IMPROVEMENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO PACKAGES FOR CONTAINING BUTTER, LARD, AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Coey, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Provision Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
OR APPLICABLE TO PACKAGES FOR CONTAINING BUTTER, LARD, AND OTHER
ARTICLES."
Sealed the 20th March 1860, and dated the 24th September 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Coey at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th September 1859.
I, JAMES COEY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Provision
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN OR APPLICABLE TO PACKAGES FOR CONTAINING BUTTER, LARD, AND OTHER
ARTICLES," to be as follows (that is to say):-
This Invention consists in preserving butter, lard, or other provisions and
substances which it is desirable to exclude from the action of the atmospheric
air by enclosing them within an earthen or glass vessel formed of two or more
parts which are cemented together so as to form an air-tight enclosure. In
some cases one part of the vessel is provided with a small orifice for the
introduction of pickle or other preservative liquid into the interior thereof,
after which it is closed by a cork or other suitable stopper. This earthen or
glass vessel is then enclosed within an ordinary wooden firkin or keg or other
suitable external package which is sufficiently large to allow of the introduction

page_text: of charcoal, sawdust, meal shudes, plaster of Paris, either dry or mixed with
water or water and alum or any other suitable non-conducting material or
combination of materials between the outside of the enternal enclosure and
inside of the outer casing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Coey in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
COEY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Provision Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said James Coey, Her special licence that I, the said James
Coey, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Coey, 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 OR APPLICABLE TO PACKAGES FOR CONTAINING BUTTER, LARD,
AND OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Coey, 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 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 James Coey, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
This my said Invention consists in the construction and use of a new
description of packages for butter, lard, cheese, and other articles requiring
to be protected from the action of the atmospheric air, and especially adapted

page_text: for the preservation of provisions for export and ships' stores. Heretofore it
has been the common practise to pack butter and lard for those purposes in
wooden firkins or kegs, which, from the nature of their construction, do not
generally protect their contents from the action of the air, or in earthenware
"crocks" having large open mouths, which are merely covered with pieces of
cotton or linen cloth, giving but little protection to the contents of the vessels.
After a time a considerable portion of the contents become rancid and perfectly
useless as human food, and thereby entailing great loss. The article of cheese
for exportation and ships' stores heretofore has been enclosed in wooden cases,
which are not sufficient protection to the cheese, or in hermetrically sealed
metallic vessels, which are expensive and require to be soldered up after the
cheese has been introduced into the packages, which is expensive and
inconvenient. Now my improved packages consist of earthenware or glass
vessels formed of two or more equal or near equal parts cemented together so
as to form an air-tight enclosure, which I enclose within an ordinary wooden
firkin or keg, or other suitable external casing, which is sufficiently large to
form a cavity between the exterior of the earthenware or glass vessel (as the
case may be) and the inside of the external casing. This cavity I fill with
dry charcoal, saw dust, "meal shudes," or plaster of Paris, either dry or formed
into a liquid or plastic state by the addition of water, or water containing
alum in solution, or I use any other suitable non-conducting material or
combination of materials for the same purpose. The interior vessel constructed
of glass or earthenware may be formed of any required shape formed by two
or more equal or nearly equal parts cemented together, but I prefer in most
cases to form them of cylindrical or cask like shapes jointed at the part known
as the bilge, or about the centre of the length of its cylindrical sides, and in
some cases I introduce one or more circular or other suitable shaped rings or
collars between the two end pieces for the purpose of increasing the capacity
of the vessel. These rings or collars I form with socket or other suitable
joints to receive the end pieces and the cement used for connecting the parts
together. In some cases I form one of the parts of the interior glass or
earthenware vessel with a small orifice for the purpose of introducing pickle
or other preservative liquid into the interior thereof, which I then close with a
cork or other suitable stopper. In some cases when the internal glass or
earthenware vessels herein-before described are of small size, for economy
I enclose two or more in one outer casing, surrounding and packing them with
any of the non-conductors of heat herein-before described.
Having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my said
Invention, and how I beleive the same may be best carried into practical

page_text: use,
I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise
details herein-before described, as it will be readily seen that the same may be
considerably varied without departing from the Invention, but what I do claim
as new and useful is the formation and use of enclosed glass and earthenware
vessels formed of two or more pieces has herein-before described, and surround-
ing the same with a layer of charcoal, sawdust, plaster of Paris, or other
suitable non-conductor of heat, and enclosing the same within an ordinary
wooden firkin or keg or other suitable external package for the purpose of
packing and preserving butter, lard, and other articles requiring to be excluded
from the action of the atmospheric air, and over heat, substantially and in the
manner herein-before described and set forth, or any mere modification of
the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Coey, have hereunto set my
hand and affixed my seal this Twenty-third day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
WILLIAM WALKER,
44, Castle Street,
Liverpool.
JAMES (L.s.) COEY.