IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Norris, of Brondesbury Terrace, Kilburn,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP."
Sealed the 28th February 1862, and dated the 7th September 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Norris at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
September 1861.
I, GEORGE NORRIS, of Brondesbury Terrace, Kilburn, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP," to be as follows:-
My improvements in the manufacture of soap consist in combining with the
component parts of soap during or after its manufacture, mucilage resulting
from the pips or seeds of the quince. This mucilage I prepare by boiling or
simmering, say, one pound of the pips in three or four gallons of water; when
sufficiently reduced it is strained to abstract the husks for the better kinds of
soap; for coarser qualities the whole may be employed. I mix this mucilage
with the other materials to manufacture, say, from fifteen to twenty pounds
weight of soap, or with about that quantity of soap previously prepared of the
ordinary manufacture, whereby a soap is produced of a quality much improved,
possessing soft, emollient, & detergent properties.
I prefer to manufacture, according to my improvements, white soaps, but a
like combination is suitable for coarser soaps, it may be in lesser proportion,

page_text: as also shaving soap or paste, or soaps used for other purposes. Instead of
reducing the quinco pips to a mucilage they may be ground up or otherwise
reduced previously to mixing with the ordinary soap material.
.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Norris in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 7th
March 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
NORRIS, of Brondesbury Terrace, Kilburn, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Norris, Her special licence that I, the said George Norris,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the 'said
Georgo Norris, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP," upon the condition (amongst
others) that 1, the said George Norris, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing, under ny, 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 George Norris, do hereby declaro
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 ful-
lowing statement (that is to say):-
My improvements in the manufacture of soap consist in combining with the
component parts of soap during or after its; manufacture, mucilage resulting
from the pips or seeds of the quince. This mucilage I prepare by boiling or
simmering, say, one pound of the pips in three or four gallons of water; when
sufficiently reduced it is strained to abstract the husks, and otherwise clarified,.

page_text: if necessary. The amount of water depends somewhat on the quality of the
pips, which it is therefore necessary to vary according to circumstances. I mix
this mucilage with the other materials to manufacture, say, from fifteen to
twenty pounds weight of soap, or with about that quantity of soap previously
prepared of the ordinary manufacture, whereby a soap is produced of a quality
much improved, possessing soft, emollient, and detergent properties.
I prefer to use in the manufacture, according to my improvements, the best
white soaps, but a like combination is suitable for coarser.soaps, it may be
with the quince mucilage in lesser proportions, as also for shaving soap or paste,
or soap used for other purposes. For shaving soaps I increase the proportion
of the quince pip mucilage largely. Instead of reducing the quince pips to a
mucilage, they may be ground up or otherwise reduced previously to mixing
with the ordinary soap material; but I prefer to proceed as first herein
described.
I find by experience that a very excellent toilet soap may be prepared by
combining about one ounce of the mucilage, prepared as herein-before
described, with one pound weight of white or curd soap, the soap being melted,
as well understood in soap making, and the mucilage intimately mixed there-
with while in a fluid state. I add scent at some time, if desired, and then
mould it into suitable cakes as usual. For better kinds of toilet soap I increase
the amount of mucilage considerably, adding three, four, or more ounces of the
mucilage to the pound weight of white soap, according to the more or less
emollient or healing properties desired to be imparted to the soap, care being
taken to retain sufficient white soap in the composition to produce the neces-
sary firmness in the soap; in addition to the soap other ingredients may be
added to harden it, as well understood in the manufacture of soap.
For best shaving soaps I combine the mucilage of the quince pips in large
proportion, in which case the hardness of the soap is of less consequence, as it
is usually placed in pots for sale and use, at same time I prefer to give it a
somewhat stiff and hard consistence.
.
For coarse soaps a very small proportion of the mucilage may be mixed with
advantage, say, for instance, from one to five per cent., & as economy is an
object in such soaps, I sometimes even mix the husks of the pips together with
the mucilage in such soaps. I find it economical to reboil pips previously used,
and so extract a mucilage suitable for such soaps.
As before mentioned, the mucilage may be mixed with the soap during its
original manufacture, in which the proportion used is small, but for shaving or
other soap containing large proportions of the mucilage of the quince pip, it is
preferable to take the white soap in its manufactured state.

page_text: Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention, to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the manufacture of soap for
"washing, shaving, and other purposes, by combining therein the mucilage or
matter of the pips or seeds of quince fruit, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Norris, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
GEORGE NORRIS. (L.s.)