MANUFACTURING OR PREPARING WASHING BLUE
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Richard Todd, junior, of Hull, in the
County of York, Colour Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MANUFACTURING OR PREPARING WASHING BLUE."
Sealed the 26th March 1858, and dated the 8th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Richard Todd
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th October 1857.
I, WILLIAM RICHARD TODD, junior, of Hull, in the County of York,
Colour Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING OR PREPARING WASHING BLUE," to be as
follows:-
My improvements in the manufacture of washing blue relate to the mode
of preparing washing blue as follows:-
I take indigo and pound it, after which I dissolve it in sulphuric acid; when
sufficiently treated with the sulphuric acid, I neutralize the acid with an alkali;
I now mix with it a quantity of starch, sago, or other suitable farinaceous
matter soluble in water, or it may be carbonate of soda or common salt. When
this mixture is dried, I reduce it to a fine powder by grinding, when it is fit
for use.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Richard Todd in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th April 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
RICHARD TODD, junior, of Hull, in the County of York, Colour Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Richard Todd, junior, Her special licence, that I, the said
William Richard Todd, junior, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Richard Todd, junior, my execu-
tors, 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 MANUFACTURING OR PRE-
PARING WASHING BLUE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Richard Todd, junior, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Richard Todd, junior, do
hereby declare the nature of my 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):-
My Invention of improvements in the manufacture of washing blue relates
to its preparation as follows:-
I take indigo and pound it, after which I dissolve it in sulphuric acid;
when sufficiently treated with the sulphuric acid, I neutralize the acid with an
alkali; I then mix with it a quantity of starch, sago, or other suitable farina-
reous matter soluble in water; I also add carbonate of soda or common salt.
When this mixture is dried, I reduce it to a fine powder by grinding, when it
is fit for use.

page_text: To manufacture my improved washing blue, I take one pound of the finest
indigo, and dissolve it in five pounds of sulphuric acid; I then neutralize the
acid with fifteen pounds of soda, alkali, or common salt; to this mixture I add
thirty pounds of sago, flour, or wheaten starch or other farinaceous matter,
(whichever may be the cheapest and best suited for the purpose,) and also five
pounds of carbonate of soda; the whole is then dried and reduced to a fine
powder by grinding in suitable mills, or it may be reduced by pounding, when
it is fit for use.
I do not confine myself strictly to the quantities here given, as the same
may be varied, but for the purpose described the combination given is that
which I have found to be the best adapted for washing blue, and is a good
and useful substitute for ordinary washing blues.
To the compound above mentioned, I sometimes add a small portion, say
ten pounds of fine small blue or ultramarine blue, or it may be a little of both
sorts combined; but this is not absolutely necessary.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of perform-
ing the same, I wish it to be understood that what I claim as the Invention
to be secured by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the com-
bining of indigo and starch, or any suitable farinaceous matter prepared and
kept for use in a dry powdered state, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Richard Todd, junior, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
WILLIAM RICHARD TODD, JUN".
(L.S.)