IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING JELLIES, SYRUPS, DRINKS, AND OTHER PRODUCTS FROM THE TREE ARBUTUS UNEDO, KNOWN AS THE ARBUTUS
Year: 1865

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Philippe Mingaud at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declara-
tion, on the 20th June 1865, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PHILIPPE
MINGAUD, of Nismes, Gard, in the Empire of France, and now residing at
No. 15, Hunter Street, Brunswick Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
OBTAINING JELLIES, SYRUPS, DRINKS, AND OTHER PRODUCTS FROM THE TREE ARBUTUS
UNEDO, KNOWN AS THE ARBUTUS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true and first
Inventor of the said Invention.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Philippe Mingaud, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement:-
My Invention relates to the treatment of the fruit, leaves, and flowers of
a tree called in Latin arbutus unedo, or the arbutus tree, by which I
obtain jellies, syrups, and drinks of a very delicate and agreeable flavor and
chemical products.

page_text: The arbutus grows wild in the most temperate climes, and its fruit some-
what resembles the strawberry. The following are the ingredients found to
be contained in the leaves and fruit:-A substance which I call "parapectine,"
starch, tannin, wax, green and violet coloring matter.
The following is the manner of treating the fruit to obtain the jelly:-To a
given quantity of fruit take an equal weight of water, and boil together for
one hour, turn the mixture out on a linen cloth and leave it to run through
without pressing or squeezing, add one half the weight of sugar, and boil
again until it has the proper thickness, then flavor with vanilla and the essence
of the flowers of the arbutus.
Another jelly can be made by pressing a given quantity of the fruit
through a horse-hair sieve, then again straining the pulp thus obtained
through a linen cloth, add one-third its weight of sugar, boil the mixture a
short time, and flavor with the essence of the flowers, and to each pound of
the jeily add one ounce of spirit of arbutus. The jelly thus obtained is of
a clear golden yellow, and as delicate in flavor as pineapple jelly.
Jam is made by taking a given quantity of the fruit and boiling it in double
its weight of water for an hour; it is allowed to pass through a linen cloth
without pressing, and is put in a vessel with one quarter of its weight in
sugar; when the sugar is melted, musk pears and the best apples cut in s
slices are put in in a suitable quantity, and the whole boiled a sufficient time,
and flavored with essence of lemon and spirit of arbutus.
An excellent syrup is obtained by taking 15 parts of hydro-alcoholic
extract of the fruit to four times the quantity of alcoholature of the flowers of
the arbutus; dissolve the alcoholic extract in 125 parts of the arbutus flower
water, filter, and add 5000 parts of boiling syrup of sugar; when it is cool
add 60 parts of the alcoholature of the flowers, and 30 parts of spirit of
arbutus; this is an excellent syrup for ices, &c.
A very superior liqueur is made by mixing 5000 parts of the syrup of the
fruit with 8000 parts of the spirit obtained from the same fruit, and take 5
parts of cinnamon, 15 parts of angelica seeds, 2 parts of vanilla, 15 parts of
juniper berries, 15 parts of Indian aniseed seeds, and 30 parts of the dried peel
of bitter oranges; crush these together in a mortar and soak them for a week
.in spirit of arbutus; filter, and add the filtered liqueur to the syrup.
A fine white dessert wine resembling 'sherry is obtained by mixing 100
parts of wort of the fruit with 35 parts of the spirit and 20 parts of water (by
weight); let the liquor stand for about a week, then filter the whole, and
flavor with essence of vanilla and arbutus; the liquid can then be bottled
off.

page_text: In order to make a white sparkling wine take 10,000 parts of the "fráit,
crush them in a vat, add an equal quantity of water, leave the mixture to
ferment,, let it run off, and filter it, add 5 parts of, essence, of arbutus, and
bottle off and wire down.
In order to make a good common wine take equal quantities of the crushed
fruit and water; add a sufficient quantity of cochineal to color the wine red,
leave it to ferment, and keep it in casks. The spirit is obtained by taking
100 pounds of the fruit and adding to it one half the weight of water; mixt
them together and allow the mixture to ferment in a temperature of 18° to
20° centigrade (65 to 70 Fahrenheit), then press through bags, and
distil the product until the distilled liquor passing over marks 20° on the
alcohometer; this operation gives 10 pints of excellent spirit, marking 50°,
and possessing a fine aroma.
Vinegar is obtained by leaving the fruit and an equal quantity of water
in a receptacle until acid fermentation takes place, then pressing out the juice
and filtering; the vinegar thus obtained is of a fine rose color and agreeably
sharp.
The juice of the fruit when mixed with cold water yields a gelatinous
matter, which is precipitated by alcohol as a translucid rose-colored jelly,
which I call parapectine, a matter similar to pectine, a substance already
known, but of a much greater consistency and strength. It is this product
I make use of to obtain jelly, as well from the arbutus as from any other
fruit.
In order to obtain a fine violet color I treat the coloring matter of the
arbutus with caustic potash.
The crushed leaves brought in contact with sulphuric ether give a beautiful
green color, which changes to black by the addition of sulphate of iron, preci-
pitating the green coloring matter..
The sugar obtained from the arbutus is granular, and has all the properties
of grape sugar.
In the year 1861 I obtained Letters Patent for "improvements in
obtaining jellies, syrups, and drinks from the tree arbutus unedo, or
arbousier, No. 962." The object of the said Invention was to some extent
similar to the present Invention; but by my present process I employ
different proportions, and add various other substances, by which I obtain
products of a superior quality; the Specification of the said Letters Patent
being in many respects imperfect and incorrect, and I have therefore allowed
the said Patent to lapse, and have made various experiments in order to
obtain the improved results herein-before mentioned.

page_text: And what I therefore claim is the several improved treatments herein-before
described for the purposes herein-before mentioned..
In witness whereof I, the said Philippe Mingaud, have hereunto set my.
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
PH. MINGAUD. (L.S.)