A NEW AND IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN WHALE FISHERY, PART OR PARTS OF WHICH, UPON AN INCREASED SCALE, ARE ALSO APPLICABLE AS A MOTIVE POWER FOR DRIVING MACHINERY
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, WILLIAM
LANCE, of George Yard, Lombard Street, in the City of London, Insurance
Broker, 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 Eleventh day of June, in the third year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Lance, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said William Lance, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said William Lance, my executors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"A NEW AND IMPROVED INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN WHALE FISHERY,
PART OR PARTS OF WHICH, UPON AN INCREASED SCALE, ARE ALSO APPLICABLE AS A
MOTIVE POWER FOR DRIVING MACHINERY;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Lance, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to performed,
and cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said

page_text: 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
William Lance, do hereby declare that, the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being bad
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
My Invention of a new and improved instrument or apparatus to be used
in whale fishery, part or parts of which, upon an increased scale, are also
applicable as a motive power for driving machinery, consists, in the first place,
of certain alterations in and additions" to the ordinary harpoon or instrument
used in the fishery, by means of which it is forced into the body of the whale
as the animal proceeds onward after having been struck, thereby securing its
capture; and also by an arrangement, hereinafter to be described, causing an
explosion calculated to obviate the subsequent process of lancing at present
required in order to kill the whale, by which means a greater number can
be secured at one "lowering down
1.
"
*17
My Invention consists, secondly, in a mode of throwing such instrument,
so as to project it with much more force than can be accomplished-by-the-
present method; the advantages of which are, the means of taking a more
steady and sure aim, and of making fast to the whale at a much greater
distance, thus avoiding the liability of having the boat stove or upset by the
whale, and enabling the crew-to capture-a greater number, it-being-found-in
the present practice a matter of much difficulty to get near enough to dart
the harpoon by hand.
And my Invention consists, thirdly, in applying part or parts of the above-
mentioned apparatus, on a different scale, to the purposes of a motive power,
whereby may be effected a considerable saving in the expense of driving
machinery.
11
The improvements contained under these several heads will be further
understood by reference to the accompanying Drawings, and the following
description thereof:
Fig. 1. represents one of my improved instruments or harpoons (broken
in the middle to save space, and which would probably be made about four
feet long,) consisting of a spindle or rod a, having a quick motion screw. thread
cut upon its entire length, working into a female screw in the head of the
harpoon, and being connected at one end to its extreme point c for the purpose
of forcing the same forward into the body of the whale; while to its reverse
D..

page_text: end is attached, by any convenient means, and having an universal joint, a
fly d, as shown (or a screw or any section of a screw might be used); the action
of the water against the face of the arms or fans e; (which are placed at any
convenient angle to the plane of motion,) as the animal proceeds through it;
causes them to revolve, and with them the rod or 'spindle a, which motion
would force the point c forward into the whale's body. I propose. to attach
to this instrument, by a line or otherwise; (to serve the purpose of what is
termed in the fishery a" drogue,") a metallic closed vessel f, the natural
buoyancy of which will impede the whale's progress. The fly or screw may
be attached to the "drogue" or vessel f (if preferred), and so impart motion
through the line or other connection to the rod or spindle a.,
Fig. 2 is a section taken in the line a, b, of Fig. 1, shewing the transverse
form of the harpoon head b...
Fig. 3 is a face view of a fly or set of fans.
At Fig. 4 is shewn a somewhat varied form of instrument, to be projected
by means and apparatus herein-after to be described.. It consists of a kind
of harpoon head of a conical shape, being made with triangular cutting edges
towards the point, and furnished at its base with barbs or flooks g, turning
on pivots at ; these barbs are made to expand the moment the strain comes
upon the line, and prevent the instrument from drawing:
Fig. 5 exhibits in" section a similar form of instrument, to be made with
or without the cutting edges, but without the barbs 9: It is furnished with the
means of effecting an explosion by the time it has penetrated into the body
of the whale, consisting of two arms or levers i, i, turning on pivots k, k, fixed
in the base part of the instrument. The outer ends of the arms or levers i
are made to diverge upon meeting with resistance from the body of the
whale as the instrument enters, which motion of the levers would cause the
jaws 1, 1, on their reverse ends to collapse, and break a small tube or vessel m
placed between them in an aperture communicating with the charge of gun-
powder or other explosive mixture. This tube or vessel m contains a small
portion of concentrated sulphuric acid, and is surrounded by a composition of
chlorate of potass and sugar; the action of the acid upon the composition
(in the breaking of the vessel m) produces ignition, and fires the charge.
n, n, are reservoirs or chamber formed (as represented) in the cone, the com-
munication between each of which and the aperture containing the vessel m'
is formed by the channel through the centre of the instrument.
Fig. 6 shews, on a larger scale, the jaws l, l, with the pivots upon which
they turn, and the vessel m-between them.
4

