THE USE OF A CERTAIN FIBROUS MATTER FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND PASTEBOARD
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Achille Guyardin, of Paris, in the Empire of France,
and of 16, Castle Street, Holborn (City), London, for the Invention of
"THE USE OF A CERTAIN FIBROUS MATTER FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
AND PASTEBOARD."
Sealed the 6th March 1855, and dated the 9th September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Achille Guyardin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th September 1854.
I, ACHILLE GUYARDIN, of Paris, in the Empire of France, and of 16, Castle
St., Holborn (City), London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "THE USE OF A CERTAIN FIBROUS MATTER FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
PAPER AND PASTEBOARD" to be as follows, viz. :-
An Invention for the production of a new pulp to be used in the manu-
facture of paper, pasteboards, & substances of similar nature from the aquatic
plant commonly known in certain of the provinces of France under the
denomination of the "flèche d'eau," and known to botanists as the sagittaria
aquatica of Linnæus, with the modes of working the same.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Achille Guyardin in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ACHILLE
GUYARDIN, of Paris, in the Empire of France, and of 16, Castle Street,
Holborn (City), London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of September, 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 Achille Guyardin, Her special licence that 1, the said Achille
Guyardin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Achille Guyardin, 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
"THE USE OF A CERTAIN FIBROUS MATTER FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER &
PASTEBOARD" upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Achille
Guyardin, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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 Achille Guyardin, 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:
This Invention consists in the novel application of an European plant to
producing in any suitable way a pulp from which paper or pasteboard is
made. This plant has the following popular names; for instance, in localities
where it grows in great abundance, such as Brittany, it is known by the name
of "arrow" or "water arrow," (flèche, flèche d'eau, and flèchière). The botanical
names given to it by different botanists are, severally, ranunculus palustris
(Tournefort), sagittaria aquatica (Linné), sagittaria sagittaefolia; this plant
being of the family of the butomeae or alismaceue (Jussieu). This plant grows
in marshy or watery ground in France, England, &, and has a profusion of
hasteate or oblong leaves, which contain a great proportion of fibrous matter.

page_text: These leaves are macerated by any suitable steeping or rotting process, so as
to disintegrate the fibres from them. The fibres are next suitably broken or
scutched, so as to prepare them for the pulping process, which may be carried
on by any suitable means, so as to produce an excellent pulp of great fineness,
& to which any degree of whiteness may be given by any suitable bleaching
process practised by paper manufacturers. The fibrous stalks and roots of said
plant may be treated & used in a similar way.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be carried into effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that what I claim as novel, and being secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the application of the
above-mentioned plant to the manufacture of paper, pasteboard, or any like
materials.
In witness whereof, I, the said Achille Guyardin, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Third day of March, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
A. GUYARDIN. (L.S.)