CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OP SUGAB, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO EVAPORATION GENERALLY, ALSO IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PREPARING THE CANE-TRASH TO BE USED AS FUEL
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HOOD CLEMENT, of the City of Philadelphia, in the United States of America,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-first day of November, in the twelfth
year Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Hood Clement, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said William Hood Clement, my exors, adññiors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Hood Clement, my exors,
adiiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OP
SUGAB, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS IS APPLICABLE TO EVAPORATION GENERALLY,
ALSO IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PREPARING THE CANE-TRASH TO BE USED AS FUEL,"
being partly a communication from a foreigner residing abroad; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said William Hood
Clement, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to

page_text: describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court-of-Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Hood Clement, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
That part of my Invention which consists in improvements in the manu-
facture of sugar has reference to the whole process of that manufacture from
the crushing of the sugar cane to the crystallization and curing of the sugar.
Part of the apparatus which I employ in evaporating the syrup I propose also
to apply to evaporation generally; and, lastly, the cane-trash or refuse woody
matters of the cane I propose to prepare so as to render it fit to use as a fuel.
I will describe these improvements under several heads.
Under the first head I will include all the mechanical arrangements for
the better manufacture of sugar from the cane, and which consists partly of
improvements on an apparatus of my Invention, which was patented in the
name of Alfred Vincent Newton on the Twenty-third day of July, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-six, as a communication from me, under the
title of "Certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Sugar." I will also
indicate under this head those parts of my Invention which I consider appli-
cable to evaporation generally.
Under the second head will describe the improved apparatus for the pre-
paration of the cane-trash or "bagass" to be used as a fuel.
And under the third and last head I will describe certain new processes for
the clarification of saccharine solutions.
I will now commence the description with the improvement in the mill for
crushing the cane.
A diagram of this mill is shewn in Sheet II. of the accompanying Drawings
at Fig. 3. The crushing rollers it will be perceived are four in number. The
cane first enters the mill between the rollers c and a, and thence passing
between the rollers c and b comes out from the mill between the rollers c and d,
thus receiving three distinct bites or pressures. The two rollers a and b are
made of equal but of somewhat less diameter than the two rollers c and d,

page_text: which are also of equal diameter. The rollers are placed in their frames of
housings in such a position that the centre of the last roller d shall be higher
than that of the first roller a, and consequently more nearly on a horizontal line
with the centre of the upper roller c. By this arrangement, the cane after
receiving the last pressure is brought out from between the two rollers c and d
nearly in a vertical position, in which position the juice runs more freely from
the crushed cane, and is not so easily absorbed by its spongy texture. The
surfaces of all the rollers are caused to travel at an equal speed by the usual
arrangement of cog wheels on their shafts. e, e, are stationary guides for
directing the course of the cane from one bite of the rollers to the next
succeeding bite. The juice is run directly from the mill on to a filtering
apparatus, and thence passes to the evaporating apparatus. The construction
of these apparatus and the mode of working the same I will now explain.
. In Sheet I., Fig. 1 represents in horizontal plan view the apparatus for
filtering, clarifying, and evaporating the cane juice; Fig. 2 is a vertical section,
taken longitudinally through the apparatus in the dotted line A....
B of Fig.
1; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section, taken in the dotted line C. . . . D of
Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a transverse section, taken in the line E. . . . F of Fig. 2;
and Fig. 5 is a similar view, taken in the line G... . H in the same
Figure. The juice is conducted on to the filter by a trough g (sce Fig. 1),
which filter is composed of an endless surface of fine wire cloth m travelling
over a pair of rollers 1, 2, mounted at the sides of a small receiver k, and under a
drum n, which turns in bearings in the sides of a tank h, placed immediately
under the receiver k, and containing water. The wire cloth is caused to travel
slowly in the direction of the arrow by means of a band, which passes over a
pulley on the long horizontal shaft i, and under a pulley on the axle of the
drum n, motion being given to the shaft i by a band from any first mover
actuating the pulley *. As the juice from the mill flows on to the upper part
of the wire cloth m it will percolate through and fall into the receiver k, while
the feculent or refuse matters are carried forward by the cloth into the water
tank h. A small cylindrical brush *, which is seen in section at Fig. 3, is
placed in bearings fixed to the sides of the tank h, and a little below the surface
of the water contained therein. As the wire cloth m rotates it travels in
contact with this brush, which it causes to revolve, and thus to brush or wash
off from the cloth the feculent or refuse matters. Another cylindrical
brush m (as will be seen in the Figures 2 and 3) is placed on the opposite
side of the tank h above, the water being fixed on a shaft which revolves in
bearings placed at the top of the sides of the tank. This shaft has a pulley
keyed on to one end (see Fig. 2), which gives rotary motion to the brush by a

page_text: cord from a pulley on the shaft of the drum n. As this brush is caused to
rotate in contact with the wire cloth m, it brushes or wipes it free from the
water it would otherwise carry up with it.
I will here remark, that some lime should be added to the water in the tank
h; and when charged with feculencies this water should be run off to the still-
house through the gutter (Fig. 2), and the tank refilled with fresh water.
The filtered juice runs from the receiver into the heaters e, e, which have a
double bottom to receive steam. This steam, which may be the exhaust steam
from the engine on the works, is conducted under the false bottom of each:
heater by a pipe s*, which is seen at Figs. 1 and 2. A pressure valves (see
Fig. 1) at the end of the pipe s affords the means of regulating the tem-.
perature of the steam in the pipe by loading it for that purpose. The
lime used in the clarification being added to the liquor in the heaters e, e,
the liquor is allowed to run from one of these heaters while the other
is filling
through a ball-cock x into the long narrow shallow boiler or
evaporator a, which is divided into two parts by a partition o*. About one half
of the bottom of the first division 1 of this evaporator has a double bottom, as
at e*, and is heated by steam from the pipe s* after it has passed through the
copper tubes n in this division, shewn in section at Fig. 4. The remainder of
the bottom of the evaporator a is heated by the naked fire in the flue c of the
furnace. The object of this arrangement will presently be made apparent.
At about the centre of the division 1 of the evaporator a is a small trough or
receiver o, which, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 4, loes not reach to the
bottom of the evaporator, but has a pipej passing out of it through the side
wall. The liquor in the division 1 of the evaporator is kept by the arrange-
ment of the ball cocks x nearly on a level with the edge of this trough o. As
liquids circulate in a direction from the hotter to the colder parts of an evapo-
rator, in this case the circulation will be in the direction of the arrow, as the
liquid over the flame in the flue c is more heated than that over the steam in
the double bottom e". The feculencies or scum that by the effect of heat rise
to and on the surface of the liquor are carried with the circulation in the direc-
tion of the arrow, and roll over the edge of tho trough o, from whence they
run through the pipe j and along the canal p and the gutter to the still
house.
I will here remark, that the condensed water under the heaters e, e,
and in the double bottom e, runs into the condensed water box m¹ (see
Fig. 2) through small pipes provided for that purpose. These pipes are
furnished with cocks, which are opened just so much as to allow of the
pressure put on the steam in the pipes, as already stated, being properly

page_text: maintained. The liquor meanwhile is running through a sluice valve in the
partition o into the second division 2 of the evaporator, where from the
greater heat it receives it would naturally tend to rise immediately into foam
and overflow the evaporator; the evaporation of what remained would not,
however, proceed in proportion to the fire surface, while the saccharine par-
ticles would be charred or decomposed by excess of heat. These results are
due to the glutinous nature of saccharine solutions, for the steam generated in
them by heat breaks with difficulty through the glutinous liquid to rise to the
surface and escape, while in so doing it carries up with it the liquid forming a
foam, and thus diminishing the density in an inverse proportion to the increase
of volume. The evaporation of a saccharine liquid at the boiling point is in
direct proportion to its density, and if the density of the liquor in the division
2 of the evaporator is allowed to diminish, all the injurious results I have
described would take place, and the shallow evaporator be worse than useless.
