A NEW MANUFACTURE OF A VITRIFIED SUBSTANCE, AND ITS APPLICATION, ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH MINERAL, EARTHY, AND PLASTIC SUBSTANCES, TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES IN THE ARTS, AND FOR CERTAIN OTHER NEW APPLICATIONS OF KNOWN PLASTIC SUBSTANCES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Brough, of Longton, Staffordshire, for
the Invention of "A NEW MANUFACTURE OF A VITRIFIED SUBSTANCE,
AND ITS APPLICATION, ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH MINERAL,
EARTHY, AND PLASTIC SUBSTANCES, TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES IN THE
ARTS, AND FOR CERTAIN OTHER NEW APPLICATIONS OF KNOWN PLASTIC
SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 28th June 1853, and dated the 1st January 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Brough at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st January 1858.
I, JOSEPH BROUGH, of Longton, Staffordshire, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention of "A NEW MANUFACTURE OF A VITRIFIED
SUBSTANCE, AND ITS APPLICATION, ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH MINERAL,
EARTHY, AND PLASTIC SUBSTANCES, TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES IN THE ARTS,
AND FOR CERTAIN OTHER NEW APPLICATIONS OF KNOWN PLASTIC SUBSTANCES,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in producing an article or vitrified
artificial compound applicable to architectural and other purposes of

page_text: use and ornamentation, which I propose to call "opaline," and in the
application of this article to various useful purposes in the arts. Secondly,
in the combination of this vitrified compound substance called opaline
with mineral, earthy, and plastic substances. And, thirdly, in new
applications of known plastic substances to useful purposes.
In the first place I will describe the plan of preparing for grinding
fragments or broken pieces of porcelain, china, earthenware, or parian,
previous to being used in the composition of this compound substance
called by me opaline.
On account of the great hardness of porcelain, china, or parian, &c.,
the process of grinding is both tedious and expensive, even with the
aid of machinery. This objection, however, may be obviated by
adopting the following process:-The fragments of porcelain, china,
parian, &c., are to be first crushed or broken, by machinery or other-
wise, into picces about the size of small pebbles or less. To thesc must
be added a small portion of some fusing, vitrifying, or fluxing material,
such as borax, boraice acid, tincul, soda, potash, oxide of lead, saltpetre,
but of these I prefer borax. This mixture of porcelain and flux must
then be fused or melted by a strong heat in crucibles, pots, or a kiln,
and to facilitate the fusion the hot blast or an air furnace may be
employed. When the mixture is sufficiently fluxed it is to be run
immediately into cold water, which has the effect of cracking and
shivering the mass throughout its entire substance; it is then ready to be
stamped and ground. To manufacture opaline I take a portion of this
ground porcelain, or, instead of that, a portion of the materials which
enter into the composition of porcelain, china, parian, or earthenware,
and to these I add a suitable quantity of glass, or any fusable minerals
or salts, such as potash and pearlash, soda and sola ash, manganese,
saltpetre, borax, lead, tin, oxides of lead and tin, red lead, arsenic, barytes,
and calcined bone, and melt or fuse or vitrify the same together in pots or
in a kiln. If I intend the opaline to be very dense and opake I use a
large proportion of earths, clays, and minerals; but if it is intended to
be more transparent and lustrous I use a larger proportion of the salts,
alkalies.. or glass. To give color to the opaline I use stains or colors pre-
pared! from the metallic oxides, similar to those employed by the porcelain

