IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HUMFREY, of Cross Lane, Saint Mary at Hill, in the City of London,
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 Twenty-fourth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-four, in the eighth year of Iler reign, di, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Humfrey, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Charles Humfrey, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Charles Humfrey, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the continuance of the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that
part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
called England, Her Dominions of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her
said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso obliging me, the said Charles Humfrey, to particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and
to cause the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: 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
Charles Humfrey, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, is fully described and ascertained
in and by the following description thereof, that is to say:-
The particular nature and intention of my said Invention consists, firstly, in
a method of making candles, whereby the granulation and separation of the
constituent materials is prevented, and practically an homogenous and semi-
transparent candle obtained, and I apply this method to such candles only
consist either entirely of lard or of lard combined with other substances,
especially with stearic acid commonly known in commerce as stearine; and
secondly, in a method of treating and preparing the wicks for such candles,
which method of treating and preparing wicks is applicable to other candles
which are required to burn without snuffing.
First, in making candles consisting of lard or of lard combined with other
materials, I have experienced considerable difficulty from the tendency lard has
(particularly when pressed) to separate in cooling into a sort of granular structure
and the candles therewith made are speckled on the surface and otherwise
deteriorated in appearance; these disadvantages are entirely obviated if the
candles as soon as run into the moulds are suddenly chilled, and this I effect
(and I find it a very convenient method) by plunging the moulds into cold
water, the colder the more efficacious. I find it advantageous to heat the
moulds (in a steam box or otherwise) before filling them, which prevents a
defect to which these candles would otherwise be liable, namely, the splitting
up of their surface into numberless small fissures which occasionally appear
when the candles are drawn from the mould, but more usually after a day or
two's exposure.
The practical methods of beating the moulds and then
suddenly chilling the candles, are so simple that it is only requisite to observe
that the moulds commonly employed by the English candle makers are im-
proper for these processes, as, the moulds being fixed in a wooden frame or
table, or perhaps half an inch or an inch in thickness, that portion of the
mould which is embedded in the wood is protected from the chilling effect of
the water, and that part of the candle therein contained will be found to bo
speckled and defective; I therefore employ detached moulds with metal cups
to them such as are very usually employed by the foreign manufacturers of
stearine candles. The precise temperature at which the material should be

page_text: run is not of practical importance, but I find a temperature of from 150° to
180° Farenheit answers very well; the temperature of the moulds should not
be less than the point at which the material employed would set or solidify,
but I usually heat my moulds more highly, and I find it advantageous to do so.
And with respect to the temperature of the water I find that the average
temperature of well water answers the purpose, but I prefer a lower tempera-
ture when it can be obtained. It is proper to observe that as the beated
moulds and hot candles rapidly raise the temperature of the bath, an arrange-
ment must be made for a constant flow of cold water. Secondly, my method of
treating and preparing the wicks is as follows:-I take a solution of the borate
of ammonia, and into this the wicks are dipped and then dried. The strength
of this solution is important, and upon a correct adjustment of this the proper
action of the wick depends; but as such strength of the solution must vary
with the quality of the cotton of which the wick is made, with the closeness of
the plait of the wick, and with the quality and proportion of the ingredients
of which the candle is composed, a practical rule sufficiently general to suit
such continually varying circumstances cannot be given, but assuming that the
stearine is of good quality, the lard also good and rather highly pressed, and
the proportion used in the candle two-thirds of the former to one-third of the
latter, and the wick such as is ordinarily used in composite candles, I find
that a solution of twenty-five grains avoirdepois of chrystalized borate of
ammonia in one ounce liquid measure of distilled water is of the proper
strength. One or two experiments will at all times direct the manufacturer
in this matter, for if the solution be too weak the wick of the candle will droop;
if too strong, the wick will be so stiff and wiry that it will not turn over suffi-
ciently to allow its extremity to be consumed. As a general rule I find that
the wicks of candles containing lard require the strongest solution, of com-
posite candles next, of stearine, weaker; say, if the stearine be of good quality,
from twelve to fifteen grains to the ounce, and of spermacetti weaker still,
but the quality of this latter material is so variable that the proper solution
can practically be determined by experiment only, the borate of ammonia
should be pure neutral, and carefully prepared; the weights above mentioned
have all reference to the christalized salt.
Being aware that various methods of cooling the moulds of candles by water
and otherwise, for the purpose of expediting the manufacture, have heretofore
been employed, I claim the processes herein-before firstly described as applied
to such candles only as consist of lard or of lard combined with other materials,
particularly with stearine.

page_text: And, secondly, I claim the application and use of borate of ammonia for the
treatment and preparation of the wicks of candles which by their ordinary
process of combustion consume of themselves and do not require to be snuffed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Humfrey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
CHARLES (L.S.) HUMFREY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of January,
in the eighth year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said
Charles Humfrey came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the
fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Twenty-fourth day of January, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-five.

