CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES AND LIQUIDS
Year: 1841

page_text: WERTHEIMER'S,SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WERTHEIMER, of West Street, Finsbury Circus, in the City of London, Printer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighth day of March, in the fourth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Wertheimer, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that 'I, the said John Wertheimer, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I,' the said John Wertheimer, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, and in the Isles of Man, Jersey, Guerrisey, Alderney, and Sark, the
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PRESERVING ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE
SUBSTANCES AND LIQUIDS," communicated to me by a certain Foreigner residing
abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the
said John Wertheimer, shall cause a particular 'description of the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the 'date of the said in part reciteil Letters

page_text: 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 John
Wertheimer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say) :-
The Invention relates to that mode of preserving animal and vegetable
substances and liquids, where the matter to be preserved is placed is cases from
which the atmospheric air is more or less driven off by heat, and thus obtaining
a more or less perfect vacuum;-and-the. Invention-consists of-a-mode of more
readily and certainly obtaining a vacuum, and then closing the opening in the
case by soldering, and it is well known that on the extent to which the atmo-
sphere is driven off and subsequently, excluded, depend the success of the
process, and the length of time which provisions may be preserved, and, so far
as I am informed on the subject, up to the time of granting my said Letters
Patent there did not exist any mode of fully driving off the atmospheric air,
and of soldering and positively closing the cases in which provisions were
placed; and in order to give the best information in my power, I will proceed
to explain the Invention as practised by me. The cases in which, the animal
or vegetable,substances; whether in the solid state or in the form of soups, and
liquid, are to be placed in cases, and as nearly as possible to fill them, the covers.
are then to be soldered on, and each of such covers having one or two small
holes, the larger of which is to be about the one eighth of an inch in diameter,
the other much. less, even as small as the fiftieth of an inch. The cases and
covers I prefer to make of sheet iron, or iron, tinned, but do not confine-myself,
thereto. The cases thus covered are with their contents to be heated by a fire
or hot plate, or other convenient means, to a temperature of somewhat more,
than-212° of Fahrenheit, in order to ensure the food being at the boiling point..
By this means the steam which is driven off from, the liquid which is in the
provisions will drive off the atmospheric air through the openings before men-s
tioned; and in order to prevent the atmosphere entering, I apply a ring of heat
or flame around, the openings, which prevents the air-passing through the
openings into the cases, at the same time the steam with the air from the inside,
of the cases can by the pressure within; be driven. out at the openings... In.
thus applying a ring of flame I prefer to use gas, though I do not confine.
myself thereto; and in using gas, I have a ring or hoop burner having holes for
jets all around the upper surface, and the under surface of the ring is covered.
with cotton or other soft material, which, being kept damp and pressed against
the surface of a case containing provisions, will not allow any air to pass under

page_text: the burner, and I apply one such ring or hoop burner to each hole in the case,
in such manner that the hole is at or near the centre of the burner, and then
by pressing the burner on to the case or the case up'under the burner, I'make
the same as air tight as possible, and ignite the gas; the steam and air from
within continue to be forced through the holes and through the flame, which at
the same time, owing to the interior of the flame having little air to supply
'combustion, will come together and form a hollow dome over the hole below,
and thus most perfectly exclude the outer atmospheric air passing down through
the flame. It should be stated that the provisions are to be submitted to the
process of heat for more or less time, depending on its nature, as heretofore,
and according to the extent it is desired the same should be cooked, and the
provisions, when meat or vegetables, may be put into the case in their natural
state, or they may be first scalded. When the cooking has been carried on to
the desired 'extent, and the operator is satisfied that all the atmospheric air
which was in the provisions and in the case is fully driven off, which he will
judge of by observing that the steam is coming off with considerable force, he
will then proceed to solder up the holes commencing 'by stopping the larger
hole, and then the smaller one, keeping up the temperature during this process,
in order to ensure the boiling point being maintained within the case, and that
the
pressure within
may be such up to the last moment as to ensure the driving
off every portion of atmospheric air from within the case; for it is of the utmost
consequence that every particle of atmospheric air should be drawn off'; and I
continue the 'beat for some minutes after the vessel is hermetically closed.
When only partially cooking, having completed the process, as above described,
I allow the case to cool and stand till the next day, and then light the gas
burner' around one of the openings, and unsolder that opening, by which means
any air which may have remained on the food, which it is liable to do when
only slightly cooked; will pass off and be consumed; 'the hole is 'again soldered,
and the process complete. By this mode of ensuring the driving off of the
atmospheric air and of closing the holes air tight, by the aid of the ring burner,
very large cases of meat or vegetable food may be preserved with certainty
and for a great length of time. I sometimes, in place of using the burner at
the opening through which the air is expelled, operate in the following
manner:-Having :soldered on the cover of the case, I apply heat in order to
expel the atmospheric air through the small hole or holes left, and having
forced the air out as fully. as I can by such means, I then solder up the small
openings, but not having used the heat or flame at the openings, the vacuum
will not be sufficient to preserve the provisions fully for a long time, and such
process has been before resorted to, but without success; 'but this
part
of the

page_text: Invention, in having first driven off as much air as I can by heat, and having
soldered up the small openings, I continue the process of heat from about ten
to thirty minutes, according as the case is small or largo: a small case being
under ten pounds will not require more than ten minutes; by either of the
above modes very large cases can be preserved with certainty, which is not the
case with other modes before resorted to. In applying heat to these purposes,
I prefer to employ a fluid bath in place of applying the dry heat of a hot plate
or oven, which are difficult to so to regulate the temperature as to keep all
parts equally heated and prevent burning; and I use a solution of muriate of
lime or of nitrate of soda, preferring muriate of lime, for by such means I am
enabled to obtain a constant temperature of two hundred and seventy to two
hundred and eighty of.
without material evaporation; and I place
such solution in a trough of a depth somewhat less than the vessels or cases
containing the provisions, and by putting such cases into such liquid and
keeping the liquid heated by steam pipes or otherwise, a constant and equitable
temperature may be obtained, and no burning can take place. I would remark
that I am aware that baths of a similar description have been used for other
purposes. I do not, therefore, claim their use generally, but only when applied
to the purposes of heating vessels or cases containing provisions to be preserved
by closing them air tight.
Having thus described the Invention, I would have it understood that I
am aware that the driving off air from cases by heat has been done before, in
preserving vegetable and animal matters in cases, but in such instances it
has been thought absolutely necessary to remove the case from heat, and allow
the contents to cool before soldering up the opening; now it is peculiar to this
process and of the greatest importance that the opening should be closed, in
opposition to the pressure within the case, caused by the heat; by such means
the vacuum is ensured. In the former process they could not obtain a vacuum,
owing to the cooling down before soldering up the orifice. In performing this
Invention the heat is continued during the driving off of the air, also when
soldering up the opening, and for some time after soldering, thus avoiding that
process of cooling heretofore considered necessary. But what I claim as the
Invention is,-
First, the mode of employing a burner for excluding the atmosphere, and for
closing the openings of cases wherein animal and vegetable substances and
liquids produced therefrom are to be preserved, as above described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of preserving animal and vegetable matters
in closed cases, by expelling as much air as I can by means of heat; then
closing the opening during the heating process, and continuing the heat