A CERTAIN CHEMICAL COMBINATION FOR THE SILICATISATION OF CALCAREOUS MATTERS
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau,
of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier,
Paris, Agent for obtaining Patents of Inventions, for the Invention
of "A CERTAIN CHEMICAL COMBINATION FOR THE SILICATISATION OF
CALCAREOUS MATTERS."-A communication.
Sealed the 8th December 1852, and dated the 13th October 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Armand
Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau at the Office of the Commis-
sioners of Patents, with his Petition, ont he 13th October 1852.
1, PETER ARMAND LE COMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South
Street, Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, Agent for
obtaining Patents of Inventions, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A CERTAIN CHEMICAL COMBINATION FOR THE SILICATISATION
OF CALCAREOUS MATTERS " to be as follows, that is to say:
The Invention consists in the reaction of soluble silicates upon salts
of lime, by which the different kinds of calcareous stones employed for
buildings and other purposes are converted into silicates, and in that
state resist more effectually the effects of time and temperature.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau in
the Great Scal Patent Office, on the 13th April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
PETER ARMAND LE COMTE DE FONTAINE MOREAU, of 4, South Street,
Finsbury, London, and 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, Agent for
obtaining Patents of Inventions, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, Her
special licence that 1, the said Peter Armand Le Comte de Fontaine
Moreau, 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
"A CERTAIN CHEMICAL COMBINATION FOR THE SILICATISATION OF CALCAREOUS
MATTERS," communicated to me by a certain foreigner residing
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Peter
Armand Le Comte de Fontaine Moreau, 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 Peter Armand Le Comte de
Fontaine Moreau, do hereby declare the nature of the 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:
The Invention consists in applying the soluble silicate of potash to
hardening and preserving calcareous stones and matters, and is based

page_text: upon the reaction of silicate of potash on the lime of such calcareous
matters, and its consequent conversion into silicate of lime.
I use the soluble silicate of potash in the state it is found in
commerce, or I prepare it in the usual way, taking by preference that
which is the richest in silicious matter. The concentration of the
solution varies from ten to twenty degrees, according to the nature of
the calcareous matters, or their state of friability or deterioration.
The silicatising operation is applicable to isolated stones for the
construction of buildings or monuments, to calcareous matters applied
to the construction of roads according to the system of McAdam, and
to buildings or monuments after their construction, either in a perfect
state of preservation, or after having suffered the injurious effects of
time and the inclemencies of the weather. It is likewise applicable
to the hardening and preservation of fossil bones, stucco, and cal-
careous cements, and to the latter also when applied to unite or cover
stones employed for building purposes.
By the application of the silicate of potash upon buildings constructed
of calcareous materials of the kind above described they will acquire an
unalterable covering and a hardness that will permit of the most friable
stones, after being treated, receiving a fine polish.
White marble for statues or buildings may likewise be rendered
unalterable by my method of silicatisation.
Care must be taken that the silicate should not contain more than
the necessary quantity of free alkali, as any excess would have the effect
of forming deliquescent salts in the interior of the stones, which would
keep them in a constant state of huniidity.
To treat calcareous stones before being employed, I plunge them into
a solution of silicate of potash, and leave them immersed during a time
the duration of which varies according to the texture of the stones and
the concentration of the bath. Compact rock stones require five or
six days inmersion, and soft calcareous substances only two or three
days.
3
To silicatise a monument or building after its construction I either
apply the silicate of potash in a state of solution by means of sponges
or brushes, and apply it until it has penetrated deeply into the stone.

page_text: Or the impregnation is effected by means of coverings furnished with
tow, sponges, or other substance susceptible of retaining humidity.
Before the application of the covering to the surfaces to be silicatised
I first impregnate the covering with solution of silicate of potash by
any convenient means.
The form and dimensions of the coverings vary according to the
form and dimensions of the sides of the buildings to be treated. The
covering is first imbibed with solution of silicate of potash, then placed
and maintained in contact with the surfaces to be silicatised, by all con-
venient means.. Directly the first coat of silicate is absorbed by the
stone, I take care to furnish the covering with another coat of solution.
The covering is kept in its place the necessary time for effecting a
complete reaction between, the silicate of the solution and the lime of
the stones. The duration of the operation depends upon the hardness
of the stones. The hardening of the calcareous stones and matters is
not immediate; it becomes sensible after a few days, and is complete
in the course of several months, the duration depending upon the
nature of the calcareous materials and the climate."
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the precise details thereof; but
what I claim as the Invention communicated to me is,-
The application of the soluble silicate of potash to the hardening and
preservation of calcareous stones and substances, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I; the said Peter Armand Le Comte de
Fontaine Moreau, have hereto set my hand and seal, this
Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
L' DE FONTAINE MOREAU. (L.S.)