A NEW AND. IMPROVED COMPOSITION TO BE USED AS FUEL, AND IN THE LIGHTING OF FIRES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bennett, of 14ª, London Street, Padding-
ton, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A NEW AND.
IMPROVED COMPOSITION TO BE USED AS FUEL, AND IN THE LIGHTING OF FIRES."
Sealed the 31st January 1862, and dated the 19th August 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bennett at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition on the 19th
August 1861.
I, WILLIAM BENNETT, of 14°, London Street, Paddington, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
AND IMPROVED COMPOSITION TO BE USED AS FUEL, AND IN THE LIGHTING OF FIRES,"
to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention consists in a new composition or substitute to .
be used in lieu of wood and paper now generally consumed or used for the
lighting of fires. This article or composition which I denominate "composite
fuel" is manufactured from peat saturated with resin and spirit.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Bennett in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th February 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, J, WILLIAM
BENNETT, of 14ª, London Street, Paddington, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Bennett, Her special licence that I, the said William
Bennett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Bennett, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "A NEW AND
IMPROVED COMPOSITION TO BE USED AS FUEL, AND IN THE LIGHTING OF FIRES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Bennett, my exe-
cutors 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 William Bennett, 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 fol-
lowing statement (that is to say) :-
My new and improved composition for fuel, and the lighting of fires, consists
mainly of peat and resin, the addition of spirits of turpentine is sometimes an
advantage, but generally the manufacture is equally as good without it.
The mode of manufacture is as follows:-The peat having been cut from
its bed in blocks about a foot square, is put to drain for a short time, and is
then cut to flat pieces about one-and-a-half inch thick, these are thoroughly
dried by artificial heat or the sun, and then sawn or cut into pieces one-and-
a-half inch square by six inches long, the resin is then melted by heat, and if
not sufficiently fluid, a little turpentine is added, the pieces of peat are then

page_text: immersed, and withdrawn immediately. By this process they become partly
saturated with the resin, that is, they are allowed to take up and absorb
as much of the resin as will penetrate and adhere to the peat, but I dis-
claim the word saturation in its fullest sense, as the blocks are sometimes
only coated with the resin, and yet are in this state what is desired, that is,
good for fuel or lighting of fires, inodorous, impervious to wet or damp, and
perfectly clean to handle.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying it into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself
to the size or form of the peat, the time or duration of immersion, or the
extent of saturation, neither do I limit myself to the quality of the resin, as
I use all kinds from the semi-transparent to the commonest, or that called
pitch; but what I claim, is, the manufacture of fire-lighters and fuel by the
immersion or dipping of dried peat into melted resin as before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bennett, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
JOSEPH COOKE,
2, Bennett's Hill,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM BENNETT. (L.S.)