To prevent the liquor rising in foam and diminishing its density, I place in the
division 2 of the evaporator a flat plate of iron a¹, pierced with holes from one
end to the other, and fixed at one end by a hinge or other suitable fastening
to the partition o in such a manner that it shall be horizontal or nearly hori-
zontal in the liquor contained in the evaporator. To the other end of this
plate a rigid rod m² (see Fig. 2) is attached, which is pendant from an excen-
tric stud fixed in a slot in a disc wheel o¹, keyed to a horizontal shaft p'. This
rod m² receives a vibratory motion through a band and the pullies on the shaft i
and p', which cause the disc wheel o' to revolve, and thus a regular vibratory
motion is communicated to the plate a¹. A constant agitation of the liquor in
the evaporator is thus produced, and the glutinous envelope of the steam
bubbles is thereby broken. The steam being thus aided in freeing itself does
not carry up the liquor with it, or cause it to foam and overflow. A slight
foaming on the surface of the liquor, which may be regulated by the length
and the quickness of the stroke given to the agitator a¹, is permitted to take
place, that a further clarification of the liquor may be proceeded with. This
operation is effected by the paddle wheel 9, which as it rotates skims off the
foam and pushes it over the inclined flanch r of the evaporator (see Fig. 5)
into the trough or receiver p*, from which it is raised by the pump & into the
division 1 of the evaporator, where its clarification proceeds with that of the
liquor contained therein. That part of the liquor which is brushed off by
the paddle wheel consists principally of the vegetable albumen contained in
the cane juice, which being partially coagulated by the heat is beaten by the
agitator into a foam, similar to that produced when the whites of eggs (an
analogous substance in the animal organization) are beaten up. The now

page_text: clarified liquor is run from the division 2 of the evaporator through the sluice
valve u into a small concentrator w, where it is subjected to still greater heat
by the nearer proximity to the furnace c'.
In this concentrator an agitator v may be used exactly similar to the one
already described, and worked in the same manner, as will be seen in the
Drawings, or the apparatus represented in vertical section at Fig. 6 may be
employed instead thereof. This agitator (which has also a vacuum effect)
is thus composed:-a is an inverted metal dish, fitting the open boiler b within
about an inch of its sides, and at about the same distance from the bottom of
the boiler when in its lowest position. Rising from a central opening of this
dish is a vertical tube c, which is open to the atmosphere. d, d, are vertical
guide rods, which are attached to the dish a, and work throngh guides in a
horizontal bar e, which is placed across and bolted to the pan or boiler b.
These rods are connected together at their upper ends, and are jointed to the
rod f, through which an up-and-down motion can be communicated to the dish
by arrangements similar to those already described. At the up stroke of the
dish in the liquor contained in the boiler b there will be a partial exhaustion.
in the liquid under the dish, into which will be drawn the steam generating in
the liquid by heat, and which will escape through the tubes c. To further
facilitate the escape of the steam, I have found it advantageous to exhaust the
dish of the steam which it has collected by applying an intermittent jet of
steam to the upper end of the tube c. For this purpose I connect a small
steam pipe with the boiler of the steam engine on the sugar works, and
provide it with a cock, as at 9, the handle for working which is connected
with one of the guide rods d in such manner that it shall be actuated by the
npward and downward motion of the rod, it being made to open the cock at
the ascent, and to shut it at the descent of the dish a. At the end of the
steam pipe a small jet pipe is attached, which dips into the tube c, and has a
return or bent up end, as usual. When the steam issues out of this jet, which
it will do at the ascent of the dish a, it will cause a partial vacuum in the
upper part of the tube c, and the steam below the
that vacuum, the vacated space under the dish
by the steam generating in the liquid. When the steam jet is not used,
a light valve opening outwards may be placed at the upper extremity of the
tube c.
dish will rise to fill up
being immediately filled
I will here remark, that those parts of my improvements which are appli
cable to evaporation generally are the agitator shewn at x¹ (Figures 1
and 2), and that which I have just described, as exhibited at Fig. 6; thus an
agitator similar to ¹ may be placed in the upper division of my improved

page_text: arrangement of steam boiler, the peculiar. construction of which is shewn best
in the longitudinal and transverse sections, Figures 1 and 2 of Sheet II.
