IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR SIZING, DRESSING, AND FINISHING THREADS, YARNS, TEXTILE FABRICS, AND PAPER
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Elijah Slack, of the City of Manchester, in the
County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS
FOR SIZING, DRESSING, AND FINISHING THREADS, YARNS, TEXTILE FABRICS,
AND PAPER."
Sealed the 30th May 1871, and dated the 14th December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Elijah Slack at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th December 1870.
I, ELIJAH SLACK, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “Iи-
PROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR SIZING, DRESSING, AND FINISHING THREADS, YARNS,
TEXTILE FABRICS, AND PAPER," to be as follows:-
For one composition I first take from eight to ten parts of China
clay or other aluminous or silicious earth and add to it three parts of
caustic soda or potash in its cold state at full strength 72° Twaddell,
and after the substances are well mixed together they are allowed to
lay from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. I now pass the mixture
through a coarse sieve and after adding to it two parts of farina allow

page_text: it to lay from six to twelve hours. I now add four parts of sago, flour,
rice, maize or Indian corn, starch, or any other farinaceous matter, and
then pass it all through a fine wire sieve and afterwards dry it. To this
compound I now add from one and a half to two parts of refined alum
and mix well together, and also add two parts of Epsom salts or common
salt, then grind all together and pass it through a fine sieve of from
eighty to one hundred wires to the inch, I now mix it with from sixty-
five to one hundred gallons of cold water according to the strength
required, after which the compound is well agitated, then allowed to
steep from twenty-four to forty-eight hours, and afterwards boiled in a
boiler of the usual kind with agitators in a similar manner to size made
of flour, or it can be boiled in the sizing box from which it is used, and
although I recommend the steeping process the composition can be made
without it.
In another composition I take about ten parts of China clay or similar
earth prepared with one part and a half of caustic soda or potash of full
strength 72° Twaddell, as before mentioned, and three parts of farina, sago
flour, rice, Indian corn starch, or any other farinaceous matter in addition
to four parts of Epsom salts, the mixture being well mixed together and
ground and passed through a fine sieve as before mentioned.
In another modification I take one and a half parts of Epsom salts
and one part of dextrine, sago, bleached or unbleached starch, Indian
corn, starch, flour, or instead of the dextrine any of the common British
gums or gum substitutes now in use, or any of the foreign gums, such
as gum Senegal, or East India gum, or other gums of this description, but
I prefer to use the dextrine as it is a much lighter and better colour
than any of the others.
The principle of my Invention consists in the treatment or preparation
of China clay or other similar aluminous or silicious earth with caustic
soda or potash as before mentioned, and to be mixed with farina, sago,
flour, Indian corn, starch, or maize, or any other farinaceous or gummy
matters with the addition of prepared or refined alum in combination
with Epsom salts or common salt as above mentioned. I can use instead
of the above salts a little turpentine or methylated spirits, and there are
many other substances which will answer this purpose, but I find Epsom
salts or common salt the best and cheapest. The China clay or other
earth can also be prepared by boiling the caustic soda or potash and
then adding a small quantity of tallow, say, about one and a half pounds

page_text: of tallow to twenty-one pounds of caustic soda or potash, and then be
thickened up
with about fifty-six pounds of China clay or other earth
with the addition of the alum and Epsom salts or common salt, and after
the mixture is dried and ground it is ready for mixing with any of the
farinaceous or gummy matters.
I prefer dextrine, farina, sago, or flour to the other substances
mentioned, and I find any of these compositions or preparations to
answer without the use of either tallow or soap, and also that they adhere
to the yarn and weave much better than any other preparation now
in use, but they can be used in combination with either tallow or soap
when desired.
I have stated the proportions of the several parts as suitable for many
descriptions of goods, but I do not confine myself to these proportions
but vary them as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Elijah Slack in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ELIJAH
SLACK, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Elijah Slack, Her special license that I,
the said Elijah Slack, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Elijah Slack, 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 "IMPROVED COMPOSITIONS FOR SIZING, DRESSING,
AND FINISHING THREADS, YARNS, TEXTILE FABRICS, AND PAPER," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Elijah Slack, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or