page_text: manufacturers. When this composition before described, called by me
opaline, is perfectly melted or fused, it may be cooled, and, if needful,
remelted; or if perfect and ready for casting or moulding, it may be run
into slabs or blocks of any required shape, and then annealed, and
afterwards perfected and finished by being polished, ground, or cut,
which will have the effect of bringing out the brilliancy and coloring of
the composition.
To employ the opaline in the most economical and durable manner
I adopt the following process, which I shall now describe:-A. brick
or block of any convenient size and shape is to be made of the clay
called fire clay, and in some districts "suggar clay," but any other
kind of coarse brick earth would do (especially if a portion of coal
ashes or breeze were mingled therowith to make the substance of the
brick open). This brick or block or base, of whatever material it is
made, should be roughened, indented, or grooved on that side intended
to be covered, faced, or overlaid with opaline, in order that the opaline
when laid on in a fluid, semifluid, melted state may take hold of and
imbibe or insinuate itself into the roughened, grooved, or indented surface
of the brick, block, or base of clay, or other coarse material. If the.
bricks or blocks are sufficiently rough on the outside there will be no
need to groove or indent them. These bricks or blocks are then to be
fired in a kiln. When the operation of covering, overlaying, or facing
the aforesaid bricks or blocks with the compound vitrified substance
designated opaline in this my Specification is performed it is to be done
in the following manner, that is to say-The bricks or blocks of coarse
clay being previously heated to a red or white heat, and laid flat, with
the roughened or indented side uppermost, a narrow rim or ledge of
cast or wrought iron or other metal is then to be fitted round the edge
of the brick or block in order to prevent the melted or semifluid
opaline flowing over. The composition called by me opaline, and
previously described, being now melted or fused, and brought to a
semifluid and workable state, is to be run upon and spread over the
surface of the aforesaid heated bricks or blocks, and rolled, pressed, or
moulded perfectly even and level over the surface of the said bricks,
blocks, or other shaped article, by means of rollers, moulds, or pressure,

page_text: in a similar manner to the rolling, moulding, pressing, and casting
of glass. The faced bricks are then to be placed in an annealing kiln
or oven, and allowed to cool gradually. The heating of the bricks
previous to laying on the covering or facing of opaline is done in order
that a perfect union may be eflected and established between the
substance of the brick and the opaline facing, which union would not
be so perfect if the melted opaline were framed on cold bricks, blocks,
or other article which would have the effect of chilling it; although it
would be possible to lay the opaline on the bricks in the cold state, yet
it is preferable to make them hot, as previously described.
It is to be specially noted that the covering or facing of opaline must.
always be a sufficient thickness to permit of some portion being removed
by abrasion in the finishing process of grinding, cutting, and polishing.
If the composition of opaline is expensive on account of it being
stained or of the brilliant and nearly transparent kind, then in such case
a thin coating of stained porcelain, similar in color to the opaline, may
be first laid on the bricks, and upon that the facing of opaline, then
polished and finished as usual. By this latter plan a saving of the
material of the opaline is effected. If a varigated, spotted, or vained
opaline is to be produced, then I lay repeated layers of opaline in the
melted state, and of various colors and degrees of opacity, upon the
bricks or blocks, intermingling and varigating the surface during the
process; or opaline of different colors may be melted in separate pots,
then mingled together in the semifluid state, and immediately run and
spread on the surface of the bricks as before described, then finished by
polishing. Also any or all of the methods as herein-after described in
this my Specification may be employed to produce veined or otherwise
variegated specimens of opaline.
Having described the method of manufacturing the composition
called by me opaline, I now procecil to describe and set forth the plans
I have devised to produce an opaline imitating those stains and marbles
which have variegated veins, spots, or clouds intersecting a ground of a
self or uniform color. The materials of the opaline, mingled in proper
proportions, being ground and prepared by mixing with water (or
water in which a small portion of gum or other tenacious matter has