When applied to steam generators, the actuating rod of the agitator must
work through a stuffing box in the upper part of the boiler. The agitator a
may be also used in a still. In thus applying it the upper part of the still is
to be closed to the atmosphere, as usual; the tube c without the steam jet is
made to work through a stuffing box in the covering of the still, and also
through a stuffing box in the neck of the worm, and thus form also the guide
for the inverted dish. The agitators in both of these cases will be found to
accelerate the evaporation.
To return to the process of manufacturing sugar. The liquor in the pan w
having been concentrated to a syrup, is baled into the tilt pan y, where it
undergoes a still further concentration until it reaches that degree which is
technically known as the "striking point;" the pan is then lifted on its axis
to throw the charge of liquid sugar into a trough y*, from whence it runs into
the crystalling and curing cases.
Before describing the construction of these cases, I will describe the steam
boilers for generating the steam to grind the cane, and for other purposes.
These it will be seen, by reference to the Figures 1, 2, and 4, Sheet I., are
connected with the evaporators for boiling the sugar; their peculiar con-
struction, as above noticed, is more fully represented in Sheet II. The flames
generated in the furnace c', after having passed under the sugar evaporators,
are conducted into a flue under the upper cylindrical steam boiler A, which is
placed directly over another cylindrical boiler B, and connected therewith by
the tubes a', a', a¹. The flames are then carried downwards in the direction
of the arrow all round the lower boiler B, and also through an excentric
cylindrical flue in this boiler (as shewn by the arrows), until they reach the
chimney shaft. The lower boiler B, which rests on the cross walls b, b, b, is
thus plunged entirely in the fire, and becomes a reservoir of highly-heated
water, which rises to the upper boiler as the water therein is consumed, and
as the supply water is forced into the boiler B through the feed pipe c. A
great fire surface being obtained by this arrangement of the boilers, sufficient
steam is generated in them by the flames that proceed from the furnace c¹
after they have passed under the sugar evaporators to furnish power to grind
the cane, and for other purposes, already and hereafter to be described.
I will here remark, that the furnace h*, seen at Fig. 2, Sheet I., and the
flue c, shewn by dotted lines at Fig. 1, are only used to get up steam in the
first place to grind sufficient cane to fill the evaporators with juice. When
this operation is performed, the furnace * is closed and the furnace e' is alone

page_text: used. The liquid sugar thrown out of the tilt pan y into the trough y*
runs directly into the crystallizing and curing cases, one of which is shewn
in Sheet II. in elevation at Fig. 4, in longitudinal section at Fig. 5,
and in vertical cross section at Fig. 6. This case consists of a rectan-
gular box, mounted on wheels, and divided horizontally into two compart-
ments a and b, (the upper-one of which is open,) by means of two plates
of-iron-c,-c,-which incline_downwards towards the middle of the box, and
are attached to the sides and ends thereof. The plates c, c, are of such
size, that when fixed as described, a narrow longitudinal opening is left
between them from end to end of the box. This opening is closed by a spring
bar, which somewhat exceeds the opening in width, and is capable of being
brought close-up to the under_face of the plates c, c, but has a natural tendency
to take the form of the dotted line in Fig. 5. The ends of the bar are bent
upwards, and turned over the edges of the box, so that a wedge applied
between the turned-over part and the edge of each end of the box will draw
the lower or horizontal part of the spring bar into close contact with the
under sides of the plates c, c, and thus close up the opening between them.
