IMPROVEMENTS IN CURRYING AND DRESSING LEATHER
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Thornton Vanner and Edward Prest,.
of 32, Great St. Helen's, in the City of London, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CURRYING AND DRESSING LEATHER."-A
communication from abroad by Thomas Saunby, residing, at South,
Street, New York, in the United States of America.
Sealed the 12th March 1869, and dated the 21st December 1868..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said.Henry Thornton Vanner
and Edward Prest at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 21st December 1868.
We, HENRY THORNTON VANNER and EDWARD PREST, of 32, Great
St. Helen's, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CURRYING AND DRESSING LEATHER," to
be as follows:-
Heretofore in currying and dressing leather it has been usual to employ
neatsfoot oil or cod or fish oil together with tallow. Now according to

page_text: this Invention the residuum oil obtained when distilling petroleum is
employed for this purpose. We prefer to use it with tallow in the pro-
portion of one-third to one-half tallow. By thus using the residuum
oil in place of fish and other oils heretofore employed in currying and
dressing leather, it will be found that the oil so combines with the tallow
as to carry it almost wholly into the skin and so forms a good stuffing,
and also that it gives greater elasticity and more permanent weight to the
skin than any oil now in use; it also renders the leather more impervious
to water and less liable to decay or gum. We prefer to employ the
residuum oil obtained when distilling petroleum by the aid of a partial
vacuum in a still heated by an internal steam coil or otherwise heated.
by steam.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Thornton Vanner and Edward Prest in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, HENRY
THORNTON VANNER and EDWARD PREST, of 32, Great St. Helen's, in
the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the
year 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 us, the said Henry Thornton Vanner
and Edward Prest, Her special licence that we, the said Henry Thornton
Vanner and Edward Prest, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
.or such others as we, the said Henry Thornton Vanner and Edward
Prest, our 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 CURRYING AND DRESSING LEATHER," a communication to

page_text: us from abroad by Thomas Saunby, a person resident at South Street,
New York, in the United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that we, the said Henry Thornton Vanner and
Edward Prest, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 we, the said Henry Thornton Vanner and
Edward Prest, 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 :-
Heretofore in currying and dressing leather it has been usual to employ
neatsfoot oil or cod or fish oil together with tallow. Now according to
this Invention the residuum oil obtained when distilling petroleum is
employed for this purpose. When the residuum oil is of a specific
gravity of about 880, which is about the specific gravity of the oil as now
usually manufactured, we prefer to use it with tallow in the proportion
of 14 lbs. of oil to 16 lbs. tallow. By thus using the residuum oil in
place of fish and other oils heretofore employed in currying and dressing
leather it will be found that the oil so combines with the tallow as to
carry it almost wholly into the skin, and so forms a good stuffing, and
also that it gives greater elasticity and more permanent weight to the
skin than any oil now in use; it also renders the leather more impervious
to water and less liable to decay or gum. We prefer to employ the
residuum oil obtained when distilling petroleum by the aid of a partial
vacuum in a still heated by an internal steam coil or otherwise heated
by steam. A mixture consisting of 14 parts of the residuum oil to 16
parts of tallow, with 2 to 3 parts of cod oil added to make the mixture
more fluid that it may work easier will be found very suitable for
dressing leather, or in cold weather less tallow might be employed.
When using a stuffing composed of vacuum oil and tallow and cod oil
as above described, care should be taken in regard to the amount of
stuffing used, for if too much is applied it will strike through and make
the grain of the leather dark. A currier will readily judge the amount

page_text: necessary to apply if he bears in mind that the residuum oil so combines
with the tallow as to carry it almost wholly into the skin.
In witness whereof, we, the said Henry Thornton Vanner and
Edward Prest, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
first day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-nine.
HENRY THORNTON VANNER. (L.S.).
EDWARD PREST.
(L.S.)