IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTILE MATERIALS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to the Honourable James Sinclair, commonly called
Lord Berriedale, of 17, Hill Street, in the County of Middlesex, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND IN
THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTILE MATERIALS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Sinclair at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
July 1854.
I, the Honourable JAMES SINCLAIR, commonly called Lord BERRIEDALE,
of 17, Hill Street, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND
IN THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTILE MATERIALS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the application and use of the common thistle, or
of plants of the thistle species, for the manufacture or production of pulp for
paper making, as well as for the production of fibrous or textile materials.
In this adaptation of the thistle to the manufacture of paper pulp, the plant
is cut and used in its natural green state. It is then at once beaten or broken
up by any suitable mechanical apparatus, so as to disintegrate the fibres, the
mucilaginous or gummy matter surrounding the fibres being washed away
either by pure water, acid, or other clearing agent. When the thistle stems
are thus reduced or disintegrated, the resultant fibrous mass is worked up or

page_text: macerated in the usual way, to form a pulpy mass suitable for the paper maker.
The subsequent routine of manufacture into paper is similar to that pursued
with rags, or it may be varied, as the properties of the new material may
suggest. Thistle fibres may either be used alone as the raw material for
paper, or they may be mixed with other substances. The mucilaginous or
guminy matter dislodged from the fibres may be collected and applied in
the manufacture of gum or in other ways, so as to render such mucilage of
value in commerce or manufactures.
The thistle is also suitable for the manufacture of fibrous materials, to be
treated according to the existing textile processes, as the fibre so made is
strong, and is capable of being spun and woven with great ease.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Sinclair in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th
December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, the
Honourable JAMES SINCLAIR, commonly called Lord BERRIEDALE, of 17, Hill
Street, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said James Sinclair, Her special license that I, the said James Sinclair, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Sinclair, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agrée
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 PAPER, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTILE MATERIALS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Sinclair, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Sinclair, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the application or employment and use of the
common thistle, that is to say, the plant which in the botanical classification
of Linnæus is termed the carduus, or of plants of the thistle species, in the
manufacture or production of pulpy material from which paper is to be made,
as well as in the manufacture or production of fibrous materials for textile
purposes. My Invention, as regards both these uses, applies to all the many
varieties of the thistle plant, but more obviously and particularly to the large
wild Scottish thistle, which grows luxuriantly in many parts of the British
Islands, attaining a great height and thickness of stem; such thistles furnish
in each plant a large amount of long fibre of great tenacity, which when duly
prepared is most excellently suited for the preparation of a powerfully cohering
paper pulp, as well as for use in textile manufactures. In my adaption of
the thistle to the manufacture of paper pulp, I use the plant either in a green
or dried state. If employed in its natural green condition, the plant is cut or
pulled in the ordinary manner of gathering and removing such plants, and it
is then at once beaten or broken up by the agency of any suitable mechanical
arrangement, after the general manner pursued in the primary breaking of the
flax plant, so as to disentegrate the fibrous or ligneous matter. During this
breaking treatment the mucilaginous or gummy matter, with whatever aqueous
matter present, is washed clear away either by pure water or by an acidulous
solution, or by any other economical and effective cleansing agent. When the
thistle stems are thus fully reduced or disentegrated, the resultant fibrous mass
is worked up or macreated in the usual manner for the production of a pulpy
mass, suitable for the use of the paper maker. The pulp so made is capable
of being used in the inanufacture of paper, either alone or unmixed or com-
mingled with other materials already in use in the paper manufacture. When
the pulp is obtained, the subsequent routine of manufacture into paper is
similar to that pursued with the ordinary rag pulp, or it may be varied, as the
properties of the thistle material may suggest. The thistle fibre being strong,
the paper made from it is of great tenacity, as the fibres cohere well together
in the paper machine, and they are worked up with very little loss from
washing away. The fibres are also of good color, hence paper of a fair color
may be made from them without bleaching; and if bleaching is resorted to, a
very good white color is obtained at a slight expense. The mucilaginous or
gummy matter dislodged from the fibres may be collected and applied in the

page_text: manufacture of gum or glutinous matter, or such mucilage may be applied to
various other purposes, so as to render it commercially valuable, and thus
further economise the practical working of my Invention. And although I
have herein-before referred to the application and use of the thistle plant in
its natural green condition, for the production of commercially valuable fibre,
yet I do not confine myself to this special use, for I have found that where
necessary the thistle plants may be dried and stored previous to being worked
up. In the application of the thistle plant to the manufacture of textile
materials, the fibres prepared in the manner which I have herein-before
described are subsequently treated according to the existing textile processes,
such processes, for instance, as are adopted in the flax manufacture, the thistle
fibre being closely allied to the fibre from the flax plant as regards its general
characteristics. Being strong and of good staple, the thistle fibre is particu-
larly well suited for being prepared, spun, and woven into cloth.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the application and use of the thistle plant, or plants of the thistle
species, for the obtainment of fibrous materials to be used for the manufacture
of paper.
Second, the application and use of the thistle plant, or plants of the thistle
species, in the manufacture or production of textile materials..
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-
ninth day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
BERRIEDALE. (L.S.)