AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE DECAY AND FOULING OF SHIPS BOTTOMS AND OTHER EXPOSED SURFACES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Edgar Cook, of Greenock, in the County
of Renfrew, North Britain, Booking Clerk, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE DECAY AND FOULING OF
SHIPS BOTTOMS AND OTHER EXPOSED SURFACES."
Sealed the 21st August 1857, and dated the 27th May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Edgar Cook at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th May 1857.
I, JAMES EDGAR COOK, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Booking Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
of "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE DECAY AND FOULING
OF SHIPS BOTTOMS AND OTHER EXPOSED SURFACES," to be as follows, that is to
say:-
This Invention relates to the manufacture, application, and use of a novel
and improved composition or mixture to be used for coating the bottoms of
ships and boats and other surfaces exposed to fouling, oxidation, and decay.
Such composition is made up of wood spirit or methylated spirits of wine,
shellac, and strichnine, or atropia, and dragon's blood, in the general or
average proportion.
One gallon of wood or methylated spirit, in which is dissolved four to eight
pounds of shellac, from half a drachm to two drachms of either strichnine or

page_text: atropia, and from eight ounces to one pound of dragon's blood, or other suitable
coloring matter.
This composition is especially applicable for preserving the bottoms of ships
and boats, as it protects wooden ships from the attacks of sea worms, and from
fouling, and totally prevents the fouling of iron vessels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Edgar Cook in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
EDGAR COOK, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Booking
Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Edgar Cook, Her special license that I, the said James Edgar Cook,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James
Edgar Cook, my executors, administrators, or 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 "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR
THE PREVENTION OF THE DECAY AND FOULING OF SHIPS' BOTTOMS AND OTHER
EXPOSED. SURFACES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Edgar Cook, 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 James Edgar Cook, do hereby declare
the nature of. my 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 in writing, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the manufacture, application, and use of a
novel and improved composition or mixture to be used for coating the bottoms
of ships and boats, and other surfaces exposed to fouling, oxidation, and decay.

page_text: Such composition is made up of wood spirit or methylated spirits of wine,
shellac, strichnine or atropia, and dragon's blood, in the general or average
proportion. 1 gallon of wood or methylated spirit, in which is dissolved 4 to
8 lbs. of shellac, from half a drachm to two drachms of either strichnine or
atropia, and from 8 ozs. to 1 lb. of dragon's blood, or other suitable colouring
matter. This composition is especially applicable for preserving the bottoms
of ships and boats, as it protects wooden ships from the attacks of sea worms,
and from fouling, and totally prevents the fouling of iron vessels.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe in detail one process or modification under which my
improvements may be judiciously carried out in practice.
It is well known that although the copper or other metallic sheathing used
for covering the bottoms of ships may protect the lower part of the hull from
the ravages of worms, still the metal does not prevent the adherence of
marine algae, barnacles, balani, and other crustacae thereto. When the
surface of the copper or metal sheathing becomes covered with a thin crust or
adherent pellicle of vegetable matter, the evil rapidly increases by the growth
of the algae, and the adhesion to the primary foundation of marine animals.
In this manner the hull of the vessel below the water line becomes matted
with a dense layer of animal and vegetable material, which tends to greatly
lessen the vessel's speed, thereby entailing loss, and necessitating the frequent
docking of the ship for the purpose of cleansing the sheathing.
Now, my Invention consists in manufacturing a poisonous composition,
wherewith the copper or metallic sheathing of the vessel is coated prior to
its putting to sea, this composition being eminently destructive to animal and
vegetable life, for upon the adhesion of either to the metal it is immediately
killed and falls off, or is washed therefrom by the action of the water, leaving
the surface of the sheathing clean, and the sailing qualities of the vessel
unimpaired. This composition is also applicable to the coating of wood to
preserve it from decay, and prevent the ravages of worms, beetles, and other
destructive insects; also to iron vessels, to prevent the accumulation of vege-
table and animal life thereon, and thereby avoid the fouling of the hull, and
consequent retardation of the vessel's passage through the water.
One mode of preparing this preservative composition is as follows:-Take
as many gallons of the hydrated oxide of methyle or pyroxilic spirit, and
commonly known as "wood spirit," as will be sufficient to make the quantity
of preservative composition required. To each gallon of wood spirit is to be
added from four to eight pounds weight of shellac, and this quantity of gum is.
to be dissolved in the wood spirit, the process being assisted either by means

page_text: of agitation or hastened by heat. To this resinous solution is to be added a
proportion of the highly poisonous alkaloid strychnia which is obtained from
nux vomica, or of the alkaloid atropia, the active principle of atropa bella-
donna. Either of these alkaloids may be used, and the proportion to be
added to each gallon of the resinous solution of shellac and wood spirit is
from thirty grains to two drachms, or one hundred and twenty grains of the
alkaloid, the whole being well shaken or otherwise intimately commingled
together. Instead of using the alkaloids before named, the extract of elaterium
obtained from the moinordica elaterium may be used in lieu thereof. To
each gallon of the composition so far prepared is to be added from eight
.ounces to one pound avoirdupois weight of dragon's blood, or other suitable
colouring matter, in order to impart a strong tint of colour to the fluid. The
object of this colouring is to give to the composition some characteristic tint,
so as to prevent its being accidentally used for any purpose than that for which
it is intended, and thereby avoid the consequences that might arise from
careless misapplication.
Another mode of preparing the preservative composition consists in using
what is known as "methylated spirit," that is to say, alcohol, or spirit of wine,
adulterated with a certain proportion of wood spirit or the hydrated oxide of
methyle. This methylated spirit is to be used in place of the wood spirit for
dissolving the shellac, alkaloids, and other matters therein. The preservative
composition, prepared as described, is to be applied to the coating of the hulls
of vessels or woodwork by spreading it thereon by means of brushes, in the
same manner as paint is applied. The volatile nature of the wood spirit
causes it to evaporate rapidly, and leave the metal or wood surface coated with
a durable filmn of preservative varnish, which, however, retains all the active
principle of the alkaloid or alkaloids employed in the manufacture of the com-
position. This poisonous quality of the preparation effectually prevents the
adhesion of animal or vegetable matter to the surface to which it is applied,
inasmuch as the living principle being destroyed, the adhesive power of both
is rendered inert.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of my Invention; but what
I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-

page_text: First, the system or mode of preparing or compounding compositions for
preventing the decay and fouling of the hulls of ships and other exposed
surfaces, as herein-before described.
Second, the use and application of poisonous alkaloids or extracts in the
preparation of preservative compositions for coating metal or wood, for the
purpose of destroying the life of any any animal or vegetable matter that may
adhere to the coated surface, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Edgar Cook, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, 1857.