IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE AND MEANS USED IN FISHING IN SEAS, RIVERS, AND OTHER WATERS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Richardson Fanshawe, of 3, Leadenhall
Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MODE AND MEANS USED IN FISHING IN SEAS, RIVERS, AND OTHER
WATERS."
Sealed the 20th February 1868, and dated the 20th September 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Richardson
Fanshawe at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 20th September 1862.
I, HENRY RICHARDSON FANSHAWE, of 3, Leadenhall Street, in the City of
London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MODE AND MEANS USED IN FISHING IN SEAS, RIVERS, AND OTHER
WATERS," to be as follows :--
My improvements consist in the employment of a submerged or subaqueous
light for the purpose of alluring or decoying fish and thereby facilitating their
capture, the light I employ being derived from electricity or from the ignition
of oil or gas; or I may employ phosphorized oil or other luminous fluid or
any means for producing or maintaining a light under or below the surface of
the water; or I may obtain a sufficient volume of light for my purpose by
reflecting light from above upon submerged reflectors.
I place within a globe of glass, which glass may be either plain or coloured,
a lamp, and I supply the same with air by the use of flexible tubing or by

page_text: any of the usual means, and I protect the said globe by means of a strong
wire net or a suitable metallic frame; or I employ a lanthorn glazed and so
constructed with a double roof that the air therein becoming rarefied by the
heat, a current may be produced and the lanthorn thereby rendered self-
supplying with air.
In using any of the herein-before mentioned arrangements of globe,
lanthorn, or reflectors, the decoy light or reflector is placed or disposed in
such a manner at the required depth that the fish are attracted thereto by the
light. The illuminating apparatus may be lowered to the required depth by
any mechanical arrangement which will answer the purpose desired, but 1
construct or fit boats with a well or wells at or near their centre for the purpose
of more conveniently superintending the working or adjustment of the decoy
arrangement, and of seeing when a sufficient number of fish are collected, so
that the boat may be removed for the purpose of closing the net or nets.
When the electric light is employed the lanthorn may be sunk before ignition
and the light extinguished before its withdrawal.
Where lines are used as for cod, salmon, and other fishing, I propose to
employ as a decoy at or near to the bait on the usual line a small globe or
other shaped vessel of glass, which I propose to illuminate by the introduction
therein of luminous fluid such as common phosphorized oil or by other means.
I supply the air necessary for the purpose of maintaining the luminosity of the
fluid by means of a flexible air tube, the upper end of which is supported
above the surface of the water by a float. I protect the said globe or vessel
by surrounding it with a frame or network of wire.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Richardson Fanshawe in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th March 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
RICHARDSON FANSHAWE, of 8, Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Richardson Fanshawe, Her special licence, that I, the said
Henry Richardson Fanshawe, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such

page_text: others as I, the said Henry Richardson Fanshawe, 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 THE MODE AND MEANS USED IN FISHING IN
SEAS, RIVERS, AND OTHER WATERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Henry. Richardson Fanshawe, 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 Henry Richardson Fanshawe, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
My improvements consist in the employment of a submerged or subaqueous
light for the purpose of alluring or decoying fish and thereby facilitating their
capture, the light I employ being derived from electricity or from the ignition
of oil or gas; or I may employ phosphorized oil or other luminous fluid, or any
means for producing or maintaining a light under or below the surface of the
water; or I may obtain a sufficient volume of light for my purpose - by
reflecting light from above upon submerged reflectors.
I place within a globe of glass, which glass may be either plain or coloured,
a lamp, and I supply the same with air by the use of flexible tubing or by any
available means, and I protect the said globe by means of a strong wire net or
a suitable metallic frame; or I employ a lantern glazed and so constructed
with a double roof that the air therein becoming rarefied by the heat a
current may be produced, and the lantern thereby rendered self-supplying
with air.
In using any of the herein-before mentioned arrangements of globe, lantern,
or reflectors, the decoy light or reflector is placed or disposed in such a
manner at the required depth that the fish are attracted thereto by the light.
The illuminating apparatus may be lowered to the required depth by any
mechanical arrangement which will answer the purpose desired, but I construct
or fit boats with a well or wells at or near their centre for the purpose of more
conveniently superintending the working or. adjustment of the decoy arrange-
ment, and of seeing when a sufficient number of fish are collected, so that the