This being done, the liquid sugar from the tilt pan is received in the upper
compartment a of the box, and when it has remained a sufficient time to
crystallize, the wedges which hold up the spring bar are displaced, and the
bar falls, or takes its natural curve. The longitudinal opening is thus left
free, and the molasses or liquid parts contained in the sugar drain into the
lower compartment of the box. To facilitate this separation of the molasses
from the crystallized particles of the sugar, I introduce into the lower com-
partment b a jet of steam, by means of a cock and pipe d in the side of the
box, letting out the air and molasses previously contained therein by a cock e.
As the molasses or liquid parts of the sugar fall the steam will be condensed,
and thus give the molasses an increased tendency to flow down to fill up the
vacuum created in the compartment b. The injection of steam is to be
repeated from time to time until the sugar is completely cured, when the
cases may be run out into the sun or into an oven to dry the sugar before
packing it into casks or bags.
I now come to the second head of my Invention, (viz.,) improved apparatus
for the preparation of the cane-trash or "bagass," to be used as a fuel. I take
the bagass from the mill and spread it on the open space which generally
surrounds the sugar works, I then employ the machine shown in side
elevation at Fig. 7 (Sheet II.) for the purpose of tossing the cane-trash into
the air that it may the more speedily be dried, without undergoing fermenta-
tion, to the destruction of the saccharine matter, which is the most combustible

page_text: part of the bagass. This machine also serves to gather up the bagass and
convey it to the furnace to be consumed.
This machine consists of a cart body supported by a pair of running wheels
which turn on a bent axle that passes under the. machine. In the bottom of
the cart body a trap-door is made for the purpose of discharging the load of
bagass. On the hub of one of the wheels is secured a pulley a, which by a
strong cord or chain can give rotary motion to another pulley b, keyed on to
a shaft or axis revolving in bearings at the upper part of the cart body. On
this shaft is fixed a cylinder c, extending the whole width of the cart body,
and over the cylinder travel two endless chains, one at each end. These chains
are carried under another cylinder d, which revolves in bearings at the lower
part of the back of the cart body. Firmly fixed to the two endless chains,
and extending from one to the other, are horizontal bars of iron armed with
slightly curved hooks or tines, as at e. As the machine is drawn forward
rotary motion is given to the cylinder c by the cord and the pulleys a and b,
which motion is communicated to the endless chains and bars, the hooks
attached to which collect the bagass spread out on the ground and carry it up
an inclined plane f forming the tail of the cart. When the machine is
required to toss the bagass or cane-trash into the air and distribute it over the
ground, a tail board g, which is capable of sliding in grooves in the sides of
the machine, is made to close the cart, as shewn; the cane-trash will then,
instead of being deposited in the cart, be thrown into the air and fall upon the
ground, thus presenting a different surface of the bagass to the action of the
air and the sun's rays. When the bagass is sufficiently dry the machine is
drawn over the ground (the tail board g being raised) and the cart body is
quickly filled. The dry bagass is then carried to the furnace and is ready to
be used as a fuel.
I will now complete the description of my Invention under the third and
last head, which will comprize several processes of clarification. The first of
these is principally applicable to saccharine solutions of little specific gravity,
such as the native juices of the cane and the beetroot. These juices contain
large quantities of vegetable albumen, which substance does not completely
coagulate at the boiling point of these liquids in the open air, but requires a
considerably higher temperature to be thus affected. This higher temperature
the juices heated in the open air cannot attain until their density has been
increased by the evaporation of the aqueous particles, but when this takes
place the vegetable albumen although coagulated cannot be completely
separated from the saccharine solution. This arises from the glutinous nature

page_text: of these. liquids, which is necessarily increased as the density increases,
rendering it more and more difficult to separate from them any foreign sub-
stance. they_may_contain. To coagulate completely the vegetable albumen
contained in a saccharine solution, without at the same time increasing the
density, I place the solution in a close vessel or clarifier provided with a safety
valve and a thermometer. In this vessel the solution is heated by steam or
otherwise, the safety valve being loaded, so as to prevent the escape of the
steam.or vapor from the liquid in the vessel until the thermometer indicates
as high a temperature in the liquid as it will bear without injury to the
saccharine particles, and which will depend to a certain extent on the quality
of the saccharine solution. The vegetable albumen being thus completely
coagulated without the density of the liquid having been increased, it may be
casily separated either by filtration or by the more common process of
scumming. I will here remark, that the lime used to aid the clarification may
be added to the liquor either before or after it is submitted to this process,
which I will term "a high-pressure clarification," as the manufacturer may
find most advantageous.