page_text: been dissolved) to the consistence of a stiff paste, are then to be formed
into large masses, and dried. These masses are then to be broken into
irregular pieces of various sizes, and thrown into a box or vat, when the
stained or colored opaline composition, in a fluid or semifluid state,
intended to produce the veins, is to be poured upon the broken frag-
ments, which filtering between the pieces unites the whole into a solid
muss. After allowing the mass to harden, the next operation will be to
divide it by a fine toothed saw into thin slabs, which are to be affixed to
the outside of bricks or blocks made of coarse clay, as heretofore
described; these are then placed in a kiln until the opaline is completely
melted or fused and incorporated with the brick; it is then allowed to
cool gradually, and afterwards finished by grinding and polishing. To
prevent the opaline composition from running off and spreading over
the brick or slab while in the kiln, a rim or border of metal should be
placed round it to confine the opaline when in the fused or melted
state, or a ledge or border of clay may be fixed on the brick in lieu of a
metal rim; this border or ledge of clay is afterwards broken off and
removed in the finishing process of grinding and polishing. To produce
the irregularity of shape in the component fragments observable in
masses of natural marbles, and which I have attributed to internal
convulsions, I cause explosions on the small scale in the following
manner-It is well known that if a piece of moist clay be quickly dried
it will be divided by cracks throughout its substance, owing to the
explosion of the water by conversion into steam. On the same principle,
if the composition called by me opaline, when in its pasty state as
before described, be made up into large masses, and the moisture
expelled by drying briskly in an oven, the mass will be intersected with
innumerable fissures of various sizes, the small ones diverging in all
directions from the larger, until the whole substance is penetrated with
these minor ramifications. By inclosing drops of water in certain parts
of the mass the effects in such parts will be increased; but to produce
these effects to the utmost extent small quantities of gunpowder.
chlorate of potash, nitrate of potashi, saltpetre, or any other explosive
salt must be dispersed in detached portions throughout the composition.
and then subjected to a heat sufficient to convert these into the

page_text: gaseous state and cause explosion. The mass will then be dissevered
into numerous irregular pieces, having the greatest possible resemblance
to those found composing natural marbles. When an opaline pre-
senting great variety of veining and colouring is intended to be produced,
the composition, after being dried, is to be again broken up, thrown
into the box or vat, and another kind of colour poured into the interstices
between the pieces, and dried. If further variety of colour and veining
is desirable, the operations must be repeated until the effect sought
for is complete.
By an attentive scruting of some marbles and stones, as the cornelian,
it may be observed that the colour of the stone appears to break off and
run into another shade. In some specimens it is very distinct, dividing
into two colors abruptly, without being intermixed or lost in each other.
In other instances the opposite shades blend gradually until they are
neutralized. To produce the first-mentioned effect in opaline the box
or vat in which the process is performed must be provided with a
moveable of false bottom made in several parts. When the mass has
acquired a certain degree of hardness one or other portions of this false
bottom are suddenly removed, which will cause a displacement of
certain parts of the mass, and thus destroy the continuity of the veins
and colors intersecting it. The second peculiarity I propose to imitate
in works of opaline by the following method: Two pieces of the
composition in the plastic state, and of different colors, are to be placed
nearly in contact, leaving a small interval between them, which interval
is to be filled up with water from time to time, thus cansing the opposite
colors to blend uniformily. In making the various imitations of
marbles in the composition called by me opaline by the processes before
described, that is, by breaking the mass into fragments, and then pouring
other composition mingled with water until it is in a semifluid state
among these fragments, it sometimes occurs, that the semifluid matter
does not completely percolate between the said pieces or fragments.
To obviate this I exhaust the air from between these pieces by means
of the air pump, which greatly facilitates the process.
Among the ever varying appearances presented by different marbles
I shall notice one which is of frequent occurrence, and greatly enhances

page_text: the beauty of the stone. Upon a close examination it will be perceived
that one or more veins, differing in color, run apparently about a line
or two under the polished surface of the stone, the colour of these veins
being rather obscure by reason of its opacity, but still sufficiently dis-
tinct to trace the shade and outline easily, and serving as a back ground
to the prominent veins of a more positive colour. To produce these
faint or secondary veins, clouds, &c. running under those more distinct,
several layers of veined opaline composition, differing in their degrees
of opacity, are to be placed upon each other in the following order:
Supposing that it is intended to produce a specimen of opaline having
three visible strata or courses of veins: The first layer or stratum
should be very opalescient, and be traversed with veins of a strong and
distinct colour; the second stratum is to be of a more transparent com-
position, also intersected by veins, but of a different shade to the first;
the third and uppermost layer must be still more transparent than the
second or middle stratum, that the veins of the lower stratum may be
faintly visible and not totally obscure. In some kinds of marbles,
instead of the veins being single, two or more of different colours run
alongside each other, yet preserving their own tint without inter-
mingling. To prevent the coloured composition mingling, as they
would be apt to do if the opaline composition was mixed in the same
vehicle, I mix the compositions of different colours in different fluids,
which have a tendency to repel and separate one from the other. For
one colour I would use turpentine, for another colour water, and for a
third colour another fluid, as aline or almond oil, having no propensity
to mingle with the others. The different coloured opaline compositions
being prepared by mixing with these fluids are to be poured from
separate vessels in uniform streams, and at the saine moment into
cavities between the irregular broken masses, then dried and divided
into slabs, as formerly directed.
There is a species or kind of marble called "Breccia" by mineralo-
gists, of which a few beautiful varieties are quarried at this time, and
some are only found in sculptured specimens, the sources from which
they were procured being lost or else exhausted. Breccia marbles,
although so beautiful, are easily imitated in all their varieties in opaline

page_text: coníposition by the following process:-The composition used in the
manufacture of opaline is to be mixed with water to the consistence of
what is technically called "potters slip," or rather thicker. Into this
mixture fragments of dried opaline composition are to be thrown
indiscriminately, or if there is any appearance of arrangement in the
masses composing the natural Breccia marbles which it is intended to
copy, such must be imitated by a regular deposition of these fragments
or masses of composition. It is to be understood that the picces or
fragments must differ in colour from the cement or paste which unites
them together. When this artificial Breccia has acquired sufficient
inclination it is to be sawn through into slabs of the required thick-
ness, when these will be found to exhibit the exact appearance of
natural Breccias, viz', fragments of various sizes and colours imbeded
in a cement uniting the whole into a compact body; these slabs may
be then aflixed in a base of brick, clay, or other coarse material, then
fused and polished as before fully described.
Another new kind of vitrified material for building or other purposes
I also manufacture in the following manner :-Porcelain or earthen-
ware of any kind is to be made into slabs or bricks of any form, and
varigated or marbled, or covered equally, or groundlayed, as it is
usually called, with any of the vitrious colours, as practised by the
manufacturers of porcelain and earthenware, and afterwards fired or
burnt in. Upon this a coloured or colourless glazing or coating of
glass is to be laid, but of a sufficient thickness to admit of the same
being polished, cut, or ground. It is then to be finished by polishing.
Another part of my Invention consists in the application of the
compound plastic substance called or generally known by the name of
"parian," either in the white state or stained, to architectural and
building purposes, which I perform in the following manner, that is to
sayThe parian ornaments or plain surfaces in the soft or plastic
state are to be affixed to a base of fire clay, or what is technically
called "sugger clay," previously formed into slabs, bricks, or blocks of
a shape and size suited to the purpose, and then fired or baked in
ovelis, or in "saggars," or cases, placed in ovens or inclosed kilns. I prefer
to liave the bricks or slabs baked or fired previous to affixing the parian

page_text: ornaments, on account of the parian requiring a degree of heat differing
from that required to bake or fire common clay. In this case the
parian ornaments or plain surfaces are to be affixed by means of a
"slip" or vitreous cement being employed to join the material of the
brick and the parian together, then by burning or firing the cement
firmly unites the two bodies together. I have named fire clay or
suggar" clay as being preferable to form a base whercon to affix
parian for architectural purposes, and it is most advantageous, inasmuch
as it may be repeatedly fired without alteration, but other clays might
be substituted.
Another part of my Invention consists in the application of porcelain,
china, parian, and earthenware, when applied to the formation and
manufacture of coffins, sarcophagi, and cases for containing, enclosing,
and preserving the remains of deceased persons or dead bodies previous
to interment.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Brough in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 1st July 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOSEPH BROUGH, of Longton, Staffordshire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Brough, Her special licence
that I, the said Joseph Brough, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Brough, 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 "A NEW MANU-

