Im- PROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF CERTAIN ANIMAL SUBSTANCES TO BE USED AS FERTILIZING AGENTS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF CERTAIN ANIMAL
SUBSTANCES TO BE USED AS FERTILIZING AGENTS."-A communication from
abroad by Dirk Adreaan Ter Hoeven, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
Sealed the 28th October 1870, and dated the 15th June 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 15th June 1870.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF
CERTAIN ANIMAL SUBSTANCES TO BE USED AS FERTILIZING AGENTS," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Dirk Adreaan Ter Hoeven, of Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, United States of America, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the treatment of certain animal substances
so as to render them suitable as fertilizing agents, such as the horns and

page_text: hoofs of animals or other animal matter of equivalent character such
as the waste of horn, button waste, and whalebone shavings, animal
hair, and other similar substances.
In carrying out the Invention the substances to be treated are
introduced into a digester into which steam is introduced through a
hollow trunnion on which it turns, and is then subjected to the action
of steam under a pressure of from forty to eighty pounds per square
inch for about one and a quarter to one and a half hours if the contents
of the digester should consist of horns or of button waste, but should
the contents of the digester consist of hoofs they should then be digested
for about the space of from two hours to two hours and a half, or
the before-mentioned substances may be submitted to the action of
steam in any other convenient manner.
By this operation or stage of the process the gelatinous matter is
dissolved and the substances are in a condition to be subjected to the
second stage of the process, viz., that of kiln drying, which may be
accomplished either in the manner herein-after described or otherwise.
Thus, for example, the substances under treatment are removed from
the digester to the floor of a kiln over which they may be spread to a
depth of about six inches. This floor is maintained at a temperature
of about 170 degrees, and a room above it at a temperature of from
90 degrees to 100 degrees. The horns or other substances may be
removed from the oven in from about two to three days.
By first subjecting the horns, hoofs, or other substances to the action
of steam under pressure as before-mentioned, and then drying them at
a low temperature two important results are obtained, first, the
fertilising properties of the product are preserved to an extent which
cannot be accomplished by the acid processes, or by simply digesting the
substances without subsequent drying at a low temperature; secondly,
the horns, hoofs, or the other substances herein referred to are reduced
to such a pliable condition that the third and last operation of crushing
or grinding is rendered easy.
Thus treated the substances are now subjected to the last stage of the.
process, for which purpose they are introduced into a mill consisting of
a trough for receiving the prepared substances, in which trough works a
stone or edge runner mounted on a horizontal arm attached to a vertical
shaft driven by horse or steam power, the edge runner being thus made
to roll round the trough over and in contact with the prepared hoofs or

page_text: other substances and triturate the same, or the material may be otherwise
submitted to a pulverising process. The ground material (which if
desired may be sifted or screened) is then ready for use as a fertiliser
either alone or in combination with other fertilisers.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th December 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license
that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry Johnson, my
executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
TREATMENT AND IN THE EMPLOYMENT OF CERTAIN ANIMAL SUBSTANCES TO BE USED
AS FERTILIZING AGENTS," a communication to me from abroad by Dirk
Adreaan Ter Hoeven, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of
America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Henry Johnson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
The said Invention relates to the treatment of certain animal sub-
stances, such as the horns and hoofs of animals or other animal matter
of equivalent character, as for example, the waste of horn buttons, horn
and whalebone shavings, animal hair, and other similar substances
having the property of horn as distinguished from bones, so as to render
them suitable as fertilizing agents.
In carrying out this Invention the substances to be treated are
introduced into a digester, into which steam is admitted thro' a hollow
trunnion on which it turns, such substances being therein subjected to
the action of steam under a pressure of from forty to eighty pounds per
square inch for about one and a quarter to one and a half hours if the
contents of the digester should consist of horns or of button waste, but
should the contents of the digester consist of hoofs, they should then
be digested for about the space of from two hours to two hours and a
half, or the before-mentioned substances may be submitted to the action
of steam in any other convenient manner.
By this operation or stage of the process the gelatinous matter is
dissolved, and the substances are thus brought into a condition to be
subjected to the second stage of the process, viz., that of kiln drying,
which may be accomplished either in the manner herein-after described
or otherwise. Thus, for example, the substances under treatment are
removed from the digester to the floor of a kiln over which they may be
spread to a depth of about six inches. This floor is maintained at a
temperature of about 170 degrees, and a room above it at a temperature
of from 90 degrees to 100 degrees. The horns or other substances may
be removed from the oven in from about two to three days.
By first subjecting the horns, hoofs, or other substances to the action
of steam under pressure as before mentioned, and then drying them at
a low temperature, two important results are obtained. First, the
fertilizing properties of the product are preserved to an extent which
cannot be accomplished by the acid processes, or by simply digesting the
substances without subsequent drying at a low temperature. Secondly,
the horns, hoofs, or the other substances herein referred to, are reduced
to such a pliable condition that the third and last operation of crushing
or grinding is rendered easy.
The substances thus treated are now subjected to the last stage of the

