IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL STONES, TILES, AND PIPES, AND USEFUL ALSO AS CEMENTS, PAINTS, AND FOR STUCCOEB
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Holland, of Chicago, in the County of
Cook, and State of Illinois, in the United States of America;
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR THE
PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL STONES, TILES, AND PIPES, AND USEFUL ALSO AS
CEMENTS, PAINTS, AND FOR STUCCOEB."-A communication from George
Alexander Frear, residing at Chicago, in the State of Illinois, and
United States of America.
Sealed the 5th March 1869, and dated the 7th September 1868.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Charles Holland at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 7th September 1868, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Charles Holland at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 7th September 1868, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HOLLAND, of Chicago, in the County of Cook, and State of Illinois,
in the United States of Amoxion Contlemen send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVED COM-
POSITIONS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF ARTIFICIAL STONES, TILES, AND PIPES, AND
USEFUL ALSO AS CEMENTS, PAINTS, AND FOR STUCCOES," and have petitioned
Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made 5
solemn Declaration that it has been communicated to me from
George Alexander Frear, a person resident at Chicago, in the State
of Illinois, and United States of America..
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Holland, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand 1
and seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the
following statement :-
My said Invention relates to certain new and useful combinations of
matter, producing compositions which may be formed into artificial 1
stones or marble, or used as stuccoes, mastics, cements, or paints, and
be moulded also into statuary, or into drain or roofing tiles, or other
useful or ornamental forms, and it consists,-
First, in the intimate combination and cementation of particles of
silex, aluminum, calcium, or other mineral substances singly, or admixed 2
in various proportions, by the use of an alkaline solution of gum
shellac.
Second, in the combination of black or red oxide of iron, or of
asphaltum as a substitute therefor, with lime or cement and sand to
produce a composition adapted to useful and ornamental purposes as 2
aforesaid, with or without shellac.
To produce my first-named composition I prepare an aqueous solution.
of gum shellac by boiling the gum shellac of commerce in water con-
taining a proportion of alkali sufficient to act as a complete solvent of
the shellac in the water. The proportions of shellac, alkali, and water 3
may and necessarily will vary with the strength and quality of the
solution required, which will differ according to the character of the
material to be produced.
In the manufacture of artificial stone for building purposes I use in
the composition a solution of shellac obtained by first dissolving from
two-to four ounces of salæratus, potash, soda, or other equivalent alkali
in about one gallon of pure boiling water; and then adding thereto one
'

page_text: pound of gum suenac, Doming the mixture untu the gum is enurely
dissolved.
By dampening a mixture of about one part of quicklime, of fresh
hydrate of lime, or of hydraulic cement to four parts of sand or silicious
material (with or without gravel, coloring matters, or other ingredients)
with a solution of shellac prepared substantially as described, and then
firmly compressing the composition into moulds of any desired form,
either by suitable machinery, or by hand with mallets or rods, I am
enabled to produce a firm, hard, durable material of any desired shape,
which is substantially the equivalent of stone or marble. The blocks or
other articles thus produced will rapidly harden when removed from tho
moulds, and in a few days be ready for any use.
Instead of mixing lime or cement with sand and then moistening the
same with the aqueous solution of shellac to produce an artificial stone as
described, I also contemplate obtaining the same by moistening simple
sand, clay, lime, chalk, or other earthy or mineral substances, as well as
combinations thereof, with the shellac solution, and then moulding the
same by compression or percussion in suitable moulds of any form.
To produce a mastic or stucco I add so much of the aqueous solution
of shellac to lime, sand, clay, or other suitable earthy or mineral
material, or to any desired admixture thereof, as will reduce the mass or
mixture to a pasty consistency, which can be readily applied to the
desired surface with a trowel, and when so applied it will firmly
adhere and rapidly harden thereon, producing a firm waterproof coating,
which may be made to resemble stone so closely as not to be readily
distinguished therefrom. By making the composition yet thinner with
the shellac solution it may be used as a substitute for paint, and will
also serve as a strong and adhesive cement.
The second composition of my Invention is obtained by adding to
one part of quicklime, or fresh hydrate of lime, or of hydraulic cement
reduced to a plastic state, either with water or with an aqueous solution
of gum shellac prepared as herein-before described, from four to ten
parts of sand (the proportions being regulated by the quality and
strength of lime or cement used) and one-fortieth part of the red or
black oxide of iron (or of asphaltum as a substitute for the oxide
of iron), and then with the least possible delay thoroughly and
intimately stirring and mixing the entire mass until it becomes reduced
to a perfectly uniform and homogeneous condition. While the com-

page_text: position is yet in a yielding plastic state it is placed in suitable moulds
and carefully compressed therein either by tamping or by the aid of
suitable machinery. So soon as removed from the moulds the com-
position sets and hardens rapidly, and will soon become harder even
than many varieties of the natural stones and marbles. For use as a
stucco or cement the composition needs only to be reduced with water,
or by preference with the shellac solution to a proper consistency.
Gypsum may be added to the composition as an improvement thercto,
producing a firmer harder stone, and causing the mass to set more
quickly. The proportion thereof should about equal that of the oxide
of iron or asphaltum in the composition. The oxide of iron and
asphaltum may not only. be used the one in the stead of the other in
the composition, but they may with good results be both employed
together in combination with the lime, or cement, sand, and (in some
cases) gypsum. The compositions, as above described, may be colored
at pleasure by the use of black oxide of manganese, subcarbonate of
iron, or other coloring matters in suitable proportions and combinations.
I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent the above-
described compositions for stuccoes, cements, paints, and for the pro-
duction of building blocks or stones, tiles, drain pipes, statuary, and
other useful and ornamental articles.
Also the use of an aqueous solution of shellac in a composition for
stuccoes, cements, or paints, and for the production of artificial stones
and of various useful and ornamental articles and designs.
In witness whereof I, the said Charles Holland, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of August, A.D. 1868.