IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND TREATMENT OF FLAX AND OTHER SIMILAR VEGETABLE FIBRES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles James Pownall, of Addison Road, in
the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND TREATMENT OF FLAX AND OTHER
SIMILAR VEGETABLE FIBRES."
Sealed the 27th October 1858, and dated the 17th May 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles James
Pownall at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 17th May 1853.
I, CHARLES JAMES POWNALL, of Addison Road, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND TREATMENT OF FLAX
AND OTHER SIMILAR VEGETABLE FIBRES " to be as follows: -
My said Invention consists in causing flax which has been insuffi-*
ciently retted or fermented to be submitted a second time to the process
of retting or fermentation; also, in causing retted flax, whilst wet, to be'

page_text: subjected to the action of a fall or stream of water, or the action of
water otherwise put into motion or agitated, for the purpose of washing
away the gummy, resinous, or glutinous matters which it contains
whilst they remain in such a moist soft state that they may be detached
by the action of the water. And also in submitting flax which has
been deprived of such gunimy and resinous matters to the action of an
alkaline ley, for the purpose of obtaining an improved material. And I
apply my Invention either to flax in the state of straw as it comes from
the field, or to flax which has been insufficiently retted or fermented.
If the flax I intend to operate upon be in the state of straw as it comes
from the field, I cause it to be retted or fermented, and any of the
modes of retting or fermenting may be adopted for this purpose. If I
operate upon flax which has been insufficiently retted or fermented and
dried, I first scutch it (if that operation has not been previously per-
formed), after which I cause the flax to be retted or fermented a second
time; and for this purpose any effective mode of retting or fermenting
may be used, taking care not to continue it so long as to injure the
fibre of the flax. As soon as the retting or fermentation has been
carried so far that the gummy, resinous, er glutinous matters may
be detached from the flax by the action of a fall or stream of
water, or water otherwise put into motion or agitated, 1 take the
inaterial out of the water in which it has been retted or fermented, and
without losing more time than can conveniently be avoided, and whilst
the material is still quite wet, and whilst the gummy, resinous, or gluti-
nous matters contained in the fibres of the flax remain in a moist state,
or state of partial solution, I subject it to the action of a current of
water, or a stream of water falling from a higher to a lower level, or I
wash it thoroughly in water, with a considerable amount of agitation or
mechanical action; my object being to expel from the fibres of the flax
a much larger quantity of the gummy, resinous, or glutinous matters
contained in the fibres than is expelled by the ordinary treatment; the
attainment of which object will be prevented or rendered much more
difficult if these gummy, resinous, or glutinous matters have had time
to become dry after the last retting or fermentation.

page_text: For the purpose of rendering the flax thus treated brighter and softer
for many manufactures I submit it to the action of a cold strong
alkaline ley, caustic or not, (preferring, however, common soda nsh,) for
a longer or shorter period, according to the strength of the ley; and I
find from 3° to 4° of Twaddle a good strength for this purpose. I then
again wash the flax in a current or stream of fresh clean water.
Although in the body of this provisional description I have only
referred to treating and preparing flax, I apply similar treatment to all
vegetable fibres similar to flax.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles James Pownall in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 15th November 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
CHARLES JAMES POWNALL, of Addison Road, in the County of Middle-
sex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Charles James Pownall, Her 'special licence that
I, the said Charlos James Pownall, my, executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles James Pownall, my
excentors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,.
and no others, from tinic to time and at all times thereafter during the
terin therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, uso, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PREPARATION AND TREATMENT OF FLAX AND OTHER SIMILAR
VEGETABLE FIBRES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Charles James Pownall, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and scal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-

page_text: formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the late
of the said Letters Patent.
'NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles James Pownall, 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 thereof, that is to say:
My said Invention consists of a mode of preparing flax and other
fibrous vegetable substances for the purpose of depriving them more
effectually of their resinous and gummy matters, and thus obtaining a
finer and more useful fibre for spinning purposes. When I apply my
process to flax I take the flax straw, after it has been sufficiently retted
or fermented by any of the well-known processes, out of the water in
which it has been steeped, and instead of drying it with a view to
scutching, as is now commonly done, I subject it, as soon as possible,
and whilst still quite wet, to the action of a fall of water falling from a
higher to a lower level, for the purpose of more effectually removing
the resinous or gummy or glutinous matters which still remain in or
connected with it after fermentation, which may be done whilst the said
matters remain in such a moist and softened state that they may be
detached by the pressure arising from the fall of the water, and the
cleansing action of the water itself. It will be found convenient to
draw the flax straw forward gradually through the space upon which
the water falls by any of the means ordinarily used for giving a slow
and gradual forward motion, such as an endless belt or apron moved
forward at an uniform speed by machinery. The above process will be
found greatly to improve the flax fibre, and render it more valuable to
the spinner. My mode of treating other fibrous vegetable matters for
the purposes above mentioned is the same as that which I have
described with reference to flax.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I hereby declare that I claim as of my
Invention the subjecting fibrous vegetable substances, whilst wet and
swollen from steeping and fermentation, to the pressure and action of

page_text: water falling from a higher to a lower level, for the purpose of more
effectually pressing out and washing away the gummy, resinous, or
glutinous matters still remaining in the said vegetable matters, as
herein-before explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Janies Pownall, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of November,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
CHAS J. POWNALL. (L..s.)