IMPROVE- WED ADDING CONCENTRATED COLLODION VIVA
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Hippolyte Gustave Bérard, of 323, Rue St.
Denis, Paris, in the Empire France, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
WED ADDING CONCENTRATED COLLODION
VIVA
"
Sealed the 1st January 1858, and dated the 7th July 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Hippolyte Gustave.
Bérard at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,.
on the 7th July 1857.
I, PETER HIPPOLYTE GUSTAVE BERARD, of 323, Rue St. Denis, Paris, in
the Empire of France, do hereby declare the nature the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING AND APPLYING CONCENTRATED COLLODION,"
to be as follows:-
In the production of my concentrated collodion I dissolve the azotic colton
under heat in an ordinary distilling apparatus. By using from 3 to 6 of cotton
to 100 of ether obtain in this first operation 25 per cent. of the dissolvent
vaporised by the ebullition of the liquid in the worin. The volume of ether
collected in the receiver & measured by a graduated scale, serves as a guile
in this & the following operations. By this process the azotic cotton becomes
dissolved almost instantly, whilst by the usual cold processes it is kept in the
I then
ether for several days, & even then a considerable deposit remains.
withdraw the vessel containing the collodion from the water bath, & allow it
to rest during several hours, for although the deposit is scarcely perceptible,
there will always, even in the cleanest, cotton, be particles of foreign insoluble
matter which it is desireable to remove. I then draw off the clear liquid to

page_text: concentrate it by distillation, which I keep up till the collodion arrives at the
degree of concentration required for the purpose to which it is to be applied,
& which is easily determined by the volume of ether indicated by the
graduated scale on the receiver. When coloured collodion is required I add
the colouring matter ground up with an oily substance, such as castor oil, or
with volatile oils or essences to the clear liquid in course of distillation, after
the first operation.
The ether collected during the first & second operations may be used dissolve
fresh azotic cotton, & for various other purposes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Peter Hippolyte Gustave Bérard in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 1st January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
HIPPOLYTE GUSTAVE BERARD, of 323, Rue St. Denis, Paris, in the Empire
of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, hearing date the Seventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Пer reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Peter Hippolyte Gustave Bérard, Her special licence that I, the said Peter
Hippolyte Gustave Bérard, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Peter Hippolyte Gustave Bérard, my executors,
administrators, and 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 MANUFACTURING AND
APPLYING CONCENTRATED COLLODION," upon the condition (amongst others) that
T, the said Peter Hippolyte Gustave Bérard, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 Peter Hippolyte Gustave Bérard, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement: -
The collodion which I use in manufacturing artificial flowers and for water-
proofing stuffs is obtained by dissolving in a cold state and in closed vessels
azotic cotton, cither in ether alone or mixed with alcohol.
The various collodions employed either for surgical, photographic, or other
purposes, are all prepared in analogous conditions, namely, in a cold state, and
by soaking in closed vessels for a greater or a less space of time. Such
collodions when in a fluid state contain from seventy-five to ninety and even
one hundred parts of ether, or ether and alcohol, and from two and a half to
five parts of azotic cotton. Whenever the solidification of collodion is effected
the dissolving liquid is lost by spontaneous evaporation, the solution being
either spread on polished surfaces by pouring it upon them, or by brushing it
over such and other surfaces; and as the collodion intended for photography
is generally composed of seventy-five parts of ether at 60°, twenty-five parts
of alcohol at 40°, and two or two and a half parts of azotic cotton, it is seen
that in order to obtain at most two and a half parts of solid substance or dry
collodion one hundred parts of ether and alcohol are lost. This loss increases
greatly the cost price of the collodion, on account of the high price of the
cther.
The purpose of my Invention in producing collodion at a lower price is to
permit its use for various new industrial objects, and at the same time to
impart to it properties which could not be obtained by the old method of
manufacturing it.
The collodion manufactured by my improved process will be found pre-
ferable to that prepared the other methods, inasmuch as it is easily
managed and gives more regular products. Sheets as thin as the thinnest
paper can be formed with it as well as plates as thick as stout leather.
I call the new product of my Invention "concentrated collodion," and I
can prepare it with a great economy, either by dissolving the azotic cotton in
a warm state, or by concentrating the solution, in which case sixty per cent.
at least of the ether used can be recovered. The modus operandi consists in
dissolving the azotic cotton with the assistance of heat in a common distilling
apparatus, composed either of a metallic, glass, or earthen vessel, heated by
means of a water bath, and provided with a worm as usual, which worm is
cooled by cold water.
When employing from three to fifteen parts of cotton for one hundred of
ether, I distill from this operation from sixty to eighty per cent. of the dissolving
liquid vaporised by the boiling of the bath and condeused in the worm. The

page_text: quantity of ether gathered in the receiver being measured in a graduated
vessel will serve as a guide in this and the next operation.
By this process the solution of the azotic cotton is almost instantaneous,
whilst by the common process the cotton must sometimes remain several days
in cold ether to effect its solution, and yet a considerable deposit sometimes
remains in the liquid in an insolublo state. I keep on distilling until the
collodion is concentrated to the required degree for the preparation to which
it is intended to be applied. It is easy to ascertain the progress and termination
of the concentration by measuring the quantity of ether distilled and condensed
as shown by the scale in the receiver already spoken of.
By this process I can obtain collodion containing sixty per one hundred
parts and even more of dissolved azotic cotton, whilst the collodion hitherto in
use does not contain more than from six to seven per cent.
For preparing a coloured collodion, I add to the distilling vessel containing
the decanted liquid (after the first operation) the required mineral or vegetable
colouring material, ground with an oily substance, more especially castor oil,
or a volatile essence, and I carry on the distillation as far as necessary, as just
mentioned.
It is easily conceived that my new improved collodion being thicker will
keep the insoluble materials added in suspension better than common collo-
<lion.
The ether collected during the first and second operations can be used for
various purposes. I use it for dissolving new azotic cotton, and if required I
add a little alcohol, in order to attenuate it if necessary.
To resume, my Invention consists in producing an improved concentrated
collodion, possessing special properties, and generally preferable to common
collodion; and I claim as my Invention the new economical process of pro-
ducing it, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Hippolyte Gustave Bérard, have
hereunto set my band and scal, this Thirtieth day of December, in the
year of our Lord Oue thousand cight hundred and fifty-seven.
Signed and sealed in the presence of
L. D'AUBREVILLE, C.E.,
Rue de l'Echiquier, 36.
P. II. G. BERARD. (L.S.)