page_text: process, for which purpose they are introduced into a mill consisting of
a trough for receiving the prepared substances, in which trough works a
stone or edge runner mounted on a horizontal arm attached to a
vertical shaft driven by horse or steam power, the edge runner being
thus made to roll round the trough over and in contact with the
prepared hoofs or other substances and triturate the same, or the
materials may be otherwise submitted to a pulverizing process. The
ground material (which if desired may be sifted or screened) is then
ready for use as a fertilizer either alone or in combination with other
fertilizers.
Figure 1 of the annexed Sheet of explanatory Drawings represents a
digester suitable for carrying out this Invention.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of a drying oven; and Figure 3 a
vertical section of a grinding mill.
I would however here remark that although I have selected these
objects or devices to illustrate my mode or process of treating horns,
hoofs, and the like substances, I lay no claim to any of the devices
shewn, inasmuch as the process may be carried into effect through the
medium of different agencios.
The digester A, Figure 1, has trunnions adapted to bearings 6 on the
standards or supports B, B, and one of the trunnions is provided with a
worm wheel c into which gears a worm c', so that by operating the latter
the digester can be turned over and emptied of its contents.
The other trunnion is hollow for the admission of steam into the
digester, and there is a cock D, by which the condensed steam may be
drawn off, and at the opposite end is a cock E for the discharge of air or
for the escape of steam at the conclusion of the operation. The digester
is provided at one end with a suitable man-hole, having a detachable
cover G.
It will be seen that this digester differs but little from apparatus in
common use for digesting various substances.
The drying kiln, Figure 2, which is selected to illustrate this part of
the process consists of a brick floor H to the drying chamber S, beneath
which at one end of the kiln are a number of fire-places, ¹ being one of
the fire doors, ² the fire bars, and ³ being the end wall.
The fire-places are separated from each other by walls extending the
entire length of the kiln, and communicate with a chimney P.

page_text: A roofed structure R of wood or other suitable material is erected
above the floor of the kiln, and in this structure are ventilators r¹ for
regulating the temperature of the kiln.
Horns, hoofs, and other animal substances of like character have been
heretofore used incidentally with bones as manure, but they have been 5
employed either in a non-decomposed state, in which case their action
on the soil has been slow and imperfect, or they have been decomposed
by the costly application of acids.
In effecting the last stage of the process the Inventor prefers to use a
mill of the character shewn in Figure 3, in which T represents a trough 1
for receiving the prepared horns and hoofs; V is a stone arranged to turn
on the shaft W, which is connected to the vertical shaft K, the shaft W
being driven by horse or steam power, so that the wheel V will roll
round the trough over and in contact with the prepared hoofs, and will
triturate the same. The ground material (which if desired may be 1
şifted), is then ready for use as a fertilizer either alone or in combination
with other fertilizers.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to 2
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. A fertilizer composed of horns, hoofs, or other animal matter of
an equivalent character, prepared in the manner herein described.
Second. The conversion into a valuble fertilizer of horns, hoofs, and 2
other animal matter of equivalent character by steaming, drying, and
crushing, or grinding as a whole operation, substantially as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of 3
December, One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)