TREATING AND PRESERVING HIDES AND SKINS
Year: 1886

page_text: I EDWIN AMBROSE BRYDGES of No. 101 Königgrätzer Strasse in the City of
Berlin, Germany, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "TREATING
AND PRESERVING HIDES AND SKINS" and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My invention relates to the treatment of hides and skins in order to prevent the
same from injury through rotting, maggots and other products of decomposition
and consists in the application of fossil meal, diatomite or infusorial earth, also
known under the name of Bergmehl and Kieselguhr, but for shortness and clearness
sake I shall use only the one term "fossil meal" in the following specification.
This said fossil meal consists of the shells of minute animals of such extreme
fineness that a cubic inch of fossil meal contains upwards of forty thousand
millions shells. This fossil meal consists of over 90% of silicic acid and a small
percentage of potash and organic matter which latter can be removed by simple
calcination and is extraordinarily hygroscopic being in fact capable of absorbing
an enormous quantity of fluid. My invention consists in a novel treatment or
process of treating raw and other hides or skins prior to tanning, tawing or other
treatment, in order to free them from all fluid matter which could promote or
assist purification and to deprive them of all nourishment for insects which cause
such enormous damage to hides and skins during transport.
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According to Berzelius this fluid matter composes two-thirds, whilst the fibres
weigh only one-third of the entire hide.
The process of preserving hides by drying cannot be resorted to in a large
quantity of the hides imported from America, Australia and other countries, and
the said hides are consequently first pickled in salt, and then dried or forwarded
raw, packed in salt. The disadvantages of these processes for preserving the hides
until they are tanned are numerous and consist amongst others in the com-
paratively considerable time consumed in drying the hides, in the expense of the
pickling and in the increase in weight through the salt employed, whereby the
costs of transport are disproportionately increased.
All these disadvantages are avoided by my invention which consists in employing
fossil meal or diatomite which possesses the property of absorbing fluids and other
matter in solution with great energy, without being itself dissolved or being in the
least degree affected.

page_text: Now I employ this said fossil meal for preserving hides or skins in various
manners, for instance, I take the fossil meal as it leaves the mine and simply dry
it or I calcine the same either exposed to the atmosphere or in closed retorts or
other apparatus so that the meal is carbonised. Both systems of calcining, that is
to say,
•
a) exposed to atmospheric influence by calcining in the open air or in an
ordinary calcining furnace.
b) by calcining in closed retorts or vessels, can be readily carried out, and will
give excellent material for preserving hides; all organic matter having been
removed, the absorbing power of the fossil meal is increased, but I do not restrict
myself to employing calcined fossil meal, as washed and dried, or raw dried fossil
meal or fossil meal of any kind in a dry state can be employed, neither do I restrict
myself to any special manner of treating such said hides as the same can be
manipulated in various ways without departing from the nature of my invention.
The hides for transport, or hides which are to be dried rapidly, are spread out
on a layer of fossil meal with the epidermis or the fleshy side downwards and
are then covered with a second layer of fossil meal. The hides, if not required for
immediate transport are allowed to lay for a time and can, if desired, be subjected
to pressure although I believe that this will seldom be found necessary or even
advisable. It is furthermore advisable in the case of perfectly raw hides, that is
hides fresh from the carcass to replenish or change the layer or layers of fossil
meal so as to facilitate the drying process.
Hides for transport can also be rolled up or packed in fossil meal so as to protect
the same from all injury during the sea or other voyage, the weight of the said
fossil meal being so small, that the freight difference will be of little or no
importance. Spent fossil meal can be rendered fit for re-employment by simply
calcining the same so as to destroy any and all organic matter contained in or
absorbed by the same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is: -
1. Treating and preserving hides and skins of all kinds with fossil meal,
diatomite, kieselguhr, bergmehl or infussorial earth, for depriving the same of
fluid, moisture. and all other matters tending to cause putrefaction, to produce
insects or to otherwise injure the said hides before the same are subjected to the
tanning, tawing or other process, substantially as and for the purpose set forth in
the foregoing specification.
2. The application and employment of fossil meal, diatomite, kieselguhr,
bergmehl or infussorial earth for treating hides or skins, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth in the foregoing specification.
Dated this 17th day of November 7000
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