TREATING THE RHUBARB PLANT TO RENDER ITS FIBRES APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND THE JUICE THEREOF TO THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE AND SPIRITS
Year: 1857

page_text: Bayham Street, in the Parish of Saint Pancras, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, for the Invention of "TREATING THE RHUBARB PLANT TO RENDER ITS
FIBRES APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND THE JUICE THEREOF
TO THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE AND SPIRITS."
Sealed the 18th December 1857, and dated the 25th June 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Josiah Wright, Alfred;
Wright, and Francis Roberts, at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 25th June 1857.
We, JOSIAH WRIGHT, of No. 8, Ernest Street, and ALFRED WRIGHT, of
No. 1, Bayham Place, and FRANCIS ROBERTS, of No. 80, Bayham Street, in
the Parish of Saint Pancas, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "TREATING THE RHUBARB PLANT TO RENDER.
ITS FIBRES APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND THE JUICE THEREOF TO
THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE & SPIRITS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the employment of the stalk of the rhubarb
plant for the manufacture of paper, wine, and spirits. The stalk of the plant is

page_text: taken at any age, and passed between rollers to seperate the juice from the
fibreous matter.
The fibreous part of the stalk we then boil, and beat or tear to pulp by
some of the well-known mechanical contrivances used by the paper maker
the pulp we then bleach by the usual bleaching fluids.
The iuice is fermented and treated by any of the well-known methods of
wine making. The spirit is distilled by the ordinary method.
fibreous matter.
The fibreous part of the stalk we then boil, and beat or tear to pulp by
some of the well-known mechanical contrivances used by the paper maker:
the pulp we then bleach by the usual bleaching fluids.
The iuice is fermented and treated by any of the well-known methods of
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Josiah Wright, Alfred Wright, and Francis Roberts in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th December 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSIAH
WRIGHT, of No. 8, Ernest Street, and ALFRED WRIGHT, of No. 1º, Bayham
Place, and FRANCIS ROBERTS, of No. 80, Bayham Street, in the Parish of
Saint Paneras, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Josiah Wright, Alfred Wright, and Francis Roberts, Her special licence.
that we, the said Josiah Wright, Alfred Wright, and Francis Roberts, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others, as we, the said Josiah
Wright, Alfred Wright, and Francis Roberts, our 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 Inven-
tion for "TREATING THE RHUBARB PLANT TO RENDER ITS FIBRES APPLICABLE TO THE
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND THE JUICE THEREOF FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF WINE
AND SPIRITS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Josiah
Wright, Alfred Wright, and Francis Roberts, our executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Josiah Wright, Alfred Wright, and
Francis Roberts, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in the employment of the fibre of the rhubarb plant
for the manufacture of paper, and the juice thereof for the manufacture of
wine and spirits.
In carrying out the object of our discovery, the stalk of the rhubarb plant
is taken at any age and passed between rollers, or pressed in such a manner as
may best serve to express the juice; the fibre then requires to be well washed
to get therefrom as much of the acid property as possible. The fibre should
then be bleached either by the use of chloride of lime, or any other of the
usual bleaching fluids used by the paper maker.
In order to prepare the paper pulp from the fiberous parts of the stalk of
the rhubarb plant, the fibre is placed in a suitable vessel, and either boiled or
hot water is added to it, and then the fibre is beaten or torn to pulp by any
of the methods used for reducing rags or any other substances now used for
making paper.
We may here remark that hot or cold water may be used for reducing the
fibre to pulp, and that the pulp produced may be used for making paper
cither by itself or with pulp produce from rags or any other substances
mixed therewith.
For the manufacture of wine, the juice is taken and boiled, and pored
upon lump sugar, at the rate of one pound of sugar for every gallon of juice;
when at blood heat, yeast is added sufficient to make it ferment, which will
take three or four days; at the end of that time it should be strained and
placed into a cask, and the bung not fastened down till it has finished
working, which may take a week. The wine should remain in cask at least
for four months, when it is ready for bottling; the wine should then be
sweetened with a fine lump sugar to a proper degree of sweetness.
For spirits, the juice should be treated in the same manner as in the first
stage of making wine, when after the fermentation is ceased, it should be
placed in a still, and a fine spirit will be produced.
Having now explained our Invention of the employment of the stalk of
the rhubarb plant for the manufacture of paper, wine, and spirit, and the
manner of carrying the same into effect, we, would observe in conclusion,
that although we have described a mode of treating the fibre of the rhubarb
plant for the manufacture of paper, and for treating the juice for wine and

page_text: spirits, we do not mean to confine ourselves to any such process, but what
we desire to secure by Letters Patent, and as our Invention is, the use of the
fiberous parts of the rhubarb plant for the manufacture of paper, and the juice
thereof for the manufacture of wine and spirits.
In wittness thereof, we, the said Josiah Wright, Alfred Wright, and
Francis Roberts, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
third day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
JOSIAH WRIGHT.
ALFRED WRIGHT.
(L.S.)
(L.S.)
FRANCIS ROBERTS. (L.S.)
JOSIAH WRIGHT.
(L.S.)
ALFRED WRIGHT.
(L.S.)
FRANCIS ROBERTS. (L.S.)