IMPROVEMENTS IN DEODORIZING AND PURIFYING SEWAGE, URINE, AND REFUSE MATTERS AND LIQUIDS, AND IN MAKING MANURE THEREFROM, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THOSE PURPOSES
Year: 1870

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to Christopher Rawson, of No. 1, Saint Swithin's
Lane, in the City of London, General Manager of the Native
Guano Company, and Philip Ovenden, of No. 17, Lyndhurst Road,
in the County of Surrey, Engineer, and James Wylde, of Leamington,
in the County of Warwick, Consulting Chemist, and William
McCree, of No. 2, Russell Road, Leyton, in the County of Essex,
Analytical Chemist and Engineer, and Henry Hill, of Hastings, in
the County of Sussex, Analytical Chemist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DEODORIZING AND PURIFYING SEWAGE, URINE, AND
REFUSE MATTERS AND LIQUIDS, AND IN MAKING MANURE THEREFROM, AND
IN APPARATUS FOR THOSE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 16th June 1871, and dated the 30th December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christopher Rawson,
Philip Ovenden, James Wylde, William McCree, and Henry Hill
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 30th December 1870.
We, CHRISTOPHER RAWSON, of No. 1, Saint Swithin's Lane, in the
City of London, General Manager of the Native Guano Company, and

page_text: PHILIP OVENDEN, of No. 17, Lyndhurst Road, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, and JAMES WYLDE, of Leamington, in the County of Warwick,
Consulting Chemist, and WILLIAM MCCREE, of No. 2, Russell Road,
Leyton, in the County of Essex, Analytical Chemist and Engineer,
and HENRY HILL, of Hastings, in the County of Sussex, Analytical
Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN DEODORIZING AND PURIFYING SEWAGE, URINE, AND REFUSE
MATTERS AND LIQUIDS, AND IN MAKING MANURE THEREFROM, AND IN APPARATUS
FOR THOSE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention in part relates to a process described in the Specifications
of Letters Patent, No. 1954, A.D. 1868, and No. 1354, A.D. 1870.
According to that process alum, blood, clay, manganate of potash, or
other compounds of manganese, and other substances named in the
aforesaid Specifications were to be mixed together and added to the
sewage for the purpose of deodorizing and purifying it, and the mixture
of sewage and the substances so added thereto was allowed to flow
into tanks in which the greater part of the organic and other impurities
was precipitated. The mud or sediment thus formed was removed
from the tanks and dried for the purpose of making it into manure.
When the said mud was partially dry, acid (by preference sulphuric
acid) was added to it for the purpose of retaining all the ammonia in a
soluble form. The process above described is commonly known as the
A. B. C. process."
66
Our Invention consists of an improved mode of using the substances
(inter alia) mentioned in the Specifications herein-before referred to in
order that such substances may act with greater or more beneficial effect
than heretofore; in the use of certain albuminous and albuminoid sub-
stances in addition to the aforesaid substances; in the use of a current of
electricity or magnetism for coagulating the albuminous and albuminoid
substances in the sewage, urine, or refuse liquids or matters; of a mode
of destroying wholly or partially the offensive gases given off during
the acidification or other chemical treatment and drying of the mud,
herein-before referred to; of a mode of effecting the more complete
purification of the effluent water or of purifying refuse liquids; and of
improved apparatus for drawing off the effluent water.
In carrying our Invention into effect we proceed as follows:-We
take such clays or other aluminous minerals as contain a large pro-
portion of alumina soluble in acids and preferably those which effervesce,

page_text: purpose.
We then proceed as follows:-We mix in a suitable pit, tank, or
vessel the sulphates of alumina or other salts (preferably those obtained
as before described) or chloride of aluminium or acetate of alumina, or
other soluble salts of alumina and ordinary clay with sufficient water
to produce a mixture having a semi-liquid consistency. We for the
purpose of distinction call this mixture "mixture No. 1." In another
pit, tank, or vessel, we mix clay which effervesces on being treated
with acids as already described, animal or vegetable charcoal or other
carbonized animal or vegetable substances, carbonates of soda or potash,
the alkaline earths, baryta, strontia, lime, and magnesia, and their
carbonates (any or all of them), certain products (such as
"black
ash") obtained in the manufacture of soda and of other alkalies, blood,
gelatine, size, white of eggs, fish skins, isinglass, and other albuminous
and albuminoid substances (any or all of them), and we add sufficient
water to the mixture to reduce it to a semi-liquid consistency. The clay
used in this mixture should as already stated contain a proportion of
one or other of the carbonates of the alkalies or of the alkaline earths.
If such clay cannot be produced ordinary clay may be mixed with the
carbonates of any of the alkaline earths or of the alkalies themselves.
We call the mixture herein last described "mixture No. 2".
ingredients thereof may for the sake of portability be used in a dry
form, in which case such of the ingredients as are moist must be
evaporated until they are dry or nearly so. We pass (or allow to pass)
the sewage or urine, or refuse matters, or liquids to be purified into a
mixing pit in which we mix with the said sewage or other matters,
or liquids, the mixture No. 1 and the mixture No. 2. The stirring and
incorporating of the ingredients of the mixture No. 1, and of the
mixture No. 2 in their respective pits, tanks, or vessels and of both
the said mixtures with the sewage or other matters or liquids in the
mixing pit may be effected by means of any suitable arrangement of
stirrers, but we prefer to use a jet of steam or several such jets which
while so arranged as to give a rotatory motion to the contents of the pit
The

