A NEW OR IMPROVED LUBRICATING MATERIAL OR COMPOUND, WHICH SAID MATERIAL OR COMPOUND MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Henry Staples Wildsmith, of Wolverhampton,
in the County of Stafford, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of
"A NEW OR IMPROVED LUBRICATING MATERIAL OR COMPOUND, WHICH SAID
MATERIAL OR COMPOUND MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
SOAP."
Sealed the 1st March 1861, and dated the 7th September 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Henry Staples
Wildsmith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 7th September 1860.
I, JAMES HENRY STAPLES WILDSMITH, of Wolverhampton, in the County
of Stafford, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW OR IMPROVED LUBRICATING MATERIAL OR COMPOUND, WHICH
SAID MATERIAL OR COMPOUND MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
SOAP," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a new or improved lubricating material or com-
pound prepared by treating gelatine as herein-after explained, which said
material or compound possesses the valuable lubricating properties of gelatine,
but without its tendency to fermentation or spontaneous decomposition.
In preparing the said lubricating material or compound I proceed as
follows: I take a solution of gelatine in water, or the gelatinous extract
obtained by macerating bones in water at a high temperature, and place the
said solution or extract in a vessel capable of being closed steam-tight, and of

page_text: bearing great pressure; I prefer to employ a solution or extract having a
specific gravity about one-tenth greater than that of water.
The solution or extract is heated to the boiling point, and nitric acid or
nitrous acid is added in the proportion of about one volume of either of the
said acids to one hundred and eighty volumes of the solution or extract. The
vessel is then closed and heated to the temperature of about two hundred and
thirty degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. This temperature is maintained
for twenty minutes or half an hour, the contents of the vessel being well
agitated during the whole time. By this treatment the solution of gelatine or
gelatinous extract becomes converted into a semi-solid granular mass which
may be used as a lubricant either alone or mixed with the substances with
which gelatine is or may be mixed when used as a lubricant.
Although I prefer the use of nitric or nitrous acid as herein-before explained,
yet other oxidizing agents, such as bichromate of potash or chloride of lime,
may be employed in place of the said acids, with the same or nearly the same
effect.
My new or improved lubricating material or compound may be used as a
substitute for the commoner kinds of grease used in the manufacture of soap.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Henry Staples Wildsmith in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th March 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HENRY STAPLES WILDSMITH, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford,
Manufacturing Chemist, 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, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Henry Staples Wildsmith, Her special licence that I, the said James
Henry Staples Wildsmith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Henry Staples Wildsmith, 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 NEW OR IMPROVED LUBRICATING MATERIAL

page_text: OR COMPOUND, WHICH SAID MATERIAL OR COMPOUND MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SOAP," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Henry Staples Wildsmith, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their bands 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 James Henry Staples Wildsmith, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:—
My Invention consists of a new or improved lubricating material or com-
pound prepared by treating a gelatinous extract or solution of animal flesh and
bones in the manner herein-after explained, which said material or compound
possesses the valuable lubricating properties of ordinary grease, but without its
tendency to spontaneous decomposition. The said material or compound may
also be employed in the manufacture of soap.
In preparing the said lubricating material or compound I proceed as
follows: I take a solution of animal matters, such as flesh and bones, the
said solution being made by submitting animal matter to the action of water
in a steam-tight boiler, in which the said animal matter and water are heated
for sixteen or eighteen hours at a temperature which produces a pressure of
from twenty to twenty-five pounds on the square inch; I prefer to employ a
solution or extract having a specific gravity about one-tenth greater than that
of water, but I do not limit myself to any particular strength in the solution
or extract on which I operate. I place the solution or extract in a digester
or vessel capable of being closed steam-tight, and also capable of bearing
great pressure. The said vessel is made of iron, and is provided with a stirrer,
by which its contents can be agitated. The said vessel is set over a furnace
so that its contents can be heated. When the solution or extract in the vessel
has been heated to the boiling point or nearly so, nitric or nitrous acid is
added in the proportion of about one volume of either of the said acids to one
hundred and eighty volumes of the solution or extract. The vessel is then
closed and heated until the solution has attained the temperature of about two
hundred and thirty degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. This temperature is
maintained for twenty minutes or half an hour, the contents of the vessel being
well agitated during the whole time. The temperature of the contents of the
vessel may be ascertained either by a thermometer passing through the side

page_text: of the vessel or by a gauge indicating the pressure. By the treatment I have
described, the gelatinous extract becomes converted into a semi-solid mass,
which may be used as a lubricant either alone or mixed with the substances
with which ordinary fat or oily matters are or may be mixed when used as
lubricants.
Although I prefer to heat the solution or extract to the temperature of two
hundred and thirty degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer during the action of
the nitric acid or nitrous acid upon it, yet I do not limit myself to that tem-
perature, as a higher or lower temperature may be employed with nearly the
same effect; and although I prefer the use of nitric acid or nitrous acid as
herein-before explained, yet other oxidizing agents, such as bichromate of
potash or chloride of lime, may be employed in place of the said acids with
the same or nearly the same effect.
My new or improved lubricating material or compound may be used as a
substitute for the commoner kinds of grease used in the manufacture of soap.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied with-
out departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention
the new or improved lubricating material or compound made as herein-before
described, which said material or compound may also be employed in the
manufacture of soap, that is to say, a material or compound made by treating
a hot solution or gelatinous extract of animal matter with nitric acid or
nitrous acid, or with other oxidizing agent, such as bichromate of potash or
chloride of lime.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Henry Staples Wildsmith, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
JAMES HENRY STAPLES WILDSMITH. (L.S.)
GEORGE SHAW.