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
HUMFREY, of Cross Lane, Saint Mary at Hill, in the City of London,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-fourth day of July, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-four, in the eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Humfrey, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Charles Ilumfrey, my exccutors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Charles IIumfrey, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the continuance of the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that
part of Her said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
called England, Iler Dominions of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her
said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso obliging me, the said Charles IIumfrey, to particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and
to cause the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery

page_text: 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
Charles Humfrey, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, is fully described and ascertained
in and by the following description thereof, that is to say:-
The particular nature and intention of my said Invention consists, firstly, in
a method of making candles, whereby the granulation and separation of the
constituent materials is prevented, and practically an homogenous and semi-
transparent candle obtained, and I apply this method to such candles only
consist either entirely of lard or of lard combined with other substances,
especially with stearic acid commonly known in commerce as stearine; and
secondly, in a method of treating and preparing the wicks for such candles,
which method of treating and preparing wicks is applicable to other candles
which are required to burn without snuffing.
First, in making candles consisting of lard or of lard combined with other
materials, I have experienced considerable difficulty from the tendency lard has
(particularly when pressed) to separate in cooling into a sort of granular structure
and the candles therewith made are speckled on the surface and otherwise
deteriorated in appearance; these disadvantages are entirely obviated if the
candles as soon as run into the moulds are suddenly chilled, and this I effect
(and I find it a very convenient method) by plunging the moulds into cold
water, the colder the more efficacious. I find it advantageous to heat the
moulds (in a steam box or otherwise) before filling them, which prevents a
defect to which these candles would otherwise be liable, namely, the splitting
up of their surface into numberless small fissures which occasionally appear
when the candles are drawn from the mould, but more usually after a day or
two's exposure.
The practical methods of heating the moulds and then
suddenly chilling the candles, are so simple that it is only requisite to observe
that the moulds commonly employed by the English candle makers are im
proper for these processes, as, the moulds being fixed in a wooden frame or
table, or perhaps half an inch or an inch in thickness, that portion of the
mould which is embedded in the wood is protected from the chilling effect of
the water, and that part of the candle therein contained will be found to be
speckled and defective; I therefore employ detached moulds with metal cups
to them such as are very usually employed by the foreign manufacturers o
stearine candles. The precise temperature at which the material should be

page_text: run is not of practical importance, but I find a temperature of from 150° to
180° Farenheit answers very well; the temperature of the moulds should not
be less than the point at which the material employed would set or solidify,
but I usually heat my moulds more highly, and I find it advantageous to do so.
And with respect to the temperature of the water I find that the average
temperature of well water answers the purpose, but I prefer a lower tempera-
ture when it can be obtained. It is proper to observe that as the heated
moulds and hot candles rapidly raise the temperature of the bath, an arrange-
ment must be made for a constant flow of cold water. Secondly, my method of
treating and preparing the wicks is as follows:-I take a solution of the borate
of ammonia, and into this the wicks are dipped and then dried. The strength
of this solution is important, and upon a correct adjustment of this the proper
action of the wick depends; but as such strength of the solution must vary
with the quality of the cotton of which the wick is made, with the closeness of
the plait of the wick, and with the quality and proportion of the ingredients
of which the candle is composed, a practical rule sufficiently general to suit
such continually varying circumstances cannot be given, but assuming that the
stearine is of good quality, the lard also good and rather highly pressed, and
the proportion used in the candle two-thirds of the former to one-third of the
latter, and the wick such as is ordinarily used in composite candles, I find
that a solution of twenty-five grains avoirdepois of chrystalized borate of
ammonia in one ounce liquid measure of distilled water is of the proper
strength. One or two experiments will at all times direct the manufacturer
in this matter, for if the solution be too weak the wick of the candle will droop;
if too strong, the wick will be so stiff and wiry that it will not turn over suffi-
ciently to allow its extremity to be consumed. As a general rule I find that
the wicks of candles containing lard require the strongest solution, of com-
posite candles next, of stearine, weaker; say, if the stearine be of good quality,
from twelve to fifteen grains to the ounce, and of spermacetti weaker still,
but the quality of this latter material is so variable that the proper solution
can practically be determined by experiment only, the borate of ammonia
should be pure neutral, and carefully prepared; the weights above mentioned
have all reference to the christalized salt.
Being aware that various methods of cooling the moulds of candles by water
and otherwise, for the purpose of expediting the manufacture, have heretofore
been employed, I claim the processes herein-before firstly described as applied
to such candles only as consist of lard or of lard combined with other materials,
particularly with stearine.

page_text: And, secondly, I claim the application and use of borate of ammonia for the
treatment and preparation of the wicks of candles which by their ordinary
process of combustion consume of themselves and do not require to be snuffed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Humfrey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.