AN IMPROVED ARD DRLY
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Shiers Markindale, of Salford, in the County
of Lancaster, Worsted Spinner, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
ARD DRLY"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Shiers Markindale.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
9th May 1855.
I, RICHARD SHIERS MARKINDALE, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster,
Worsted Spinner, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "An
IMPROVED METHOD OF REMOVING WOOL FROM SHEEP SKINS AND OTHER PELTRY"
to be as follows:-
By the present mode of removing the wool from such skins, the indiscrimi-
nate use of lime to all parts of the skins and wool has caused considerable
damage to the wool, as well as the destruction of the natural oil or grease of
the same. By this improvement these defects are avoided, and the wool may
be easily and readily removed from the skin by hand without being torn or
damaged.
This is effected by employing a suitably arranged steam chamber, wherein
the skins are to be placed, the back of the skin being previously prepared by
a paste or strong solution of lime or lime water. Steam now being admitted,

page_text: and the temperature attained of about one hundred degrees, more or less, the
skins under operation become slightly decomposed, or receive a "taint," and in
this state are fit to be removed from the machine or apparatus, when the wool
may be readily stripped from the skin by hand without having received any
iniury by the process.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Shiers Markindale in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th November 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
SHIERS MARKINDALE, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Worsted Spinner,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Ninth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Shiers Markindale, Her especial license that I, the said
Richard Shiers Markindale, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Richard Shiers Markindale, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF REMOVING WOOL PROM SHEEP
SKINS AND OTHER PELTRY," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the
said Richard Shiers Markindale, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Shiers Markindale, 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 :-
By the present mode of removing the wool from sheep skins or other " peltry,"
the indescriminate use of lime to all parts of the skins and wool has caused
considerable damage to the wool, as well as the destruction of the natural oil
or grease of the same. Another attendant evil under the ordinary method of

page_text: treating sheep skins or other "peltry" for the purpose of removing the wool
is, the great uncertainty as to time which the skins are lying under the action
of the lime, proceeding from various causes, such as atmospheric influence or
rapid decomposition, arising from one or more of the many causes well known
to persons employed in this branch of the preparation of wool. These defects
may be readily avoided by the adaptation of these improvements, and the wool
be readily and easily removed from the skin by hand without the risk of being
torn or otherwise damaged. It may be necessary here to remark, that by the
present mode of treating the skins previous to the removal of the wool it is
desirable that the skins under operation should have attained a slight degree
of "taint" before their removal from the "tainting stoves." It is in the novel
and speedy accomplishment of this degree of "taint" which the advantages
of this Invention consists. This is effected by employing a suitably arranged
chamber, to be heated by steam or any other appropriate medium of heat,
wherein the skins are to be placed, the back of the skin being previously pre-
pared by a paste or strong solution of lime or lime water.
Steam now being
admitted, and the temperature attained of about eighty to ninety degrees, the
skins under operation become slightly decomposed, or receive a "taint," and in
this state are fit to be removed from the machine or apparatus, when the woo!
may be readily stripped from the skins by hand without having received any
injury by the process. It will now at once be perceived, that by the adaptation
of the above-described process, with a slight degree of practice the attendant
may determine with accuracy the exact degree of heat necessary to cause the
required "taint" to the skins, as well as with certainty the time to be occupied
in the operation.
Having now described the nature of this Invention, and the manner in
which the samo is to be put into practical effect, I wish it to be distinctly
understood that I claim, the novel application, employment, and use of artificial
heat to be applied to "tainting stoves," or to any such or similar buildings or
arrangements employed for the purpose of facilitating the removal of wool
from sheep skins or other peltry, as herein particularly set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Shiers Markindale, have here-
unt set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
RICHARD SHIERS MARKINDALE. (L.B.)