page_text: 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 Elijah Slack, 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 (that is to say)
:-
For one composition I first take from eight to ten parts of China clay
or other aluminous or silicious earth and add to it three parts of caustic
soda or potash in its cold state at full strength 72° Twaddell, and after
the said substances are well mixed together I allow them to remain at
rest from twenty-four to forty-eight hours. I then pass the said mixture
through a coarse sieve or mix it in any other suitable manner, and after
adding to it two parts of farina allow it to lay from six to twelve hours. I
then add from four to eight parts of sago, flour, rice, maize or Indian corn,
starch, or any other farinaccous matter and then pass it all through a
fine wire sieve and let it stand about 6 hours, and afterwards dry it in
a stove or warm room in the usual way. To this compound I add from
one and a half to two parts of refined alum and mix well together, and
also add two parts of Epsom salts or common salt (chloride of sodium),
then grind all together and pass it through a fine sieve of from eighty
one hundred wires to the inch. I now mix it with from sixty-five to
one hundred gallons of cold water to the bag of two hundredweight and
a half according to the strength required, after which the compound is
well agitated, then allowed to steep from twenty-four to forty-eight hours
and afterwards boiled in a boiler of the usual kind with agitators in a
similar manner to size made of flour, or it can be boiled in the sizing
box from which it is used, and although I recommend the steeping
process the composition can be made without it.
As a modification of the said composition I take about ten parts
of China clay or similar earth prepared with one part and a half of
caustic soda or potash of full strength 72° Twaddell as before mentioned
and three parts of farina, sago, flour, wheaten flour, rice, Indian corn,
starch, or any other farinaceous matter, and add about four parts of
Epsom salts, the whole being well mixed together, and dried, ground,
and passed through a fine sieve as before mentioned.

page_text: The principle of my Invention consists in the treatment or prepara-
tion of China clay or other similar aluminous or silicious earths with
soda, caustic soda, potah, or caustic ash, but I prefer caustic soda or
potash as before mentioned, and to be mixed with farina, sago, flour, or
wheaten flour, maize, or Indian corn, starch, mandioca, or any other
farinaceous or gummy matters, with the addition of prepared or refined
alum in combination with Epsom salts or common salts as before
mentioned. I can use instead of the above salts a little turpentine or
methylated spirits, and there are many other substances which will
answer this purpose, but I find Epsom salts or common salts (chloride of
sodium) the best and cheapest. The China clay or other earth can also
be prepared by boiling the caustic soda or potash and then adding a small
quantity of tallow, say, about one and a half pounds to two and a half
pounds of tallow to twenty-one pounds of caustic soda or potash and then
be thickened up with about fifty-six pounds of China clay or other earth,
it is then dried and the prepared alum and Epsom or common salt is added
and ground, when it is ready for mixing with any of the farinaceous or
gummy matters.
This modification being principally intended for sizing, I prefer
dextrine, farina, sago, or flour to the other substances mentioned, and I
find any of these compositions or preparations answer without the use
of either tallow or soap, and also that they adhere to the yarn and weave
much better than any other preparation now in use, but they can be used
in combination with either tallow or soap when desired.
I have stated the proportions of the several parts as suitable for many
descriptions of goods, but I do not confine myself to these proportions
but vary them as required.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said
Invention and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I
desire it to be understood that I claim for sizing, dressing, and finishing
threads, yarns, textile fabrics, and paper, the preparation of China clay
or other similar aluminous or silicious earth by treating it with caustic
soda or caustic potash, and the admixture of the product with farinaceous
or gummy matters with or without the addition of prepared or refined
alum in combination with Epsom or common salt in the proportions
herein-before described or varied according to the qualities or strengths

page_text: of the different ingredients and the strengths and qualities of the goods
to be operated upon.
In witness whereof, I, the said Elijah Slack, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the within-named Elijah
Slack in the presence of
G. SEPTIMUS HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
ELIJAH SLACK. (L.S.)