page_text: FACTURE OF A VITRIFIED SUBSTANCE, AND ITS APPLICATION, ALONE OR IN COM-
BINATION WITH MINERAL, EARTHY, AND PLASTIC SUBSTANCES, TO VARIOUS
USEFUL PURPOSES IN THE ARTS, AND FOR CERTAIN OTHER NEW APPLICATIONS
OF KNOWN PLASTIC SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Joseph Brough, 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 Joseph Brough, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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):
My Invention consists, firstly, in producing a new manufacture of a
vitrified substance or artificial compound, which I propose to denominate
opaline. Secondly, in applying this article or compound, either alone
or in combination with mineral, earthy, and plastic substances, to various
useful purposes in the arts. And, thirdly, in certain novel uses and
applications in the arts of known plastic substances.
.
In the first place I will describe my mode of preparing for grinding
fragments or broken pieces of porcelain, china, earthenware, or parian,
previous to being used in the manufacture of this compound substance
called by me opaline.
On account of the great hardness of porcelain, china, or parian,
&c., the process of grinding is both tedious and expensive, even with
the aid of machinery. This objection, however, may be obviated by
adopting the following process:-The fragments of porcelain, china,
or parian, &c., are to be first crushed or broken, by machinery or other-
wise, into pieces about the size of small pebbles or less. To these must
be added a small portion of some fusing, vitrifying, or fluxing material,
such as borax, boracine acid, tincal, soda, potash, oxide of lead, saltpetre,
but of these I prefer borax. This mixture of porcelain and flux must
be then fused or melted by a strong heat in crucibles, pots, or a kiln,
and to facilitate the fusion the hot blast or an air furnace may be

page_text: employed. When the mixture is sufficiently fluxed it is to be run
immediately into cold water, which has the effect of cracking and
shivering the mass throughout its entire substance, and it is then ready
to be stamped and ground. To manufacture opaline I take a portion
of this ground porcelain, or, instead of that, a portion of the materials
which enter into the composition of porcelain, china, parian, or
earthenware, and to these I add a suitable quantity of glass or any
fusible minerals or salts, such as potash and pearlash, soda and soda
ash, manganese, saltpetre, borax, lead, tin, oxides of lead and tin, red
lead, arsenic, barytes, and calcined bone, and melt or fuse or vitrify
the same together in pots or a kiln. If I intend the opaline to be
very dense and opake I use a larger portion of earths, clays, and
minerals; but if it is intended to be more transparent and lustrous I
use a larger proportion of the salts, alkalies, or glass. To give color
to the opaline I use stains or colors prepared from the metallic oxides,
similar to those employed by the porcelain manufacturers. When this
composition before described, called by me opaline, is perfectly melted
or fused, it may be cooled, and, if needful, remelted; or, if perfect and
ready or casting or moulding, it may be run into slabs or blocks of
any required shape, and then annealed, and afterwards perfected and
finished by being polished, ground, or cut, which will have the effect of
bringing out the brilliancy and coloring of the composition.
To employ the opaline in the most economical and durable manner I
adopt the following process, which I shall now describe :-A brick or
block of any convenient size and shape is to be made of the clay called
fire clay, and in some districts "saggar clay," but any other kind of coarse
brick earth would do (especially if a portion of coal ashes or breeze were
mingled therewith to make the substance of the brick open). This
brick or block or base, of whatever material it is made, should be
roughened, indented, or grooved on that side intended to be covered,
faced, or overlaid with opaline, in order that the opaline when laid on
in a fluid, semifluid, or melted state may take hold of and imbed or
insinuate itself into the roughened, grooved, or indented surface of the
brick, block, or base of clay or other coarse material. If the bricks
or blocks are sufficiently rough on the outside there will be no need to

