IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF PAPER, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE IN THE PRODUCTION OF ALKALINE AND OTHER SALTS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Donald McCrummen, of Gourock, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF PAPER, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
Sealed the 25th January 1859, and dated the 5th August 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Donald McCrummen at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th August 1858.
I, DONALD MCCRUMMEN, of Gourock, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF PAPER, WHICH IMPROVE-
MENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE IN THE PRODUCTION OF ALKALINE AND OTHER SALTS," to
be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the application, use, and treatment of marine plants,
heaths or heather, and other vegetable productions, as well for the manu-
facture of paper as for the production of alkaline and other salts of ao
commercially valuable character.
In carrying out this Invention in practise, the plants, whether marine or
otherwise, are primarily cut into short lengths or into slices, and the reduced
or severed mass is then repeatedly washed in or exposed to the action of
boiling water, with or without the aid of steam pressure.. This treatment

page_text: is pursued until the vegetable matters are completely divested of saline
ingredients or properties. The vegetable matter or insoluble residuum is then
boiled or otherwise treated with caustic soda or a mixture of soda and lime,
or with a mineral acid for the purpose of disintegrating the fibres. The mass
is then washed in pure water and then dried in a stove, or otherwise, in order
to its final conversion into pulp as suited for paper makers. The fluid used
in the different washings of the vegetable matters is collected and subjected to
the action of heat until evaporated to dryness, leaving the different salts fit
either for the market or for the operations of the manufacturing chemist.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Donald McCrummen in 'the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st February 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DONALD
McCRUMMEN, of Gourock, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Donald McCrummen, Her special license that I, the said Donald
McCrummen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Donald McCrummer, my executors, administrators, or assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
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 MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF PAPER, WHICH IMPROVE-
MENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE-IN-THE-PRODUCTION OF ALKALINE AND OTHER SALTS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Donald McCrummen, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Donald McCrummen, do hereby declare
the nature of my, said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the application, use, and treatment of marine
plants, heaths, or heather, and other vegetable productions, as well for the
manufacture of paper as for the production of alkaline and other salts of a
commercially valuable character.
In carrying out this Invention in practice, the plants, whether marine or
otherwise, are primarily cut into short lengths, or into slices, and such as are
of a firm or solid texture are crushed or bruised, so as to yield more readily
their saline properties to the action of boiling water. The reduced or severed
mass is then repeatedly washed in or exposed to the action of boiling water,
with or without the aid of steam, hydrostatic or other pressure. This treat-
ment is pursued until the vegetable matters are completely divested of saline
ingredients or properties. The vegetable matter or insoluble residuum is then
boiled or otherwise treated with caustic soda, or a mixture of soda and lime,
or with a mineral acid, varying in strength according to the texture of the
mass, for the purpose of completely disintegrating and softening the fibres.
When reduced to the proper consistency, the insoluble mass is washed in
pure water, and then dried in a stove, or otherwise, so as to be in a fit con-
dition to be employed as a new and cheap material of home produce adapted
for the purpose of being used separately or mixed with other fibrous substances
in the production of "half-stuff" or pulp for the manufacture of paper, mill-
board, and papier maché; and such portions of the mass as may be deficient
in fibre, may be profitably employed in the production of portable manure, or
for other purposes.
The fluids used in the different washings of the vegetable matters are
collected and subjected to the action of heat until they are evaporated to
dryness, leaving the different salts fit for the market and for the operations of
the manufacturing chemist.
The separation of the soluble from the insoluble portions of the plants, and
the reduction of the latter to a certain consistency, may be accomplished in
various ways according to circumstances, the essence of the Invention being
the first application of the principle, whereby the soluble and valuable
ingredients of marine and other plants can be extracted by a direct process
not hitherto pursued, whilst at the same time the insoluble tissues and fibres
are preserved to be utilized for the herein-before described and many other
purposes. The present improved process can be carried on all the year round,
whereas by the present practice, sea plants are first burnt into ashes or kelp,
which can only be done during summer, before obtaining the salts, of which a

page_text: considerable portion of the most valuable kind is dissipated in the combustion,
and the tissues and fibres of the plant are entirely destroyed.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into. effect, I may observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,
the simultaneous or consecutive manufacture of paper and alkaline and
other salts from marine plants, heaths, or heather, and other vegetable.
productions, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Donald McCrummen, have hereunto
set my. hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-nine.
D. MCRUMMEN. (L.S.)