AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF THE PORTABLE VESSELS USED FOR CONTAINING PORTABLE GAS, AND OF THE APPARATUS OR MACHINERY USED FOR COMPRESSING BUCH GAS THEREIN, AND OF APPARATUS OR MECHANISM FOR REGULATING THE ISSUE OR SUPPLY OF GAS, EITHER PROM A PORTABLE VESSEL OR FROM A FIXED PIPE COMMUNICATING WITH AN ORDINARY GASOKETER
Year: 1837

page_text: TENNESUS
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENBI
QUENTIN TENNESON, late of Paris, in the Kingdom of France, but now
residing in Leicester Square, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, 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 Nineteenth day of October, in the first year of Her reign,
and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henri Quentin Tenneson, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Henri Quentin Tenneson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henri Quentin Tenneson,
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 Berwick-upon-Tweed, an Invention of
"AN IMPROVED CONSTRUCTION OF THE PORTABLE VESSELS USED FOR CONTAINING
PORTABLE GAS, AND OF THE APPARATUS OR MACHINERY USED FOR COMPRESSING
BUCH GAS THEREIN, AND OF APPARATUS OR MECHANISM FOR REGULATING THE
ISSUE OR SUPPLY OF GAS, EITHER PROM A PORTABLE VESSEL OR FROM A FIXED
PIPE COMMUNICATING WITH AN ORDINARY GASOKETER," being a communication
from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said Henri Quentin Tenneson, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the

page_text: nature of the 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
Henri Quentin Tenneson, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Whereas it has been usual, in constructing a portable vessel destined for
containing portable gas, to make such vessel a simple cylinder of considerable
dimensions, with hemispherical ends, provided with proper pipes and valves
for introducing and letting out the gas, the consequence of which mode of con-
struction is, that if such vessel explode, the whole of its contents is in an
instant thrown into the apartment where such vessel may happen to be placed.
Now that part of the said Invention which constitutes the said improved con-
struction of the portable vessels used for containing portable gas consists in
combining a considerable number of small vessels into one compound vessel
or apparatus, each separate vessel communicating by small pipes or apertures
with the one next to it, so that a complete communication is established
throughout such compound vessel. The whole quantity of gas confined is thus
subdivided into small quantities, communicating with each other freely enough,
for the purpose of passing from each vessel through the others into the pipe
that supplies the burners, but yet with so much of resistance to rapid inter-
communication (by the gas being what is technically called throttled in the
passage from each vessel to its neighbour), that in case of explosion of any ono
of the vessels, some time must be required for the whole contents of the com-
pound vessel to escape through the fractured part, and consequently the
compressed gas will more gradually and with less danger part with its elastic
force than it does when a common portable gas vessel explodes.
In Figs. 1, 2, and 3, on Sheet I. of the Drawings hereunto annexed, I have
represented a compound portable gas vessel of the said improved construction.
Fig. 1 is an outside view; Fig. 2 is a horizontal plan of the upper end; and
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section, taken about the line 1, 2. Fig. 1, a, a, repre-
scut several long cylindrical vessels, which may be made of copper or of
wrought iron. The upper and lower ends of these several vessels communicato
with each other by small pipes b, the ends of which are secured to the ends of

