A SUBSTITUTE FOR HAIR AND OTHER SUBSTANCES COMMONLY EMPLOYED FOR STUFFING CUSHIONS, FURNITURE, AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1855

page_text: Sealed the 2nd May 1856, and dated the 2nd November 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Werner Staufen at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
November 1855.
I, WERNER STAUFEN, of No. 9, Baker Street, Portman Square, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A
SUBSTITUTE FOR HAIR AND OTHER SUBSTANCES COMMONLY EMPLOYED FOR STUFFING
CUSHIONS, FURNITURE, AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the use and employment of a vegetable substance
called "grass," in lieu of hair and other substances heretofore employed, for
stuffing cushions, &c., said grass being treated or prepared with alkalies - and
afterwards baked, by which it is preserved and rendered sufficiently elastic to
be employed with advantage as a substitute for the substances commonly
employed for stuffing cushions, &c, and grass prepared as above will be found
nearly equal to horsehair, with the advantage of being considerably cheaper
thau that material.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Werner Staufen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WERNER
STAUFEN, of No. 9, Baker Street, Portman Square, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Werner Staufen, Her special licence that I, the said Werner
Staufen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Werner Staufen, 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 "A. SUB-
STITUTE FOR HAIR AND OTHER SUBSTANCES COMMONLY EMPLOYED FOR STUFFING
CUSHIONS, FURNITURE, AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Werner Staufen, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument 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
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Werner Staufen, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the use and employment of a vegetable substance
called
grass, in lieu of hair and other substances heretofore commonly employed,
for stuffing cushions, furniture, and other articles, said grass being treated and
prepared as herein-after stated, for the purpose of preserving it, and rendering
it sufficiently elastic to be employed with advantage as a substitute for the
substances heretofore employed for stuffing cushions, &c.
Aud in order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am 'acquainted with for carrying the same
into practical effect, as follows:-
The description of grass which I employ, and have found answer well for

page_text: effecting the object of my said Invention, is that grown in Mexico, and known
and distinguished from other herbage as Mexican grass, the bark or outer portion
of the said grass being previously removed. In preparing the above-mentioned
grass I proceed as follows:-I take each bundle or package of grass in the
closely packed state in which it is imported, and first open and separate the
same loosely to prepare it for certain other processes to which it is subjected,
and operate upon it in the following order and manner :-In some instances
I dye the grass by the common method of dyeing substances or materials, to
give to the grass the appearance of horsehair; but this process is not actually
necessary, and may be dispensed with when it is not required to impart to the
grass such appearance. I then dry the grass either in the open air or by
artificial means, and again open the grass; after which I pass it through a
machine, such as is commonly employed for glazing calicoes, &c., for the
purpose of hardening the grass, and giving to it the appearance of horsehair.
I then subject the grass to the process of twisting or curling, which I effect in
the manner and by the means commonly employed for twisting or curling
horsehair intended for stuffing cushions, furniture, &c. The grass is then
steeped in cold water for a short time until it becomes soft to the touch; it is
then removed and again dried, by which it acquires the desired elasticity. The
grass treated and prepared as above stated is then in a fit state to be used as a
stuffing for cushions, &c., for which purpose it will be found nearly equal to
horsehair, with the advantage of being considerably cheaper than that material.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention of "A
Substitute for Hair and other Substances commonly employed for Stuffing
Cushions, Furniture, and other Articles," together with the best means I am
acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect, I would remark, in
conclusion, that what I claim as my Invention is, the use and employment of
Mexican grass as a substitute for hair for stuffing cushions, &c., said grass
being treated and prepared as above stated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Werner Staufen, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
WERNER STAUFEN. (L.S.)
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE, Patent Agent,
4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross.