IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING INSTANTANEOUS LIGHT
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis May, of Tooley Street, Southwark, Merchant,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING INSTANTANEOUS LIGHT."
_A communication from Johan Edward Lundström, of Iönköping,
Sweden.
Sealed the 26th October 1855, and dated the 15th August 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis May at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th August 1855.
I, FRANCIS MAY, of Tooley Street, Southwark, Merchant, do hereby declare
the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING INSTANTANEOUS
LIGHT" to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the manufacture of instantaneous matches,
and of the rubbing or friction surfaces employed to ignite them. The matches
are manufactured in such a manner that they are not liable to ignition when
subjected to simple mechanical friction, and the rubbing or friction surfaces
are prepared with chemical matters in addition to the grit employed.
For these purposes the matches are, by preference, dipped in sulphur or
stearine, and are then tipped with a composition consisting of chlorate of

page_text: potash, sulphuret of antimony, and glue, and the rubbing or friction surfaces
are coated with a compound composed of, grit, and cement, mixed with a
chemical matter for acting on and igniting the match; the chemical matter
which I prefer to employ being.composed of amorphous phosphorous, oxide of
manganese, and glue.
SPECIFICATION, in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis May in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th February 1856.
"
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
MAY, of Tooley Street, Southwark, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Francis May, Her special licence, that I, the said Francis May, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Francis
May, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
OBTAINING INSTANTANEOUS LIGHT," (a communication from John Edward
Lundstrom, of Iönköping, Sweden,) upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Francis May, my executors or administrators, by an--instrument
in writing under my, or. their, .or. one of their hands.and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and tin. 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 Francis. May, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that to say:
This Invention, has for its object the manufacture of instantaneous matches,
and of the rubbing or friction surfaces employed to ignite them. The matches
are manufactured in such a manner that they are not liable to ignition when

page_text: subjected to simple mechanical friction, and the rubbing or friction surfaces
are prepared with chemical matters in addition to the grit employed.
For these purposes, the matches are, by preference, dipped in sulphur or
stearine, and are then tipped with a composition consisting of: chlorate of
potash, sulphuret of antimony, and glue, and the rubbing or friction surfaces
are coated with a compound coinposed of grit and cement; the chemical
composition which I prefer to employ being composed of amorphous phos-
phorus, oxide of manganese, and glue...
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
I would at the outset state, that the chemical preparations used for the
matches, and for the friction surfaces on to which the matches are to be rubbed,
may be varied, so long as the peculiarity of the Invention be retained; that is,
that the composition or materials applied to the matches shall not be liable to
ignite, when: subjected to..a similar. simple mechanical friction, -as common:
phosphorous matches hitherto used, unless the surface used for obtaining the
friction be properly prepared with reference to the materials placed on the
matches.
The materials which I use, and which I believe will be found to be the best
for carrying out the Invention, are as follows:-The matches are dipped in the
usual way in sulphur, stearine, wax, spermaceti, or any other similar matters
fit for communicating fire from the igniting matter or compound to the wood
or the material of which the matches are composed.
The following is the igniting compound or material preferred to be applied
to the matches:-
6 parts by weight of chlorate of potash.
2 to 3 parts by weight of sulphuret of antimony.
1 part by weight of glue, weighed in dry state.
The following is the composition it is preferred to apply to the rubbing or
friction surfaces :-
10 parts by weight of amorphous phosphorous.
8. parts by weight of oxide of manganese, or of sulphuret of antimony.
3 to 6 parts by weight of glue, weighed dry.
The above-mentioned ingredients must be mixed perfectly well, and care
should be taken not to mix the chlorate of potash dry with any of the other
ingredients; it is best first to mix it in the glue dissolved in warm water.
The above preparation or compound is applied in the making of matches, in
like manner to what has heretofore been practised when applying igniting
matters to them, and the other composition is applied to the sides or other

page_text: parts of the boxes which are to contain the matches, or it may be applied
to other suitable surfaces, and is put on or spread out with brush or small
wooden spatula.
I would state that I make no claim to any of the chemical matters above
mentioned in the manufacture of matches and friction surfaces, but only the
manner of applying them as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis May, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Thirteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,"
B. GOBEY,
4, Old Square, Lincoln's Inn.
FRAS MAY. (L.S.)