page_text: the vessels a by gas-tight joints in the same way that the exit and entrance
pipes of ordinary portable gas vessels are connected therewith, or the pipes 6
may be brazed into the ends of the vessels A. The several vessels a are bound
together by iron bands c, c, so as to form one apparatus. The gas to be held
or contained in the compound vessel is forced into the central cylinder a by
means of forcing pumps (such as have been ordinarily used in portable gas-
works, through an entrance pipe d, and soon filling such central cylinder a,
it passes through the small connecting pipe 6 at its upper end into the next
cylinder a, and when that is filled it passes through the connecting pipe 6,
leading out of the lower end of such second cylinder into the third, and so on,
until all the cylinders are filled by means of the communication established
between them as aforesaid, see Fig. 2, where such communication is most
apparent. B the exit or feeding pipe, through which the gas escapes from
the compound vessel to the burner or burners, which are to be supplied. The
entrance and exit pipes d and e are of the ordinary construction, and connected
to the said central cylinder a in the ordinary manner. It is apparent from
the Drawings that if one of the cylindrical vessels a should burst, the gas in
the compound vessel would require some time to pass through the different
intermediate cylindrical vessels a before it could escape through the breach in
the fractured one, and hence, although the gas would of course ultimately all
escape, yet it would only escape gradually, and consequently its pressure would
be gradually diminished. The communication pipes 6 should be of very small
diameter, so as to throttle the gas, as herein-before mentioned, as it passes from
one cylinder a to another, and to resist the very rapid passage of such gas,
taking care at the same time that the proportions of the passages through the
said pipes b be such as to allow a free passage of the gas from all parts of the
compound vessel to the pipe e at the rate at which it is drawn off by the
burner or burners under its ordinary acting pressure. The number of the
cylindrical vessels a may be varied according to circumstances, and so may
their shapes and proportions. The form of a cylinder with hemispherical end,
which I have represented in the Drawings, is, however, probably the strongest
and best.
And as to that part of the said Invention which constitutes the said
improved construction of the apparatus or machinery used for compressing
portable gas in the portable vessels used for containing such gas. the same
is delineated in Fig. 4 of Sheet 1. of the Drawings hereunto annexed, aud
consists of a combination of parts by means of which the compression of the
gas is produced by the heat applied to the generating vessel or retort in which
the gas is generated, instead of by means of forcing pumps according to the

page_text: usual method. Note, in using the term portable gas in this my Specification
I refer to the gas made from oil, and intended to be afterwards confined under
great pressure in portable vessels; and the apparatus which I am about to
describe is accordingly destined for the generation and compression of oil gas.
A, A, is the generating vessel, viz, a long cylindrical retort, made of wrought
iron, and strong enough to resist a great degree of heat and pressure. It is
set in a brick furnace 1, 1, surrounded by a flue 2, 2. 3 is the fire door. 4 is
the furnace. 5, the grate bars. 6, the ash pit. B is the oil chamber or
reservoir, communicating with the retort A by means of a pipe a, a, in which
is fitted a cock b, furnished with a graduated dial plate, in order to regulate
very minutely and accurately the quantity of oil which shall drop from the
reservoir B into the retort A. The reservoir B is charged through an
aperture c, which is fitted with a gas-tight valve or plug. The other end of
the retort A communicates by a pipe d, e, to a reservoir C, mounted in a
suitable frame, see Fig. 4, Sheet I.; and the reservoir C communicates by a
pipe to a horizontal pipe g, from which rise several small pipes i, the
ends of which communicate with the portable gas vessels D, which it is
intended to charge. And note, I have shewn the vessels D constructed as
compound vessels on the plan herein-before described. The ends of the pipes i
will be connected to them by gas-tight joints, but so as that the vessels D
may be easily detached when fully charged. The reservoir C is furnished
with a graduated guage pipe m, which serves to indicate the pressure of
the gas within the reservoir C and the rest of the apparatus; and it is
also furnished with a safety valves, which is loaded so as to balance
or resist the greatest pressure to which it is intended that the gas shall be
subjected in the apparatus; whenever the pressure of the gas exceeds such inten-
sity, the safety valve will be blown up, and so relieve the apparatus. 1 is a pipe
communicating from the pipe g to the lower part of the reservoir C, to drain
off any of the fluid residuum which may be deposited by the gas in the pipe G,
and which fluid, together with any suitable fluid which may be collected in the
bottom of the reservoir C, may be drawn off therefrom by the pipe n.
The component parts of the apparatus being now described, its operation will
be easily understood by the following short description. The oil reservoir B being
charged with oil through its aperture c, and the furnace being lighted, the cock
b remaining shut, the retort A must be allowed to become heated to the tem-
perature requisite for generating gas from oil; the cuck 6 will then be opened
sufficiently to let a small quantity of oil drop or flow down regularly into the
retort, which oil coming into contact with the heated surfaces of the said
retort will be thereby, as is well known, volatilized and converted into gas.

