A NEW MODE OF PREPARING THE LEAP OF A BRITISH PLANT FOR PRODUCING A HEALTHY BEVERAGE BY INFUSION
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ABBEY, of Walthamstow, in the County of Essex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of February, in the first year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Abbey, His special licence that I, the said Richard Abbey,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard
Abbey, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention
of "A NEW MODE OF PREPARING THE LEAP OF A BRITISH PLANT FOR PRODUCING A
HEALTHY BEVERAGE BY INFUSION;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said Richard Abbey, by an instrument in writing
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 enrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
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
Richard Abbey, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist

page_text: in manufacturing or preparing the leaves of the plant commonly called in
England by the name of thorn, in such manner as to dry them perfectly
without destroying their flavor, with a view to preserving them for the purpose
of making a beverage by infusion at any time when required; and in further
compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Richard Abbey, do hereby
describe the manner in which the said manufacture is to be performed, by
the following description thereof (that is to say):-
Having collected, say, a pound weight of the leaves of the thorn, (always
preferring that species commonly called the hawthorn,) I carefully pick them
over and cleanse them from all dirt and extraneous matter, as well as from all
other leaves that may by accident become mixed with them in the process of
gathering. I then rince them in clean water, and afterwards, having drained
the water from them, put them in their then moist state into an ordinary tin
steamer, such as is used in kitchens, and steam them over a brisk fire till they
change from their natural green to an olive color, or thereabouts, and have
lost all their elasticity, and become limp and flabby; when in this state, and
while they are still moist, I remove them from the steamer and spread them
out to be dried upon an ordinary iron hot-plate, well heated, constantly and
slowly turning them on the plate till they are perfectly dry. The leaves when
so prepared will keep without injury, and may be put by for use. When it
is required to make a beverage of them by infusion, the ordinary modo adopted
in making tea or coffee may be used, and the infusion may be made more
palatable by sugar or milk, or both, as the palate of the user may suggest.
It is only necessary further to observe that the leaves should be gathered from
the month of April to the month of September, both inclusive.
Now, whereas such my Invention being to the best of my knowledge and
belief entirely new, and never before used within that part of His said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His Dominion
of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my
Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe this my said Specification
doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve or disguise, with the
proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters Patent contained;
wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my
said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Abbey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one.
RICH³ (L.E.) ABBEY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twelfth day of July, in the
year above mentioned, the aforesaid Richard Abbey came before our Lord
the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also the
Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute in
that case made and provided.
Invalled the Fourteenth dar of July in the roaz shore written