page_text: groove or indent them. These bricks or blocks are then to be fired
in a kiln. When the operation of covering, overlaying, or facing the
aforesaid bricks or blocks with the compound vitrified substance desig-
mated opaline in this my Specification is to be performed it is to be
done in the following manner (that is to say):-The bricks or blocks
of coarse clay being previously heated to a red or white beat, and laid
flat, with the roughened or indented side uppermost, a narrow rim or
ledge of cast or wrought iron or other metal is then to be fitted round
the edge of the brick or block in order to prevent the melted semi-
fluid opaline flowing over. The composition called by me opaline, and
previously described, being now melted or fused, and brought to a
semifluid and workable state, it is to be run upon and spread over
the surface of the aforesaid heated bricks or blocks, and rolled, pressed,
or moulded perfectly even and level over the surface of the said bricks,
blocks, or other shaped article, by means of rollers, moulds, or other
pressure, in a similar manner to the rolling, moulding, pressing, and
casting of glass. The faced bricks are then to be placed in an an-
nealing kiln or oven, and allowed to cool gradually. The heating of
the bricks previous to the laying on the covering or facing of opaline
is done in order that a perfect union may be effected and established
between the substance of the brick and the opaline facing, which
union would not be so perfect if the melted opaline were run upon
cold bricks, blocks, or other article, which would have the effect of
chilling it; although it would be possible to lay the opaline on the
bricks in the cold state, yet it is preferable to make them hot, as
previously described.
It is to be specially noted that the covering or facing of opaline must
always be of a suflicient thickness to permit of some portion being
removed by abrasion in the finishing process of grinding, cutting, and
polishing. If the composition of the opaline is expensive on account
of it being stained or of the brilliant and nearly transparent kind, then
in such case a thin coating of stained porcelain similar in color to the
opaline may be first laid on the bricks, and upon that the facing of
opaline, then polish and finish as usual. By this latter plan a saving
of the material of the opaline is effected. If a varigated, spotted,

page_text: or veined opaline is to be produced, then I lay repeated layers of
opaline in the melted state, and of various colors and degrees of
opacity, upon the bricks or blocks, intermingling and varigating the
surface during the process; or opaline of different colors may be melted
in separate pots, then mingled together in the semifluid state, and
immediately run and spread on the surface of the bricks as before
described, and then finished by polishing. But other methods, as here-
in-after described in this my Specification, may be employed to pro-
duce veined or otherwise varigated specimens of opaline.
After
Having described the method of manufacturing the composition
called by me opaline, I will now proceed to describe the mode by which
produce an opaline imitative of those stones and marbles which have
varigated veins, spots, or clouds on a ground of an uniform color.
The materials of the opaline, mingled in proper proportions, being
ground and prepared by mixing with water (or water in which a small
portion of gum or other tenaceous matter has been dissolved) to the
consistence of a stiff paste, are then to be formed into large masses,
and dried. These masses are then to be broken into irregular pieces
of various sizes, and thrown into a box or vat, when the stained or
colored opaline composition, in a fluid or semifluid state, intended to
produce the veins, is to be poured upon the broken fragments, which
filtering between the pieces unites the whole into a solid mass..
allowing the mass to harden, the next operation will be to divide it
by a fine or other saw into thin slabs, which are to be affixed to the
outside of bricks or blocks made of coarse clay, as heretofore de-
scribed; these are then placed in a kilu until the opaline is completely
melted or fused and incorporated with the brick; it is then allowed
to cool gradually, and afterwards finished by grinding and polishing.
To prevent the opaline composition from running off and spreading
over the brick or slab while in the kiln, a rim or border of metal should
be placed round it to confine the opaline when in the fused or melted
state, or a ledge or border of clay may be affixed on the brick in
lieu of a metal rim; this border or ledge of clay is afterwards broken
off and removed in the finishing process of grinding and polishing. To
produce the irregularity of shape in the component fragments observable.