page_text: As fast as the gas is thus generated it will pass away through the pipe d, e,
into the reservoir C, and as more oil continually descends into the retort A, and
is converted into gas, the reservoir C will become gradually filled, and the gas
passing through the pipes f, g, and i, will enter into and fill the portable gas
vessels D. In order to compress the gas within the vessels D, the operation of
the apparatus must be kept up, and the furnace must be well supplied with
fuel, and urged to a continual increase of temperature so as to keep up the
retort to a sufficiently high temperature, corresponding to the increasing
pressure of the gas, which is continually being generated from the oil that
drops into the retort A. The gas will thus gradually become accumulated
in the reservoir C and the rest of the apparatus and the portable vessels
D, and consequently its pressure will increase therein so long as the
furnace continues to be kept up to the requisite degree of heat. For it
must be observed that in this apparatus the heat of the furnace per-
forms the office of the compressing force. That heat therefore must be kept
up, and the apparatus maintained in operation until as many volumes of gas
are compressed within the vessels D, as it is desired to charge them with.
The fire will then be damped, the supply of oil stopped, and the vessels D
removed with their charge of compressed gas to make room for others to be
connected to the pipes i, and then the apparatus may be set to work again.
Note, as the pressure of the gas increases in the apparatus it would resist the
gravity of the oil contained in the reservoir B, and therefore its descent
through the pipe a; but this effect is obviated by carrying back a branch of
the pipe d, and connecting it with the upper end of the reservoir B, see the
Drawing, by which means the pressure above the oil is the same as that below
it. It is impossible to lay down any precise rules as to the exact temperature
requisite in the furnace and retort A to produce any given compression of the
gas, as that will depend upon many circumstances connected with the propor-
tions and arrangements of the parts of the apparatus and with the materials
used in the same. The person who works the apparatus will easily ascertain
after a few trials the temperature to which he must raise his retort, and also
the rate at which the oil must be delivered from the reservoir B, in order to
generate and accumulate gas in the apparatus, so as to charge the portable
vessels D with any given number of their volumes of gas, taking care not to
exceed that temperature in the retort A at which the gas would become dete.
riorated in quality.
And as to that part of the said Invention which constitutes the said
improved construction of apparatus or mechanism for regulating the issue
or supply of gas either from a portable vessel or from a fixed pipe com-

page_text: municating with an ordinary gasometer, one form of the said construction
is delineated in Figs. 1 and 2 of Sheet II. of the Drawings hereunto
annexed; another in Figs. 8, 4, and 5, and a third in Fig. 6 of the same
Sheet of Drawings. I shall describe the apparatus as constructed for regulating
the supply of portable gas, and then point out the modifications requisite to
adapt it for common or low pressure gas.
Fig. 1 is a section of the apparatus, and Fig. 2 a plan. A, A, Figs. 1 and 2,
is a box of copper or tin or thin iron plate closed gas-tight, in which the acting
parts of the apparatus or regulator are contained. B is the entrance pipe,
through which the gas comes from the gas vessel or reservoir into the regu-
lator. The pipo B communicates by a horizontal passage through a plate C
to a very small cylindrical aperture at a. A valve seat of agathe or of hard
steel is let into the aperture a, to receive an upright rod 6, which serves as a
valve, and which I will call the valve rod, to close or open the passage through
the aperture a. The valve rod 6 is united by a pin to the end of a lever e,
which turns on a fixed centre pin at f. To the other end of the lever e is
attached a spiral spring g, which draws it down with a sufficient force to keep
the valve rod 6 lifted up out of its seat a, so long as the force of the spring is
not met by any counter pressure. The lever e is connected by a connecting
link to a button i, which is fastened to a diaphragm 1, 1, made of some very
light flexible material. The edges of the diaphragm 1, 1, are secured gas-
tight between the flanges of the lid and sides of the box A, A, and the lid A
is made with all the middle part thereof convex, see Fig. 1, to allow room for
the diaphragm to rise up them. The valve rod 6 is kept in a vertical position
by two fixed guides m, see Fig. 1. M is the exit or feeding pipe for the
passage of the gas out of the regulator to the burner or burners. The opera-
tion of this regulating apparatus is as follows:-Suppose the parts to be in
the position of rest shewn in Fig. 1, the spring 9 keeping the end of the lever o
down, as shewn in the Figure, and the aperture a quite open. The stopcocks
in the pipes B and M, which are not shewn in the Drawing, being respectively
shut. Now whenever the stopcock of the pipe B is opened, and gas enters
from the reservoir through the said pipe into the regulator, it passes along the
passage of the plate C, and up through the aperture a, gradually filling the
regulator until its pressure becomes sufficient to overbalance the weight of
the lever e and the elastic force of the spring 9. The gas continuing to flow into
the regulator increases in pressure, and acting against the broad under surface
of the diaphragm 1, 1, causes it to rise and lift up the lever e, by means of the
suspending link h, whereby, as it will be obvious, the valve rod 6 is gradually
depressed, and entering into its seat gradually closes the aperture a, and thus