page_text: boat may be removed for the purpose of closing the net or nets. When the
electric light is employed the lantern may be sunk before ignition, and
the light extinguished before its withdrawal.
In order that the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, may be particularly described and ascertained, I to
this Specification append a Sheet of Drawings, having figures and letters of
reference marked thereupon, similar letters being used to denote corresponding
parts in each Figure.
In these Drawings Figure 1 is a sectional elevation, and Figure 2 a plan
of one form of lantern I propose to employ, which, as will be seen by reference
to Figure 1, is constructed with a double casing at top or roof. Into the
chamber A, formed by this double casing, is inserted the ingress or air supply
pipe B, while through both casings into the interior of lantern is fitted the
outlet pipe C. The roof is supported on hollow bars or ribs D, D, D, D, D,
D, D, D. The hollow chamber A in roof is closed at bottom, excepting
where the hollow ribs D are fitted to it. These vertical ribs D communicate
by a corresponding number of horizontal passages E, E, E, E, E, E, E, E, in
under part or floor of lantern, with a recess at the centre of same, upon or
in which is placed a lamp F having a central hollow passage G and circular
burner and wick H. Thus is established a perfect system of communication
between the inlet pipe and the burner of lamp for the supply of air thereto.
Between the vertical bars or ribs D are fitted panes or squares of stout and
clear glass J, J, J, J, J, J, J, J. At K is a flanch joint provided with a
washer or ring of vulcanized india-rubber. This joint can be screwed and
unscrewed for the purpose of replenishing the lamp with oil, or of igniting
the same, as may be desired. This lantern is so constructed as to be perfectly
air-tight, and also water-tight, and is so weighted at the bottom as to over-
come the buoyancy which it would otherwise have from the air contained in
it and the tubes attached. The air necessary for the purposes of combustion
enters the hollow chamber A in roof of lantern, passes downwards through
the vertical tubular bars or ribs D, D, D, D, D, D, D, D, and thence along
the horizontal passages E, E, E, E, E, E, E, E, to the under side of lamp F,
and upwards through the central hollow passage G, thus feeding the lamp.
As consumed and rarified the air passes upwards to the outlet pipe C. To
the inlet B and outlet C are attached flexible india-rubber tubes L, L, as will
be herein-after explained.
I have in the Drawings, Figures 1 and 2, shown this lantern as constructed
with eight vertical bars or ribs, and a corresponding number of panes of glass,
but I do not confine myself to that number, but may use more or less

page_text: according to circumstances. The lamp also is shown with a circular burner
and wick, but I do not limit myself to the use of that particular shape or
form. I
propose to supply the lamp with purified fish oil, but prefer to use
oil as free from gelatine as possible, as the lamp may in many cases be in
use for several hours, and means of trimming cannot then be resorted to. I
propose to use oil, inasmuch as it is readily obtainable and capable of appli-
cation in most places where fishing operations are carried on. In some cases,
however, I prefer to employ carburretted hydrogen gas with a burner of a
description suitable for its proper combustion, the gas being supplied from.a
gas holder or reservoir, which may be an india-rubber bag carried in a boat.
In cases where the object of decoying fish may be better attained by
throwing a direct ray of light than by diffusing it equally around, as would
be done by the lantern above described, I construct a lantern of a similar
general description, but wherein I substitute for two, three, or more of the
panes or squares of glass one pieco or pane bent to the required form, and of
a size equal to the united size of the pieces it replaces, and I substitute for
the remaining panes or squares of glass pieces of sheet metal, I employ a
speculum or polished reflector in the interior of obscured part of lantern, so
as to concentrate all the rays of light upon the bent pane of glass in un-
obscured portion of the lantern. If the radius of the fishing ground be of very
considerable extent it may be found desirable to employ an electro-galvanic
or other light of a brilliant nature, when either the light diffusing or light
concentrating form of lantern (with some slight modification to adapt it
to the particular light to be used) will be found suitable if constructed of a
sufficient size.
In the Drawings, Figure 3, is a longitudical section; Figure 4 a transverse
section; and Figure 5 a plan on the scale of one inch to two feet of a
peculiarly constructed or fitted boat, as herein-before alluded to. In these
Figures M is the well for superintending the working and adjustment of the
decoy arrangement. This well is boxed. square, and the walls or sides carried
up in the manner shown in the Drawing, and is provided with doors. A band
windlass N also is provided, around which passes a chain O, O, to the other
end of which is attached the lantern. To the gunwales of the boat are
secured by hinge joints or a short length of chain water and air-tight boxes P, P,
of zinc, iron, or other metal, and a cord or canvass-covered chain passes from
each box underneath the boat to the opposite gunwale of same. These boxes
may be of wood, and then contain india-rubber bags inflated with air. When
in use, the boxes P, P, are in the position shown in Figures 4 and 5, giving
thereby greater steadiness to the boat by increasing its breadth. When not

