IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OFFINS FOR THE DEAD
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ZACHARIAH
MAJOR PARKES, of Peckham, in the County of Suney, Surveyor, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Twenty-second day of May, in the ninth year
of He reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Zachariah Major Parkes, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Zachariah Major
Parkes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others as I,
the said Zachanah Major Parkes, my executors, administrators, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Ber-
wick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
OFFINS FOR THE DEAD," in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said Zachariah Major Parkes, by an instrument in writing

page_text: under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters 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 Zachariah Major Parkes, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particu-
larly described and ascertained, in and by the following description thereof
(that is to say):-
My Improvements in the Manufacture of Coffins for the Dead refer to the
substitution of certain materials for those heretofore used in constructing
coffins, whereby I am enabled to prevent the escape of noxious effluvia arising
from the decay of human bodies, and to produce coffins which will be
unaffected by time, at about the same cost as when sheet lead is
employed.
The first part of my Invention consists in employing for the manufacturing
of coffins plate glass and flint glass or other vitrified substances, possessing
similar properties of durability obtained in the manufacture of glass.
The second part of the Invention consists in the application of what is
generally termed "earthenware" to the like purpose
When employing plate glass as the material for forming coffins the process
will be as follows -I first prepare a mould of cast iron or other suitable
material of the requisite form and size. The sides and ends are made loose,
so as to be capable of removal at pleasure, and the bottom consists of a large
polished plate. I then provide a large core of the same material as the
mould, and made hollow, for the double purpose of forming the coffin and
absorbing sufficient heat from the glass to prevent the glass, when poured out of
the pots or other vessels, from "flying" or "cracking" The glass is taken in
the pot and poured into the mould, and the core being instantaneously inserted,
pressure from an bydiaulic press or by other approved means is applied, to force
the glass up the sides of the mould and form the coffin. Near the upper edge
of the sides and ends of the mould a rabbet or 1ccess is to be formed for the
purpose of receiving the lid. In order to form the lid I provide another mould
of a suitable shape, wherein the glass or metal is poured and a roller is passed
over it, so as to form a flat plate of the form and thickness required. The
lid thus produced is intended to fit into the rabbit or recess made in the upper
edge of the body of the coffin, as above stated, and to be hermetically sealed

page_text: thereto. When the body and lid of the coffin are thus formed, they are to be
annealed in a lear or kiln, as the case may be.. In some instances I employ
in the construction of coffins picces of plate glass as a lining for wood coffins
in place of lead. The glass is cast in sheets in the ordinary manner, and cut to
the required form, the pieces are then attached together by any suitable cement
capable of withstanding the action of moisture, by which means air-tight joints
will be obtained. The cement which I prefer to use is borax and powdered.
glass, melted and un together, but any other enduring cement may be
employed, as found convenient When the coffins are constructed of flint
glass I pursue the same mode of manufacture as stated for plate glass, except
that the pot itself cannot be used to pour the metal in the mould, but it must
be taken out of the pots in ladles and poured into the moulds. The glass
must be used at an intense heat and subjected to the same process of pressing
as stated for plate glass. The coffin lid should be sufficiently small to admit
of a sufficient quantity of cement being inserted between the edges and the
rabbet or recess in the upper edges of the coffin, so as to make an air-tight
joint and hermetically seal the coffin Before finally closing the coffin, I
exhaust the air in the interior of the coffin by means of a spuit lamp, or any
other similar contrivance In manufacturing coffins of china, earthenware,
and stoneware, I construct of them of several pieces; and, having prepared the
clay or other similar plastic material in the usual manner for producing
earthenwaro articles, 1 form each portion in a mould of the requisite size
and shape, and afterwards unite the several pieces by any imperishable
cement. The shape of the upper edges of the sides and ends, and the mode
of affixing and scaling the lids, are the same as specified for the glass coffins.
When thus constructed, the coffins are burnt and glazed, as is usual in the
manufacture of china, earthenware, and stoneware articles. The name of the
deceased may be written and burnt on the lid previous to glazing, if thought
desirable. The glass coffins formed by casting, and also those made of
earthenware, may be enclosed in a wooden shell, as it is at present the practice
with respect to leaden coffins.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying it into
effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to claim the exclusive
use of glass or vitrified substances, however employed, in the manufacture of
coffins, as glass has before been proposed to be used as an inner lid for
coffins. But I claim under the first head of my Invention the several
methods above described for obtaining an air-tight coffin which will retain the
effluvia arising from a decomposed body contained therein, and resist the
action of damp and other promoters of decay.