page_text: 6
shuts off the passage of the gas from the pipe B into the regulator. If now
the stopcock of the gas pipe M be opened the burners will immediately begin
to draw off gas, and the pressure of the gas within the regulator being thereby
diminished, the force of the spring g, together with the weight of the lever e,
will by degrees resume their preponderance, and consequently the long arm of
the lever will descend, and the short arm rising and lifting up the valve rod
6 will partially open again the aperture a, so as to allow a passage for more
gas to enter the regulator. The elastic force of the spring 9 and the weight of
the lever e are so calculated as together exactly to balance the pressure of the
gas within the regulator and to keep the valve rod withdrawn clear out of the
aperture a, while the pressure of the gas is of the desired intensity for sup-
plying the burners properly and regularly; and so long as the gas continues at
that pressure, by being drawn off by the burners as fast as it is supplied from
the reservoir, the lever will therefore remain motionless, but whenever fast as
it is supplied from the reservoir, the lever e will therefore remain motionless,
but whenever the supply of gas from the reservoir exceeds the consumption
of it by the burners, the pressure within the regulator will increase, and then
the gas acting upon the large surface of the diaphragm will lift up the lever e, as
aforesaid, and will therefore by its own excess of pressure wholly or partially
cut off the further supply of gas until that pressure again diminishes. It is
to be observed, that in this construction the direct pressure of the gas coming
into the regulator acts against the valve rod b, to drive it out of the aperture a
by reason of which arrangement of parts the danger of the valve rod sticking
fast in its seat whenever the pressure of the gas causes it to close is obviated.
The effective action of the gas, therefore, to close the aperture a, by its own
excess of pressure, depends upon the diaphragm offering so much larger a
surface for the gas to act upon than the valve rod b.
The
In Figures 8, 4, and 5, Sheet 2, I have represented an apparatus con-
structed on the same general plan as the one already described, but different
in some respects. The diaphragm and regulator box are the same.
gas enters from the reservoir through a passage in a gas box c. The
passage for the gas into the regulator is shewn by the dotted lines on the gas
box in Fig. 8. The lever is suspended from the diaphragm by a link h,
but a sliding counterweight 9 is fitted on the other end instead of a spring.
By sliding this weight backwards or forwards, and then screwing it fast, the
pressure exerted by the lever to draw down the diaphragm may be
regulated with great delicacy. bis the valve rod, its end being sharply conical
and fitting into a corresponding conical seat in the aperture a. z is a spring
tending to press the valve rod into its seat in order to keep it in its proper

