IMPROVEMENTS IN GLASS CASES FOR THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Elizabeth Anne Maling, of No. 25, Whitehead's
Grove, Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, Spinster, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GLASS CASES FOR THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS AND
FLOWERS."
Sealed the 14th March 1862, and dated the 1st November 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Elizabeth Anne Maling
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with her Petition, on the
1st November 1861.
I, ELIZABETH ANNE MALING, of 25, Whitehead's Grove, Chelsea, in the
County of Middlesex, Spinster, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GLASS CASES FOR THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS
& FLOWERS," to be as follows:-
The cases are made of wood, glass, or zinc, or any other suitable material.
The lower portion or base is formed with wood & lined with zinc, copper, or
lead, and a tank or cistern is formed in the lower box or base to receive hot
water conveyed thereto and removed by a suitably arranged stop-cock and
flexible tube from the outside. The sides, ends, & top are formed of wood &
glass so constructed and put together with hooks, eyes, screws, and buttons as
to afford ready means of access to the interior of the case for arranging the
plants and regulating the heat, as may be desired, by removing the front or
elevating the top by means of ratchets or pauls falling into notches formed in
the top rail of the ends, also for taking the frame or case to pieces, and packing
in a small compass for the convenience of transit and stowage.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Elizabeth Anne Maling in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th April 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ELIZABETHI
ANNE MALING, of No. 25, Whitehead's Grove, Chelsea, in the County of
Middlesex, Spinster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Elizabeth Anne Maling, Her special licence that I, the said Elizabeth Anne
Maling, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Elizabeth Anne Maling, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN GLASS CASES FOR THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Elizabeth Anne Maling, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, 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 Elizabeth Anne Maling, 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 :-
The
My improved glass cases are constructed of wood, glass, and zinc, or other
suitable materials, the frame and lower portion of the case being made of
wood. The top and sides are, by preference, made severally of single plates
of glass, which are let into the wood framing in the ordinary manner.
sides and top are connected together by means of screws or buttons, or other
fastenings capable of being readily engaged and disengaged, so that the cases
are taken to pieces and put together with facility and dispatch, and are on
that account easily moved. The bottom of the case is made of wood lined
with sheet zinc, copper, or lead, so as to form a box or tray, which I prefer to

page_text: be in height about one-third that of the entire frame. The shape usually
adopted for my improved cases, and which is found to admit of the requisite
volume of air being supplied, is that of a double cube. Other shapes may be
used, care being taken to supply a sufficient amount of air.
A special feature in my improvements relates to the mode adopted for
heating the cases, and providing a suitable circulation of air in the interior,
which materially assists in keeping the plants in a healthy condition. In the
box or tray forming the bottom of the case is fixed a tank or vessel, which is
placed on one side, and, by preference, is made to extend over about half the
bottom of the case. The tank is filled with heated water as often as may be
required; according to the season of the year and the temperature at which it
is desired to maintain the case, which may be ascertained by a thermometer
placed within the case. It is not necessary to employ any means for heating
the water while in the tank, as it will be found to maintain a sufficiently high
and equable temperature by replenishing it at intervals, which will not in
practice be found inconvenient. By placing the tank or vessel on one side
in the bottom of the case, and making it extend only partially over the bottom,
the temperature on one side of the case has a tendency to rise to a higher
degree than the other side, and a circulation of air is thereby created, which is
very advantageous to the plants, and enables plants that are naturally delicate
to thrive in the cases constructed as above described.
For filling the tanks with heated water and emptying them when required, I
either employ an upper and a lower pipe having suitable openings, one to receive,
the other to discharge the water, or I employ a single flexible tube, made of
india-rubber or other suitable material, having a suitable bell-shaped mouth,
which may be raised to the height required for filling the tank, and which tube
fits on to the stop-cock below the tank, and can either remain so fitted or be
removed and re-adjusted at pleasure. An escape pipe is provided for allowing
the air and steam to escape, which should either be very small, so as to prevent
any visible escape of steam, or if a comparatively large pipe is used it should
be conducted through a suitable opening to the exterior of the case.
One source of injury to plants grown in cases such as I have described arises
from the dripping of the condensed vapour which collects on the inside of the
glass covering. This inconvenience is not felt so much where the top is kept
partially open and in a slanting position to admit air as required into the case,
and to prevent it from being felt. When it is requisite to keep the top of the
case closed, I prefer to make one side of the case slightly higher than the
other, so that the condensed vapour will always run off to the lower side.
When the top is kept closed suitable openings should be made in the glass

page_text: sides or the frame of the case to admit air as required. Where the amount
of vapour condensed inside a case becomes inconvenient, I employ suitable
gutters and pipes to remove it. The top of the case may be raised and kept
open by means of racks or props, or screws, or any suitable mechanical means.
And where it is found advisable to protect the plants in the case from dust, or
smoke, or sooty particles, strips of wire gauze or perforated sheets of suitable
material or woven fabrics are attached to the edges of the top of the case in
such a manner as to admit a sufficient supply of air, and exclude, as far as
practicable, such particles from entering the case.
Having now described my improvements in glass cases for the cultivation of
plants and flowers, I claim the parts in combination forming the said improve-
ments, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Elizabeth Anne Maling, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
E. A. MALING. (L.S.)