CERTAIN. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME FROM GUANO
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "CERTAIN. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LIME FROM GUANO."-A communication from abroad..
by Gustave Adolph Liebig, of Baltimore, in. the State of Maryland,
United States of America.
Sealed the 8th December 1865, and dated the 6th July 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th July 1865.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE.
OF SUPERPHOSPHATE OF LINE FROM GUANO," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to remove the difficulty which has caused.
the abandonment of the manufacture of superphosphate of lime from Navassa.
guano. To this end it is now proposed to add to the sulphuric acid generally
used in treating Navassa guano a quantity of muriatic acid, or to substitute

page_text: muriatic acid for the whole of the sulphuric acid. Or instead of muriatic
acid sulphurous acid may be used, either in combination with or instead of
the sulphuric acid generally employed. The same object may also be effected
by adding to the mixture of sulphuric acid and Navassa phosphate a quantity
of chloride of sodium or common salt, so as to evolve during the process the
requisite quantity of muriatic acid. The quantity of chloride of sodium, or of
either of the acids to be used in combination with the sulphuric acid, cannot
he determined beforehand, but depends upon the nature of the Navassa
phosphate to bo acted upon, and upon the strength of the acids used; and in
some cases it may be advantageous to use either muriatic or sulphurous acid
entirely, without any addition of sulphuric acid.
By using either of these improvements the mixture will not be as tenacious
or pasty as it is when treated in the common way of manufacturing, and it
will easily dry without artificial heat.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th January 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUPERPHOSPHATE OF
LIME FROM GUANO," being a communication to me from abroad by Gustave
Adolph Liebig, of Baltimore, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators, by an in-
strument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,

page_text: 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 object of this Invention is to produce dry and saleable superphosphate
of lime from Navassa phosphate, by substituting muriatic acid or sulphurous
acid for a part or the whole of the sulphuric acid generally used in this
manufacture, or by adding common salt to the mixture of sulphuric acid and
Navassa phosphate. The old method of making superphosphate of lime from
Navassa guano is by adding the required quantity of sulphuric acid all at
once, and working the batch all together, without paying any attention
whether it is hot or cold, wed or dry, then wheeling into piles to digest and
dry, which requires from four to six months, and even at the end of that time
the mass is wet and sticky, so as to be almost unsaleable, and require so much
labor and expense that the manufacture of superphosphate from Navassa
guano has been entirely abandoned. This difficulty is avoided by adding to
the sulphuric acid generally used in treating Navassa guano a quantity of
muriatic acid, or by substituting muriatic for the whole of the sulphuric
acid. Or instead of muriatic acid sulphurous acid may be used, either in
combination with or instead of the sulphuric acid generally employed. Or
the same object may be effected by adding to the mixture of sulphuric acid
and Navassa phosphate a quantity of chloride of sodium or common salt, so
as to evolve during the process the requisite quantity of muriatic acid. The
quantity of chloride of sodium, or of either of the acids to be used in com-
bination with the sulphuric acid, cannot be determined beforehand, but
depends upon the nature of the phosphate to be acted upon, and upon the
strength of the acids used, and in some cases it may be advantageous to use
either muriatic or sulphurous acid entirely, without any addition of sulphuric
acid.
By using either of these improvements the mixture will not be as tenacious
or pasty as it is when treated in the common way of manufacturing, and it
will easily dry without artificial heat.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Certain Improve-
ments in the Manufacture of Superphosphate of Lime from Guano," as
communicated to me from abroad, and explained the manner of carrying the

page_text: same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, the use of muriatic acid in combination with a part, or in place of
the whole of the sulphuric acid generally employed in the manufacture of
superphosphate of lime from Navassa phosphate.
Second, the use of sulphurous acid, in combination with a part or in place
of the whole of the sulphuric acid generally employed in the manufacture of
superphosphate of lime from Navassa phosphate.
Third, the use of common salt or chloride of sodium in combination with
the usual mixture of sulphuric acid and Navassa phosphate for the purpose
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Sixth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.B.)