page_text: in masses of natural marbles, which are supposed to be caused by
volcanic action, I subject the pieces to a series of explosions on a small
scale in the following manner :-It is well known that if a piece of
moist clay be quickly dried it will be divided by cracks throughout its
substance, owing to the expansion of the water by conversion into
steam. On the same principle, if the composition called by me opaline,
when in its pasty state as before described, be made up into large
masses, and the moisture expelled by drying briskly in an oven, the
mass will be intersected with innumerable fissures of various sizes, the
small ones diverging in all directions from the larger, until the whole
substance is penetrated with these minor ramifications. By inclosing
drops of water in certain parts of the mass the effects in such parts will
be increased; but to produce these effects to the utmost extent sinall
quantities of gunpowder, chlorate of potash, nitrate of potash, sulphur,
or any explosive salt may be dispersed in detached portions throughout
the composition, and then subjected to a heat sufficient to convert these
into the gaseous state and cause explosion. The mass will thus be
dissevered into numerous irregular picces, having the greatest possible
resemblance to those found composing native marbles. When an
opaline presenting great variety of veining and coloring is intended to
be produced, the composition, after being dried, is to be again broken
up, thrown into the box or vat, and another kind of color poured into
the interstices between the pieces, and dried. If further variety of color
and veining is desirable, the operation must be repeated until the effect
sought for is complete.
By an attentive scrutiny of some marbles and stones, as the cornelian,
it may be observed that the colour of the stone appears to break off
and run into another shade. In some specimens it is very distinct,
dividing into two colors abruptly, without being intermixed or lost
in each other. In other instances the opposite shades blend gradually
until they are neutralized. To produce the first-mentioned effect in
opaline the box or vat in which the process is performed must be pro-
vided with a moveable or false bottom made in several parts. When
the mass has acquired a certain degree of hardness one or other
portions of this false bottom are suddenly removed, which will cause

page_text: T
a displacement of certain parts of the mass, and thus destroy the con-
tinuity of the veins and colors intersecting it. The second peculiarity
propose to imitate in works of opaline by the following method:-Two
pieces of the composition in the plastic state, and of different colors,
are to be placed nearly in contact, leaving a small interval between
them, which interval is to be filled up with water from time to time,
thus causing the opposite colors to blend uniformily. In making the
various imitations of marbles in the composition called by me opaline
by the processes before described that is by breaking the mass into frag-
mments, and pouring other composition mingled with water until it is in
a semifluid state, it sometimes occurs that the semifluid matter does
not completely percolate between the said pieces or fragments. To
obviate this, I exhaust the air from between these pieces by means of
the air pump, which greatly facilitates the process.
Among the ever varying appearances presented by different marbles
there is one of frequent occurrence and of great beauty. Upon
a close examination it will be perceived that one or more veins differ-
ing in color run apparently about a line or two under the polished
surface of the stane, the color of the veins being rather obscure by
reason of its opacity, but still sufficiently distinct to trace the shade and
outline easily, and serving as a back ground to the prominent veins of a
more positive color. To produce these faint or secondary veins, clouds,
&c. running under those more distinct, several layers of veined opaline
composition, differing in their degrees of opacity, are to be placed upon
each other in the following order :-Supposing that it is intended to pro-
duce a specimen of opaline having three visible strata or courses of
veins. The first layer or stratum should be very opalescent, and be tra-
versed with veins of a strong and distinct color; the second stratum is
to be of a more transparent composition, also intersected by veins, but of
a different shade to the first; the third and uppermost layer must be
still more transparent than the second or middle stratuin, that the veins
of the lower stratum may be faintly visible and not totally obscured. In
some kinds of marbles, instead of the veins being single, two or more of
different colours run alongside each other, yet preserving their own tint
without intermingling. To prevent the colored compositions mingling,