I will now describe the second process of clarification. It is well known
that many of the metallic oxides have affinities for the organic impurities
contained in saccharine solutions, and that they will combine with and
precipitate them. It is also known that these oxides combine more readily
with the impurities when they are presented to them in a nascent state,
from their salts or compounds. In some of these compounds the base or the
oxide has so weak an affinity for the acid that it is simply sufficient to
dissolve the salt in the saccharine solution, when it decomposes, and the
oxide is presented in a nascent state to the impurities. With other
salts this decomposition does not so easily take place. In such cases it
has been found necessary to add an alkali or alkaline earth, which by com-
bining with the acid of the salt will set free the oxide or base. There are
objections to this application of an alkali or alkaline earth to saccharine
solutions, for on account of the specific gravity of such solutions and the
chemical affinity of the saccharine particles for the alkali, it requires to be
used in excess, and the alkali combines with the sugar either directly, or forms
with it a triple compound of sugar, alkali, and the oxide employed. Either
of these results would be injurious to the production of sugar. To present
the base of a salt in a nascent state to the impurities of a saccharine solution
without the aid of an alkali or alkaline earth, or without using an excess of
the alkali, I avail myself of the agency of electricity, preferring to employ

page_text: it in that form known as galvanic. I place the saccbarine solution in a
suitable vessel open to the air, and in which it may be heated, such as a
wooden box, with tubes or pipes to receive steam. Having dissolved in the
solution the salt to be used in the clarification, I connect the negative end or
pole of a galvanic battery by a wire or other suitable conductor to a plate of
metal, which I prefer to he platinum; this plate I enclose in a porous vessel
or bag open at top, and fill the vessel with water, or with water containing in
solution some of the salt that I have dissolved in the saccharine liquid.
Having now immersed the porous vessel in the solution to be clarified with the
upper or open part out of the solution, I connect the positive pole or end of
the galvanic battery in the proper manner with a plate of metal, which I
also place in the solution opposite to and at a short distance from the
porous vessel.
This plate of metal thus becomes the negative end or
electrode of the galvanic circuit, the porous vessel or bag containing the
positive electrode. The galvanic battery being in action, a current of electri-
city circulates through the saccharine solution, decomposing the salt dissolved
therein, the base of which proceeds to the negative electrode and combines
there with the impurities. This combination is much promoted by heating
the solution, as the intensity of the electrical action is thereby increased, and
at the same time the liquid is caused to circulate and bring all parts of it
successively in contact with the negative electrode. The acid of the salt
proceeds to the positive electrode in the porous vessel, from which it may be
drawn off, or the porous vessel may be lifted out of the solution and the acid
emptied out of it. When the salt used in the clarification contains an oxide,
which is reduced by secondary action at the negative electrode, I enclose this
electrode in a porous vessel, which should be filled with water, and care
should be taken in all cases that the electrodes do not come in contact with
the tubes for beating the solution. A series of electrodes may be placed in
the solution at short distances apart, a positive being connected with a
negative, and the two extreme electrodes unconnected with the others, but
connected with the poles of the galvanic battery. A saccharine solution,
clarified by a metallic oxide either in the manner described or in any other
manner, may contain some of the salt or part of the oxide of the salt that
has been used in combination with its saccharine particles, and which it will
be necessary to separate from them. To effect this separation I still avail
myself of the agency of electricity after having removed by the usual means
the precipitated impurities. To render the application of electricity more
economical, I first add to the solution or decomposing agent, which, by com-

page_text: bining chemically with the greater part of the oxide, will leave a less quantity
to be separated by the electricity. The phosphates of lime and of soda and
the sulphuret of calcinum are good decomposing agents, and among the first
mentioned of these granulated phosphate of lime, which may be produced by
burning to whiteness granulated animal charcoal that is no longer suitable for
decolorizing, may be used in the following manner:-I form with this granu-