page_text: place. The operation of this construction of the apparatus is like that of the
one described in reference to Figures 1 and 2, Sheet II., herein-before
described. So long as the gas is flowing from the reservoir into the regulator
at the required pressure, and is drawn off by the pipe (M) for the burners as
fast as it is supplied, the diaphragm and lever remain inoperative; but when-
ever the supply of gas to the regulator exceeds the consumption by the burners,
or whenever, from any cause, an increase of pressure takes place in the
regulator, the gas therein acting against the large surface of the diaphragm
raises it, and lifting up the loaded end of the lever e, see Fig. 3, causes the
valve rod 6 to be moved horizontally into the aperture a. If the increase of
pressure of the gas in the regulator be small the valve rod 6 will only partially
occupy the aperture of the passage a, and therefore the entrance of gas will
be diminished but not wholly cut off. But if the increase of pressure be very
great then the motion given to the valve rod 6 will be sufficient to cause it to
enter and entirely fill up the aperture a, and cut off the supply of gas entirely
until the pressure of the gas in the regulator diminishes again by its being drawn
off to the burners, and then the diaphragm, being no longer pressed upon by
the gas, the weight at the end of the lever c will be no longer overbalanced,
and will draw the said lever again downward, and thus withdraw partially
or wholly the valve rod 6 from the aperture a, so as to open again a passage
for more gas to enter the regulator. And note, that in this, as in the con-
struction described herein-before, the current of gas entering into the regulator
is in a direction to act against the end of the valve rod b, so as to tend to force
it out of its seat and keep a clear passage through the aperture a. The
material of the diaphragm in both these apparatus should be as light and
flexible as possible, and all the moving joints and parts made correctly so as to
have very little friction. I have used for the diaphragm a very light india
rubber cloth, but any known light and flexible metalal which can be made
gas-tight may be used; or, instead of a diaphragm, an inverted vessel or small
gasometer, such as is used in the gas regulators commonly known, may be
used in combination with a lever to act upon a valve, as I have described.
When a regulating apparatus constructed on either of the plans above described
is to be used for common or low pressure gas, the proportions will require to
be varied; for, as the pressure of the gas is very slight, it must not be with-
drawn as in an apparatus destined for high pressure gas, consequently the
aperture a must be much larger, and the angle of inclination of the cone of
the valve rod b, and the proportions of the lever e, as well as of the diaphragm 1,
must be regulated accordingly to correspond to the different rate at which the
aperture a will require to be opened or closed to meet any variation of pressure

page_text: on the main. But the general action of the apparatus will be the same as
already described in reference to Figures 1 to 5.
Fig. 6, Sheet 2, shews the third form of the said improved construction of
apparatus for regulating the supply of gas. But note, the apparatus in Fig. 6
is arranged and proportioned exclusively for common or low pressure gas, such
as is supplied by the common gasworks. The acting parts of the apparatus
are confined within a box a, a, made of brass or tin or thin copper. The
box A, A, is divided into an upper and lower chamber by a horizontal
partition a, and the lower chamber is again divided into two chambers b and c
by a vertical partition D; but this last partition does not quite descend to the
bottom of the box A, so that a free communication is established between the
chambers b and c. The said chambers are partly filled with water, the surface
of which in the chamber 6 supports a small float d, which is suspended by a
link e passing through a hole m in the partition d, from the end of a lever f
poised on a fixed centre 9; the other end of the lever f is connected to the
stem of a conical valve h, which corresponds to and is adapted to fit into a
conical valve seat i formed in the gas box 1, which is fixed to the top of the
regulator box. A, B, is the gas pipe for bringing the gas from the reservoir
into the upper chamber, see Fig. 6; and C is the feeding or exit pipe leading
from the said upper chamber to the burners. There is no communication
between the gas pipe B and exit pipe C, except through the gas box and
aperture i, the parts being in the position of rest, with the aperture through
the valve i open and the water on the level line in the two chambers b and c.
The operation of this construction of the apparatus is as follows:-When the
gas flows from the reservoir through the aperture i into the upper chamber,
it gradually fills it, as well as the exit pipe C, as far as the stopcock of that
pipe, and fills also (passing through the aperture m) the lower chamber b,
above the surface of the water contained therein; the gas still continuing to
come from the reservoir into the regulator, the pressure on the surface of the
water in the chamber 6 will soon begin to overbalance the column of water in
the chamber c; consequently, the surface of the water will descend in the
chamber b, and with it the float d, drawing down the end of the lever ƒ con-
nected with such float, and raising the opposite end of that lever, and thus the
valve will be raised up, its conical end entering into the aperture i, and thus
the admission of gas from the gas pipe will at first be contracted, and as the
pressure on the surface of the water in the float chamber still continues to
increase, will be at length wholly cut off. Now the stopcock in the exit pipe C
being opened, the burners will immediately begin to draw off gas, hence the
pressure on the surface of the water within the float chamber will be

