of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF EXPLOSIVE COMPOUNDS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Shaen, of Number S, Bedford Row,
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
"A
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF EXPLOSIVE COMPOUNDS."-
communication from abroad by Johann Friedrich Eduard Shultze,
of Potsdam, in the Kingdom of Prussia.
Sealed the 29th December 1868, and dated the 14th August 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Shaen at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th August 1868.
I, WILLIAM SHAEN, of Number 8, Bedford Row, Holborn, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF EXPLOSIVE
COMPOUNDS," to be as follows:-
I combine with nitro-glycerine the explosive substance called wood
powder, prepared according to the Invention for which Ernest Dronke
obtained Letters Patent, dated the Eleventh day of April, One thousand

page_text: eight hundred and sixty-four, numbered 900, which Invention
a communication to him from Johann Friedrich Eduard Schultze, and
with the compound so formed may be mixed the explosive substance
termed "dynamite," the subject of Letters Patent, dated the Seventh day
of May, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, numbered 1345,
or other explosive substances possessing analagous qualities. The com-
pounds so formed, by combining nitro-glycerine with wood powder, alone
or together with other explosive substances, will be found very useful
for mining and other purposes. The proportions in which the substances
should be mixed will vary according to the purposes for which the com-
pounds are to be used and the degree of strength and quality which it is
required that the compound produced should possess.
I have found that a good blasting powder may be made by mixing
ten parts of nitro-glycerine with ninety parts of Schultze's powder, but
the proportions must be varied according to the hardness of the rock or
other substance which is to be operated on; the hardest rock requiring,
as a rule, a comparatively smaller proportion of nitro-glycerine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Shaen in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SHAEN, of No. 8, Bedford Row, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
year
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of August, in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Shaen, Her special licence that
I, the said William Shaen, my executors, administrators, and, assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Shaen, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-1
"
-

page_text: FACTURE OF EXPLOSIVE COMPOUNDS," a communication made to me, the said
William Shaen, by a certain person residing abroad, that is to say,
Johann Friedrich Eduard Schultze, of Potsdam, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Shaen, my executors or adininistrators, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Shaen, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The Invention relates to the manufacture of explosive compounds of
a novel composition and improved character suited for being used for
blasting operations in mines, and for other purposes.
First, I combine with the substance known as nitro-glycerine the
explosive substance called wood gunpowder, prepared according to the
Invention for which Ernest Dronke obtained Letters Patent, dated
April 11th, 1864, numbered 900, which Invention was a communication
to him from Johann Friedrich Edouard Schultze, of Potsdam, in Prussia.
The compound mixture is advantageously formed by mixing from
10 to 60 pounds weight of nitro-glycerine with 100 pounds of wood
gunpowder; but the amount of nitro-glycerine will be varied according
to the purpose for which the explosive compound is required.. Greater
proportions of it should be mixed with the wood gunpowder according
to the increased rapidity of explosion which is required. In effect the
proportions of the two substances used should vary according as their
respective qualities, which are herein after described, are required to
operate relatively in the explosive compound.
By using this compound I am enabled to produce the different degrees
and kinds of force appropriate to blasting operations in all the different
kinds of mines, from the hardest rocks 10 the least resisting earths, and I
do this with great economy.
This mixture is also available for blasting
rocks containing cavities, because its combustion is so instantaneous
that the force is immediately applied.

page_text: The new compound may be appropriately called "dualine," because it
is composed of two forces; the one resulting from the, agency, of the
nitro-glycerine breaks the rocks by its sudden action, the other resulting
from the agency of the wood gunpowder produces great explosive force
by means of a great quantity of gas which is developed in its com-
bustion, the combined operation of the forces causes that portion of the
rocks which may be only partially attacked by the first blow to be
entirely broken up by the succeeding development of the gases.
My explosive compound is prepared in a very simple manner. Upon
a table of convenient size a suitable quantity of the wood gunpowder is
spread or placed in a comparatively thin layer, the required proportion of
nitro-glycerine is then poured upon the wood gunpowder, and the whole
mixed carefully together by the hand until the powder has been evenly
and thoroughly impregnated by the nitro-glycerine, and the explosive
compound called "dualine" is thus formed.
The "dualine" explosive compound, when used for mining purposes,
may be made up in cartridges of paper or any other suitable material.
In some cases it may be made up in the form of cylinders, which are
made of the mixture combined with a small quantity of carbonate of
potash or carbonate of soda, and it may be mixed with other suitable
materials which are adhesive, and consolidation of the mixture is
effected by means of pressure. I sometimes prefer, for certain rocks;
first to mix the wood gunpowder with a suitable quantity of small grains
of wood or powdered charcoal, which are saturated with nitrate of
potash or some other oxydising substance, in order to have a rending
force gradually augmenting after the first shock, which is the effect
of the nitro-glycerine. In some cases the "dualine" explosive com-
pound may be mixed with the explosive substance technically called
"dynamite," but it is not necessary to resort to the use of dynamite,
and in practice I do not recommend its use.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner in which it is
performed, I claim. as the Invention communicated to
me by the said
Johann Friedrich Eduard Schultze, the production of the new explosive
compound termed dualine, which has immense force but may be
handled with perfect safety, by mixing nitro-glycerine with wood
gunpowder with or without the addition of a suitable oxydized substance,
as herein-before described.

page_text: I also claim the use of the "dualine" explosive compound for cart-
ridges, made up in paper or in a compressed form, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Shaen, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM SHAEN. (L.S.)