page_text: Figure 7 is a view of the conical part of the instrument, representing it as
rolled out upon the principle of a chart upon Mercator's projection; the
object of this view is, to shew the relative situations of the reservoirs or
chambers n.
I proceed now to describe the second head of my improvements (viz.) the
mode of projecting instruments such as those shewn at Figs. 4 and 5, for which
purpose I propose to employ highly compressed air, to be used as represented
at Figs. 8 and 9; the former being a side elevation, and the latter a transverse
vertical section of the gun or tube from which the projectiles are to be dis-
charged, with the globe or reservoir for containing the charge of compressed
air. o is the tube mounted upon a standard, having an universal motion at
PP; the globe or air reservoirs seen at q. The gun or tube o may have its
standard fitted into a socket in any convenient part of the boat, and the charge
of air is supplied to the globe 7 by means of a flexible metallic or other tube,
communicating with a reservoir in the boat, the charge entering the globe 7,
and being regulated in its admission by the screw cock s; the discharge is
effected by rapidly turning the handle t, which opens the valve u by the
action of the screw v, and thus allows the air to rush into the gun or tube o.
The air-may-be-compressed by any ordinary means, but the mode I employ
for the purpose may be seen on reference to Fig. 10, in which is represented
a cylinder, as at A; of any contents; by the side of this cylinder is fixed an
ordinary hydraulic pump B, by means of which water or other fluid is forced
-from the well or chamber C into the cylinder A, which water or other fluid
compresses the air contained above it into the reservoir- to-be-carried in the
boat. At the top of the cylinder there is a valve D, opening outwards for
the purpose of preventing the air from returning into it. The cylinder is
provided (as shewn) with a cock at top for the admission of air, and at
the bottom for the egress of the water or other fluid, and is alternately filled
and discharged until the required pressure is obtained.
.
At Fig. 11 is represented a break to be used in place of the ordinary
"Jogger-head" of the whale boat (which latter might be advantageously con-
structed of iron); it consists of a barrel suitably mounted on bearings, round
a flange upon which there is a band of metal, having attached to it a lever so
loaded that the resistance to the running of the line is almost sufficient to
carry down the boat, but yields and allows the line to run as soon as the
strain upon it is greater than would be safe. This contrivance affords greater
security, from the circumstance of its being self-acting.
Having thus described my improvements in the apparatus to be used in

page_text: up.
whale fishery, I would remark, that under some circumstances it would be
found desirable to use the instrument shewn at Fig. 1, with its " drogue,"
for the purpose of impeding the progress of the whale until another boat came
This instrument might, with slight modification, be made to effect an
explosion. I would also remark that the line might be attached or not (as
preferred) to either of the above-described projectiles or common harpoon, in
which case a slot must be formed in them for the line to be in, as shewn at
Fig. 4, and that either of these missiles might be thrown by any projectile
force, as steam, springs, &c., and, with the exception of the common harpoon,
by gunpowder.
I come now, thirdly, to explain the application, upon an increased scale,
of part or parts of my apparatus, as a motive power for driving machinery;
which, in the first place, consists in the use of air highly compressed
by the before-mentioned process. The air may be condensed into a vessel
of sufficient strength, and supplied to the cylinder for working the piston
(as is usual with high-pressure steam engines) after passing through a coil
of tubing immersed in any substance which by the application of heat will
increase its elasticity, or it may be supplied direct from the vessel to the
cylinder. This third head of my Invention has reference, secondly, to an
application of the fly or set of fans or screw spoken of in the description of
Fig 1, by mounting them in any convenient and substantial manner, so that,
being immersed in a running stream, the action of the water upon their face
at an angle to the plane of their motion shall cause them to revolve, and thus
communicate motion through any arrangement of gear work to the machinery
to be driven. I would observe, that this application is particularly suited to
ballast heaving, in which case it will be advantageously fixed at the stern of
the barge; it would also be extremely serviceable for working the pumps
used in condensing the air for the above-named purposes.
I proceed now to state what I desire to claim as secured to me by the
above in part recited Letters Patent, which is as follows (viz.)
Firstly, the apparatus in whole or in part set forth to be used in whale
fishery, to the precise form of which, however, I do not confine myself.
Secondly, the use of compressed air 'as the means of projecting any missile
for taking or destroying whales.
Thirdly, effecting an explosion in the body of the whale distinct from that
by the use of rockets.
Fourthly, the employment of air highly compressed (by the means herein-
before explained) as a motive power.
And, fifthly, the use of the fans or screws for driving machinery in the