AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PREPARING RAW SILK, AND CLEANSING THE SAME, FOR THE PURPOSE OF DYING AND MANUFACTURING
Year: 1821

page_text: BRIERLEY'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
BRIERLEY, of Salford, in the Parish of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Dyer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Nineteenth day of December, in the second year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Samuel Brierley, His especial licence that I, the said Samuel Brierley,
my exors, adññiors, and assigns, from time to time and all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF PREPARING RAW SILK, AND
CLEANSING THE SAME, FOR THE PURPOSE OF DYING AND MANUFACTURING;" in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
Samuel Brierley, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, par-
ticularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled
in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two calendar months next
and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Samuel Brierley, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention is
the preparing raw or skain silk, and cleansing the same from the gum and
other impurities which it has when imported (and which must be generally

page_text: removed for the purposes of dying or manufacturing), by means of confined
steam instead of boiling water, as heretofore practised, and much benefit will
be derived from the use of my said-Inyention, inasmuch as it will prevent any
injury to the silk, either by being entangled or otherwise; and the manner in
which my said Invention is performed is described or ascertained in the Plan
drawn in the margin of these Presents, with the reference at the foot of such
Plan, and by the following explanation thereof, that is to say :-
Being prepared with an apparatus for the production and confining of steam
upon the principle described in the said Plan and Reference, and having soaked
the raw or skain silk in a strong solution of common soap, so as to soften the
said gum, I enclose the silk, whilst it continues in a wet state, in that part of
the said apparatus called the steam chest, which I fill with steam, and allow
the silk to remain enclosed a sufficient time to dissolve the said gum by means
of the steam; after which I immediately wash the 'silk in a weaker solution
of common soap than that first used, and, ultimately, in water only; and
thus I entirely remove the said gum and all other impurities, and the silk
only remains to be dried before it is ready for use.
In witness whereof,- I, the said, Samuel Brierley; have liereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two:
Inrolled the Sixteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and, twenty-two.