page_text: diminished, and the column of water in the chamber c will begin to descend,
and raising up the column in b, together with the float d, the valve h will be
drawn downwards, opening the aperture i at first a little and at length wholly,
when the diminution of pressure in the float chamber, by the abstraction of gas
through the gas pipe, has allowed the level of the water to regain its original
line, that is, a uniform level in both chambers. So long as the burners
consume regularly the same quantity of gas that the reservoir supplies, the
apparatus will remain inopperative, for the weight and proportions of the
different parts, and the force of buoyancy of the float, and the quantity of
water in the chambers b and c are so measured and arranged as that the column
of water in 6 shall exactly balance the pressure of the gas in the regulator at
its ordinary or minimum pressure; but whenever from any cause, whether
from some of the burners being extinguished, or from the cocks of any of those
which are in action being suddenly set less open, or from any increased
quantity of gas admitted from the reservoir, the pressure of the gas within the
regulator increases, the aperture of the valve will, by the operation herein-
before described, become pro tanto diminished, and will again be opened as the
pressure diminishes, so as to maintain an equable supply of gas through the
gas-pipe. n is a glass pipe for shewing at what level the water stands in the
float chamber. o is a feeding pipe for introducing the water in the apparatus.
When the water rises in the chamber c the air contained in the upper part of
such chamber and displaced by the rise of the water escapes through the said
pipe o into the atmosphere. Note, p is a pipe fitted with a cock, which should
be opened when the apparatus is at first set to work, to allow the gas first
entering the apparatus to blow out the air, and afterwards the cock of the
pipe p will be kept closed all the times the apparatus is at work. And as to
the fluid to be used in this apparatus, I have mentioned water, and distilled
water is best, as forming the least deposit on the surfaces of the chambers, but
any other fluid may be used, the parts being proportioned and arranged
according to the density of such fluid, and having also regard to the greater
or less susceptibility of evaporation of such fluid by the action of the gas.
Having now described the several parts of the said Invention, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I do hereby declare that I restrict
my claim of exclusive privilege under the aforesaid in part recited Letters
Patent to the following particulars (that is to say):-
Firstly, to the combination of several small vessels into ono compound
vessel or apparatus, as applied to the construction of portable vessels or
apparatus for containing compressed gas, in the manner which I have herein-
before described.

page_text: Secondly, to the combination of parts constituting the apparatus which I
have described in reference to Fig. 4 of Sheet I.
Thirdly, to the combination of a levere and valve rod b, connected with
parts acted upon by the pressure of gas within a regulator, in the manner
described in reference to Figures 1 to 5 of Sheet 2.
And lastly, to the combination of parts constituting the apparatus which I
have described in reference to Fig. 6, Sheet 2.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Quentin Tenneson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fourteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
H. Q. (L.s.) TENNESON.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Henri Quentin Ten-
neson, in the presence of
FREDERICK RICHARD SASSE,
Clerk to Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Paris.
Clerk to Her Britannic Majesty's Consul at Paris.
WILLIAN MANSIER BROWNING, Gentleman,
Rue Ville l'Eveque 25, Paris.
Taken and acknowledged by Henri
Quentin Tenneson (party hereto), at
Paris, in the Kingdom of France,
this Fourteenth day of April, 1838,
before me, Her Britannic Majesty's
Consul at Paris,
THOMAS PICKFORD.
Lewis Hertslet, Librarian and Keeper of the Papers of the Secretary of State's
Office for Foreign Affairs, maketh oath and saith, that he is well acquainted with
the handwriting of Thomas Pickford, Esquire, Her Majesty's Consul at Paris,
having the custody of the correspondence of the said Thomas Pickford with
the Secretary of State; and this Deponent further saith, that the name or
signature "Thomas Pickford," set and subscribed to the Parchment Writing
hereunto annexed, marked A, purporting to be the Specification of a Patent
granted to Henri Quentin Tenneson, for an Invention of "An Improved
Construction of the Portable Vessels used for Containing Portable Gas, and of
the Apparatus or Machinery used for Compressing such Gas therein, and of
Apparatus or Mechanism for regulating the Issue or Supply of Gas, either
from a Portable Vessel or from a Fixed Pipe communicating with an ordinary

page_text: Gasometer," is, to the best of this Deponent's knowledge and belief, of the
proper handwriting of the said Thomas Pickford. And this Deponent further
saith, that the said Thomas Pickford was, at the date of the said Parchment
writing, Her Majesty's Consul at Paris.
Inrolled the Nineteenth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and
thirty-eight.