page_text: as they would be apt to do if the opaline composition was mixed in the
same vehicle, I mix the compositions of different colors in different
fluids, which have a tendency to repel and separate one from the other.
For one color I would use turpentine, for another color water, and for
a third color another fluid, as olive or almond oil, having no propensity
to mingle with the others. The different colored opaline compositions
being prepared by mixing with these fluids are to be poured from sepa-
rate vessels in uniform streams, and at the saine moment into the cavi-
ties between the irregular broken masses, then dried and divided into
slabs, as formerly directed.
Breccia marbles, although so rare and beautiful, are casily imitated
in all their varieties in opaline composition by the following process:
-The composition used in the manufacture of opaline is to be mixed
with water to the consistence of what is technically called "potters
slip," or rather thicker. Into this mixture fragments of dried
opaline composition are to be thrown indiscriminately, or if there
is any appearance of arrangement in the masses composing the
natural Breccia marbles which it is intended to copy, such must be
imitated by a regular disposition of these fragments or masses of com-
position. It is to be understood that the pieces or fragments must differ
in color from the cement or paste which unites them together. When
this artificial Breccia has acquired sufficient induration it is to be then
sawn through into slabs of the required thickness, when these will be
found to exhibit the exact appearance of natural Breccias, namely, frag-
ments of various sizes and colors imbedded in a cement uniting the
whole iuto a compact body. These slabs may then be affixed to a base
of brick, clay, or other coarse material, then fused and polished, as
before fully described.
Another new kind of vitrified material for building or other
purposes I also manufacture in the following manner-Porcelain
or earthenware of any kind is to be made into slabs or bricks of
any form, and varigated or marbled, or covered equally, or "ground-
layed," as it is usually called, with any of the vitreous colors, as practiced
by the manufacturers of porcelain and earthenware, and afterwards
fired or burnt in. Upon this a colored or colorless glazing or coating

page_text: of glass is to be laid, but of a sufficient thickness to admit of the same
being polished, cut, or ground. It is then to be finished. by polishing.
Another part of my Invention consists in the application of the
compound plastic substance called or generally known by the name of
"parian," cither in the white state or stained, to architectural and
building purposes, which I carry out in the following manner (that is
to say)The parian ornaments or plain surfaces in the soft or plastic
state are to be affixed to a base of fire clay, or what is technically
called "saggar clay," previously formed into slabs, bricks, or blocks of
a shape and size suited to the purpose, and then fired or baked in
I
ovens, or in "saggars," or cases placed in ovens or inclosed kilus.
prefer to have the bricks or slabs baked or fired previous to affixing the
parian ornaments, on account of the parian requiring a degree of heat
differing from that required to bake or fire common clay. In this casc
the parian ornaments or plain surfaces are to be affixed by means of a
"slip" or vitreous cement being employed to join the material of the brick
and the parian together, then by burning or firing the cement firmly
unites the two bodies together. I have named fire clay or saggar
clay as being preferable to form a base whereon to affix parian for archi-
tectural purposes, and it is most advantageous, inasmuch as it may be
repeatedly fired without alteration, but other clays might be substituted.
"
And, lastly, my Invention consists in the manufacture of coffins, sarco-
phagi, or other like receptacles for the dead, from porcelain, parian, and
earthenware, either separately or in combination with other like plastic
materials. It will be obvious that no details of this manufacture need
be given, for coffins, sarcophagi, or other like receptacles may be made
in parian or other plastic material in manner similar to that practised
in the manufacture of other articles of utility now made from like
materials.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I
do not confine myself to the precise details thereof. But what I claim
as of my Invention is, the manufacture of a new vitrified substance or
compound called by me opaline, and its application, alone or in combi-
nation, as herein-before described. Secondly, I claim the manufacture
B

page_text: of a new vitrified substance for building purposes, as herein-before
described. Thirdly, I claim the novel application of the compound
vitrified substance called parian to architectural and building purposes.
And, lastly, I claim the manufacture of coffins, sarcophagi, and other
like receptacles for the dead from porcelain, parian, and earthenware,
separately or combined with other like plastic substances.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Brough, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Thirtieth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.