page_text: in use, they are turned over into the position shown by dotted lines in
Figure 4.
In working the boat with lantern and its lowering arrangements I place
her in the position assigned by previous arrangement with the fishermen, and
having unbolted the top of the lantern and ignited the lamp, rebolted the top
on, and connected the two lengths of flexible tubing L, L, one to the inlet B,
and one to the outlet pipe C, I lower the lantern by means of the windlass N
and chain O, O, to the desired depth; this, in many cases, will be found to be
about half the depth from the surface to the bottom. It will be obvious that
the tubes must be of such a length that at all depths to which the lantern
may be lowered their ends may be above the surface of the water, and I
prefer to maintain them in a position about eight feet above the water,
.bending their upper ends downwards to prevent water and spray from
entering, and the wind from disturbing the current of air in the apparatus,
as it may otherwise cause too great pressure on the ingress and impede the
escape of the bad air from the outlet pipe. In some cases the light may be
required to be stationary, in others it may be found advantageous to move
slowly in any one particular direction as may be previously agreed upon. In
working or manoeuvring the well boat and lantern much must depend upon the
nature of the bottom, the depth, and also the habits of the particular kind of
fish sought after, which will be known best by experienced fishermen. When
a sufficient time has elapsed for the fish to congregate in the locality of the
light, the boat can (after drawing up the lantern and air tubes) be removed,
in order to enable the fishermen to carry out their operations.
In line fishing similar operations are carried out, taking care always that
the baited hooks are placed in a horizontal or nearly horizontal line, and to
employ the reflector lantern as herein-before described, so as to throw the
light in the direction of the line or lines. I may effect the lowering and raising
of the lantern or other apparatus to be herein-after referred to, acting instead
of the lantern as the decoy light, by other means than the well boat and
windlass, for instance, I may employ tackle upon a spar projecting from
the stem or stern, or other part of a ship or boat, but I am of opinion that the
arrangement of boat fitted as herein-before described, will be found the most
convenient for the carrying out of the operations.
In some cases where it may be found desirable to employ more than one
lantern, a buoy or buoys could be used to sustain the lanterns, and the tubes
supported by a frame of wood or metal fixed upon the said buoy, the ends of the
tubes being carried about eight feet above the buoy, and bent downwards as in
the case herein-before mentioned. To assist in maintaining the steadiness of

page_text: the light, which when in use as a decoy is important, I employ a strap or band
of vulcanized india-rubber between the end of the windlass chain herein-before
mentioned and the ring on the handle of lantern. This strap or band must
be of sufficient strength and length to prevent as far as possible the commu-
nication of the undulating motion of the boat or buoy to the lantern by the
extension (due to its elasticity) of the said strap or band. I protect the said
strap or band by placing a chain or chains of greater length than the said
strap or band in such manner that the chain or chains will hang loose, and
upon any sudden snatch, or motion on the surface of the water, the chain or
chains will limit the extension of the strap or band, and prevent its breakage.
In moderately smooth waters the use of this strap or band will not be neces-
sitated.
.
In some cases when lines are used, as for cod, salmon, and other fishing,
and also for angling, I propose to employ as a decoy at or near to the bait on
the usual line a small globe, or other shaped vessel of glass, of from two to
four inches in diameter, having a neck of about two inches in diameter ribbed
externally. In the globe or other vessel I place a quantity of small shot,
equal in weight to about three times the weight of the glass vessel, and I
pour into about half the depth of the said vessel common phosphorized oil
or other luminous fluid for the purpose of illuminating the same. When in
use I supply the air necessary to maintain the luminosity of the said fluid by
means of a vulcanized india-rubber tube of a quarter of an inch or thereabouts
in diameter, having an enlarged or trumpet-shaped end, so as to fit closely
around the ribbed neck of the glass vessel, and this tube is extended upwards,
and passes through, and is supported by a cork or other float at the surface of
water, the end of the tube being carried above the surface of water, and then
bent downwards as is done with all the tubes herein-before mentioned in con-
nection with my other arrangements. I also attach a string or cord from the
neck of the said glass vessel to the float. I prefer to protect the said glass
vessel when in use by surrounding it with a frame or network of wire. When
not in use I stopper the glass vessel with a cork, and keep it away from the
light.
In all cases where india-rubber tube is mentioned in this Specification, I
would have it understood that it must be vulcanized india-rubber tube, and
must be of the description known as suction tube, and in all cases where glass
is mentioned, the glass may either be plain or coloured in any way that may
be found to give the tone of light best suited for the purposes herein described
and for the particular kind of fish sought after.
I employ in some cases a mirror or polished surface to act as a reflector of

page_text: the sun's rays, or at night to reflect those of the moon, or of lamps or lights
placed superficially above the water, and by means of cords or chains herein-
after mentioned I regulate the angular position of the said reflector so as to
suit the particular position of the upper rays of light, whether of natural or of
artificial light. I find that in very clear water a lantern similar to that termed
the bull's eye lantern produces from the side of the boat or vessel a strong
reflected ray of light upon the submerged reflector, but the plan of employing
reflectors answers well only in very clear waters. When the bull's eye lantern
is employed the reflector therein should be placed higher, and at a more acute
angle than is the case in the common bull's eye lamp, and the lens should be
placed at the corresponding angle, so that there shall be no necessity to inter-
fere with the upright position of the wick or lamp. The reflecting submerged
surface must be weighted, and have four cords or chains as herein-before
mentioned leading up to a boat, and fastened to the gunwale, on to pegs or
hooks.
Having now (by this Specification and appended Sheet of Drawings) par-
ticularly described and ascertained the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I claim the employment of a
submerged or subaqueous light for the purpose of alluring or decoying fish,
and thereby facilitating their capture, which light may be derived from elec-
tricity, or from the ignition of oil, or of gas, or from phosphorized oil, or other
luminous fluid, or by any means for producing or maintaining a light under
or below the surface of the water, or by reflecting natural or artificial light
from above the surface of the water upon submerged reflectors.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Richardson Fanshawe, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
HENRY RICHARDSON FANSHAWE. (L.B.)