lated phosphate a filter similar to an animal charcoal filter, as now used for
decolorizing, by placing a bed of the phosphate in a box or case. In this bed
I place a porous vessel, open at top, filled with water slightly acidulated with
sulphuric acid, and immerse therein a plate of zinc or of iron as the positive
element of a galvanic pair, I then connect by a wire or strip of metal this
positive element with a plate of a negative metal which I have imbedded in
the phosphate opposite to the positive element. I thus form one or more
series of galvanic pairs in the filter. I then allow the saccharine solution
containing the oxide to run through this filter, when the following results will
be found to have taken place:-The current of electricity which is generated
by the galvanic pairs circulates through the saccharine solution which is in
contact with the phosphate of lime, and causes a deposition of the metal of
part of the oxide or salt in combination with the sugar on the negative plate,
while the remainder of the oxide combines with the phosphoric acid of the
phosphate, which is set free partly by the electric action, partly by any free
acid contained in the saccharine solution (and which acid may be a result of
the process of clarification) combining with the base of the phosphate and also
by the acid, which by exosmic action passes through the porous vessel or
vessels combining with this base. Thus, an insoluble phosphate of the
metallic oxide is formed, which remains in the filter while the saccharine
solution comes from it free from the oxide. It may now be desirable to pass
this clarified solution through an animal charcoal filter to complete its clari-
fication and decolorization, and in so doing I will describe my last process of
clarification, which, it will be understood, is also applicable to those saccharine
solutions which have been clarified by any other process.
The granulated animal charcoal being contained as usual in a case or vessel
of metal (which should be insulated), I connect this case by a wire with the
positive pole of a galvanic battery. Having imbedded in the centre of the
body of the charcoal a porous vessel filled with water or with slightly acidulated
water, I place in this vessel a plate of metal, which I prefer to be of platinum,
and connect this plate in the proper manner with the negative end or pole of
the galvanic battery, thus making it the positive electrode. By this arrange-

page_text: ment a current of electricity is circulated through the saccharine solution in
contact with the charcoal, which will be found to promote the different com-
binations that take place between the animal charcoal and those partially
clarified saccharine solutions that may be placed in contact with it.
Having now clearly described all the different parts of my Invention, I wish
it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim,-
Firstly, the arrangement of the crushing rollers of the mill as shewn in the
Drawings, for the purpose above described.
Secondly, the application of the brushes to the filtering apparatus.
Thirdly, the improved arrangements for heating and scumming the liquor
in the first division 1 of the evaporator a.
Fourthly, the several means herein-before described for agitating liquids
and effecting their more rapid evaporation, and, in the case of saccharine
solutions, for preventing them being injuriously affected by heat.
.
Fifthly, the arrangement of the steam boilers in connection with the
evaporators, as shewn in the Drawings.
Sixthly, the peculiar construction of double chamber crystallizing and
curing cases, or any mere modification thereof.
Seventhly, the apparatus above described for preparing the cane-trash to
be used as fuel.
Eighthly, the process of clarification which I have termed "the high-
pressure clarification."
Ninthly, the precipitating of the impurities contained in saccharine solutions
by causing the base of a salt or an "ion" of a chemical compound to
combine with the impurities in the solution through the instrumentality of
electricity, as above described.
Tenthly, the use or application of electricity to separate from combination
with the sugar of a saccharine solution, and to precipitate any salt or oxide
which results from the process of clarification.
And, lastly, the circulating of a current of electricity through a bed of
charcoal to promote the different combinations which take place when a
partially clarified saccharine solution is in contact with the charcoal.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hood Clement, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
WILLIAM H. (L.S.) CLEMENT.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of May, in the
year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid William Hood Clement came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor-of-the Statute made for that purpose.