OBTAINING FILAMENTS FROM CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, & APPLYING THE SAME TO VARIOUS MANU- FACTURING PURPOSES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Gillman, of Twickenham, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "OBTAINING FILAMENTS FROM
CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, & APPLYING THE SAME TO VARIOUS MANU-
FACTURING PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Gillman at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th September 1854.
I, EDWARD GILLMAN, of Twickenhamn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentle-
man, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "OBTAINING
FILAMENTS PROM CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, AND APPLYING THE SAME TO
VARIOUS MANUFACTURING PURPOSES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
My said Invention has reference to utilizing the fibrous portions of the leaves
of certain exotic plants, herein-after to be specified, by separating and obtain-
ing from them filaments, which may be spun into yarn of finer or coarser
quality, suitable to various manufacturing purposes, such as various other
filaments or yarns have heretofore been applied to, as the production of ropes,
lines, string, thread, and cordage of various kinds; & also for weaving into
various fabrics applicable to the making of sacks, sheets for tarpaulin, tents,

page_text: sails for ships, & ground for floorcloth; also into finer fabrics, such as
cambric, linen of different kinds, a kind of velvet capable of taking an indelible
black dye, a velveteen, and a fabric for shawls. And the plants from which
I obtain the said filaments are natives of New Zealand, and called in the
language of the country, koréri, girgir, & ti; the first of which is the
phormium tenax, and the last a plant of the dracæna kind; the girgir is a
parasitical plant, of which the fruit is called tafra. And I obtain filaments
from the said exotic plants by treating, crushing, and hackling the fibrous
portion of the leaves by any suitable contrivances, and I utilize the filaments
thus obtained by spinning them into yarn, which I cause to be respun, twisted,
or woven, as required, for the purposes above mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Gillman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
GILLMAN, of Twickenham, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Gillman, Her special licence that I, the said Edward Gillman, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward
Gillman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom, of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "OBTAINING FILAMENTS PROM
CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES, AND APPLYING THE SAME TO VARIOUS MANU-
FACTURING PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edward Gillman, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Gillman, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
(that is to say):
My Invention consists, firstly, in obtaining filaments of a kind suited for
spinning or weaving from the fibrous portions of the leaves of certain plants
which are indigenous in New Zealand, namely, a running climbing plant, called
giagia in the language of the country, and a species of dracaena called ti;
and, secondly, iny said Invention consists in applying the filaments obtained
from either or both of the said plants, alone or in conjunction with filaments
from the phormium tenax, or New Zealand flax, or with other filaments
heretofore employed in spinning or weaving, or to which such processes may
be found applicable, to a variety of manufacturing purposes, embracing the
production of sundry kinds of thread, string, twine, cord, and large ropes and
lines generally; also of various coarser descriptions of fabrics, such as sacking
for wool, corn, and the like, sheets for tarpaulin and other waterproof fabrics,
canvass for sails, tents, rick cloth, and the ground for floorcloth, carpets,
druggets, &c.; also for various descriptions of finer fabric, such as cambric,
certain kinds of muslin, Irish linen, shirtings, sheetings, table cloths, ducks,
and linen generally, and particularly for the production of a kind of velvet or
shag for the purpose of covering hats, caps, and bonnets, which fabric has a
peculiar property of taking indelible dies; likewise for the production of a kind
of velvet of superior texture to the kind now in use by the name of velveteen,
and which may advantageously replace the same for the purpose of making
shooting coats and waistcoats for gentlemen, and articles resembling corduroy
and fustian trowsering; likewise for the production of thread for manufacturing
lace and net, and of a fabric for ladies shawls, and other fabrics for wearing
apparel, in which the filaments which I obtain may be combined with silk,
cotton, and other filaments heretofore in use for the like, and sundry other
purposes. But in order that this my said Invention may be more fully under-
stood and readily carried into effect, I proceed to describe the manner in which
it is to be performed.
My first process is to decorticate or strip of their cuticle or other extraneous
matter the fibrous parts of the leaves, from which I obtain my said filaments,
namely, the leaves of the phormium tenax, ti, and giagia, either alone or in
conjunction with each other, and various other fibres or filaments now in use,
though it may be here well to remark that the fibrous portions of the said
plants may occasionally be obtained in the required state of decortication
from certain fabrics already heretofore manufactured by the natives of New

