AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING OR REMOVING WOOL AND HAIR FROM HIDES OR SKIS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John
Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the, County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING OR REMOVING WOOL AND HAIR FROM HIDES OR
SKIS." A communication, from abroad by Paul Clérin, of 39,
Faubourg St. Martin, Paris, France.
Sealed the 13th November 1868, and dated the 16th May 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 16th May 1868.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of
5 No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING OR REMOVING WOOL AND HAIR FROM HIDES OR

page_text: SKINS,' a communication to me from abroad by Paul Clérin, of 39,
Faubourg St. Martin, Paris, France, to be as follows:-
The simplicity of this process is such that I deem it necessary for
the better appreciation of its merits to give some brief details of the
processes previously employed.
Hitherto hides or skins have had to undergo a series of operations
occupying considerable time by reason of their number, and costly in
their maintenance. Thus the hides or skins on entering the factory
mostly require to be submitted to a preliminary drying; it then
becomes necessary to pare them, which is costly, skilled labour being
difficult to obtain; then a preparation was made termed orpine, com-
posed of slacked lime and red arsenic, this composition being spread
by means of a brush on the flesh side of the hide; the hides were then
folded and piled, and about 12 hours afterwards the removal of the
wool or hair might be begun. Besides loss of time this system is subject
to the following disadvantages:-Orpine is an unhealthy preparation;
further, it hardens the wool so that the washing becomes difficult; and
it also often deprives it of the whiteness and suppleness so much
esteemed.
The improved process the subject of this Invention obviates all those
defects, and preserves to both wool and hide all their natural qualitics;
it is based on the use of hydro-sulphates of soda. The preparation
used consists of about 13 lbs. of hydrosulphate of soda, and of from
2 to 3 lbs. of lime white in a bucket of water for every 100 hides;
these proportions are not absolute, but will vary with the condition of
the hides to be treated.
In operating upon fresh hides or skins the operation can be completed
in about half an hour; on the contrary, when operating on dry hides
one hour will be required.
.
Another method of operating is as follows:-The hydrosulphate of
soda is rendered liquid without the addition of lime white, and when
it is applied on the hides they are sprinkled with slacked and pulverized
lime, which while effecting the extraction of the wool does not moisten
the hides. This operation therefore lessens the time required for drying
the hide, and both hide and wool profit thereby.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 13th November 1868.
'
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No. 11,
Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,.
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in tho thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Gedge, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward Gedge,
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 "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS FOR EXTRACTING OR REMOVING WOOL AND HAIR FROM HIDES OR SKINS,"
a communication to me from abroad by Paul Clérin, of 39, Faubourg
St. Martin, Paris, France, upon the condition (amongst others that I,
the said William Edward Gedge, my executors or administrators, by au
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 William Edward Gedge, 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 following statement:-

page_text: the better appreciation of its merits to give some brief details of the
processes previously employed.
Hitherto hides or skins have had to undergo a series of operations,
occupying considerable time by reason of their number, and costly in
their maintenance. Thus the hides or skins on entering the factory
mostly required to be submitted to a preliminary drying, it then became
necessary to pare them, an operation not only costly in itself, but also
from the difficulty of obtaining skilled labour; a preparation was then
made, termed orpine, composed of slacked lime and red arsenic, this
composition being spread by means of a brush or sprinkler on the flesh
side of the hide, the hides were then folded and piled, and about twelve
hours afterwards the removal of the wool or hair might be begun.
Besides loss of time this system is subject to the following dis-
advantages:-Orpine is an unhealthy preparation; further, it introduces
into the tube of the wool a moist lead, which gives it hardness, so
that the washing becomes difficult, and it also often deprives the wool
of the whiteness and suppleness so much esteemed.
The improved process the subject of this Invention obviates all
these defects, and preserves to both wool and hide all their natural
The
qualities; it is based on the use of hydrosulphates of soda.
preparation used consists of about 13 lbs. of hydrosulphate of soda, and
of from 2 to 3 lbs. of lime white or whiting "lait de chaux ". in a
bucket of water for every 100 hides; these proportions are not absolute,
but will vary with the nature and the condition of the hides to be
treated.
In operating upon fresh hides or skins the operation can be completed
in about half an hour; on the contrary, when operating on dry hides
one hour will be required.
This new process is not at all unhealthy; it does away with the
paring, and permits the delivering of the wool in fleece; it attacks the
wool neither in its whiteness nor its suppleness, permits its being
delivered very dry, and saves considerable time.
Another method of operating according to this Invention is as
follows: The hydrosulphate of soda is rendered liquid without the
addition of lime white, and when it is applied on the hides they arc
sprinkled with slacked and pulverized lime, which while effecting the

page_text: extraction of the wool does not moisten the hides. This operation
herefore lessons the time required for drying the hide, and both hide
and wool profit thereby,
extraction of the wool does not moisten the hides. This operation
herefore lessons the time required for drying the hide, and both hide
nd wool profit thereby.
In witness whereof, I, tho said William Edward Gedge, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord Qne thousand eight hundred and sixty-
sicht
In witness whereof, I, tho said William Edward Gedge, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord Qne thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eicht