page_text: Zealand; but should the said fibres not be so obtamabic, then i cause the said
leaves, after having been thoroughly dried, to be stamped, pounded, bruised,
or milled, either by hand or machinery, and after this operation to be macerated
in soft water for any convenient number of days in a running stream, if such
be at hand, or at least in tanks or pits suitably constructed, by which process
the cuticle of the said leaves will be found to be much softened, so that by
repeating a sufficient number of times the alternate operations of trituration
and maceration the said cutitle may be entirely cleared away. The above
process, however, may be materially facilitated by boiling or steaming the said
triturated leaves in a solution of soda or other alkaline substance, for which
purpose I prefer generally to dissolve carbonate of soda, commonly called
washing soda, in the proportion of thirty to fifty pounds in one ton of water.
The process of boiling or steaming the leaves in the said solution should be
carried on from two to four hours, as may be deemed necessary. If the soda -
or alkaline solution is found to injure the fibre, its effect may be neutralized by
the agency of an acid. I may remark that in many instances the fibre may
be obtained from the dry leaf, if necessary, by the simple process of pounding,
stamping, or milling, without maceration, but the more frequently the former
processes are repeated, the finer and softer will be the sample produced. I
may remark also that the leaves in a green state can be decorticated with
suitable machinery by hand, or by the before-mentioned processes. After the
fibrous portion of the leaves has been decorticated by the processes above
described, it will be left in a fit state to work up into the coarser sorts of
fabric herein-before enumerated, (and in which bleaching is not required,) by the
ordinary processes of carding, hackling, spinning, and weaving; but when the
said fibre is to be employed for the manufacture of the finer fabrics enumerated,
it will first require to be thoroughly bleached; for which purpose I first cause
the said fibre to be macerated in pits or tanks, or, if possible, in soft running
streams, until the coloring matter with the mucilaginous and other impurities
be thoroughly cradicated. The fibre at this stage should be exposed to the
action of the atmosphere, by being spread out in a field, yard, or other suitable
situation, and occasionally meistened with water, and turned over to expose
every portion successively; the operation of bleaching may be completed by
the agency of chlorine, or of other chemical preparations commonly employed
for the like purposes. I may here remark that cables and other large ropes,
tarpaulins, and other articles which are frequently exposed to the wet, when
manufactured from the fibre obtained by my above-mentioned processes, may
be rendered more durable by submitting the same before they are tarred to
maceration in a solution of bi-chloride of mercury, commonly called corrosive

page_text: sublimate; and in the production of these and other articles from the said
fibre, oil, such as Gallipoli oil, may be used with advantage for the purpose of
softening and toughening the fibre.
Having now fully described the nature of this my said Invention, and the
mode in which the same is to be performed, I would it clearly understood
that I by no means intend to confine myself to the precise details herein-
before mentioned, as the same might be varied without departing from the
general principle of these my said improvements; but that which I do claim
as new and of my said Invention is,-
Firstly, the obtaining of filaments from the fibrous parts of the above-
described New Zealand plants called giagia and ti, suitable to be spun and
woven alone, or in conjunction with other filaments heretofore employed
for like purposes, for the various manufacturing purposes herein-before
enumerated.
Secondly, the processes hercin-before described for treating the leaves of the
above-mentioned plants, for the purpose of obtaining the said filaments.
And, thirdly, the application of the above-mentioned processes to the treat-
ment of the leaves of the phormium tenax, commonly called New Zealand
flax, for the like purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Gillman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
5
EDWARD GILLMAN. (L.B.)
Witness,
FRED R. D. CAMPBELL,
Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon & Co.,
77, Chancery Lane.