page_text: shall at the same time coagulate the organic particles. Or an electric or
magnetic current may be used to promote coagulation. By this means
we not only effect the incorporation of the ingredients contained in
the mixtures but also warm them and thus facilitate the process of
precipitation.
From the foregoing description it will be seen that instead of all the
substances used for the purification of the sewage or urine or other
matters or liquids being made into one mixture to be afterwards mixed
with the said sewage or urine or other matters or liquids according to
the process described in the Specifications herein-before referred to, the
acid and the alkaline substances are kept separate until they meet in
and with the said sewage or urine or other matters or liquids, so that
the said substances cannot act upon or neutralize one another before
admixture with the said sewage or urine or other matters or liquids, and
consequently act thereon in a more efficient and economical manner than
has yet been effected. From the mixing pit we pass the mixture of
sewage or urine or refuse matters or liquids, and the chemical substances
used for its or their purification into the settling or precipitating or
subsiding tanks in which the precipitation or subsidence of the impurities
contained in such mixture takes place.
Instead of allowing the said mixture to flow continuously through the
said tanks, we prefer to allow it to remain quiescent in them a sufficient
time to allow of subsidence, after which we draw or drain off or other-
wise separate the supernatant water from the mud at the bottom of the
tanks. It is important to do this without disturbing the mud. For this
purpose we use a penstock or gate hinged at its lower side to the sill of
the culvert through which the water is drawn off. The sides of the said
penstock are furnished with double flanges of leather or caoutchouc
which work water-tight between quadrantal wing plates fixed to the
sides of the culvert. A toothed quadrant worked by a worm and shaft
(or any other suitable mechanical appliance) is affixed to the penstock,
so that the said penstock can be lowered so as to allow the water to flow
over its upper edge, or raised into a vertical position.
Instead of the arrangement of flanges and wing plates described, the
wing plates may be affixed to the sides of the penstock and work between
double flanges of leather or caoutchouc affixed to the sides of the culvert.
Instead of a penstock hinged as above described, a sliding penstock
may be used, such penstock being arranged to slide in a chase, the sill

page_text: and sides of which are furnished with caoutchouc or leather flanges, or
suitable packing.
Instead of the water being drawn off by means of peustocks it may
be drawn off by means of flexible hose, the upper ends of which are
furnished with wide floating month pieces so as to draw off the water
from different parts of the tank, the lower ends of the said hose being
connected to a main pipe furnished with a tap or valve through which
the water can be drawn off as desired. As the water sinks the hose and
their mouth-picces sink with it until they rest on the mud. By arranging
the said hose with their mouth pieces downwards instead of upwards the
said hose act as syphons or can be used in connection with a pump.
'
When refuse liquids which do not yield a mud or precipitate capable
of being made into a manure are treated, they may after purification
as above described be allowed to flow away, or where necessary may be
further purified as herein-after described. Where, however, the mud
resulting from the purification and precipitation above described can be
made into a manure, we remove such mud from the tanks (after
draining off the supernatant water as herein-before described) by
pumping, dredging, or other suitable means, and place it in a closed
tank or cistern which communicates by means of a pipe with a pump
or a fan or other forcing or exhausting apparatus. In this tank or
cistern the acid or sulphite of magnesia or other chemicals to be used for
fixing or retaining the more or less volatile salts or other valuable con-
stituents of the said mud, are added thereto and incorporated or mixed
therewith. As soon as this has been done the pump or fan herein-before
referred to is set in motion, and the gases given off by the mixture of
mud and acid or other chemicals are either drawn or forced through
or over chlorine or sulphurous acid in a gaseous form. By this means
the offensive gases given off as aforesaid are either wholly or partially
decomposed, and the foul smell arising from the mud under treatment
is wholly or partially removed.
When the evolution of gases from the mixture of mud and chemicals
has ceased or diminished the said mud is dried. The drying of the said
mud (which complètes the manufacture of the manure) may be effected
in any suitable way, but we prefer to effect it by means of apparatus
described in a Provisional Specification filed by Christopher Rawson,
Philip Ovenden, and William McCree (three of the present applicants)
in the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th December,

page_text: A.D. 1870. The said apparatus consists essentially of a drying chamber
furnished with a drying floor or several drying floors arranged one above
another. The said floor (or the lowest of such floors where several are
used) is heated from beneath by steam or other suitable heating medium,
and hot air is drawn or forced over such floor or between such floors so
that the mud spread thereon being heated both from above and below is
rapidly dried.
In order to decompose any offensive gases given off by the mud while
being dried, we pass over it chlorine or sulphurous acid gas or otherwise
bring the said gases into contact.
When sulphurous acid gas is used in this or the preceding process,
it may be produced by burning sulphur or coal containing a large
proportion of sulphur or from other sources. When the apparatus above
described is used the sulphurous acid gas may be produced by burning
sulphur in the flue through which the hot air is introduced.
For the purification of urine or refuse liquids or the further purification
of the effluent water where circumstances render a high degree of purity
desirable, we mix with the said urine or refuse liquids or effluent water
sulphate of manganese or other soluble salts, or halogens of that metal,
or silica in a hydrated form, or silicates of the alkalies, either in com-
bination with some or all of the chemical substances herein-before
referred to or separately.
In cases where it is desired we prepare the materials of the two
mixtures, or either or part of them for precipitating and deodorizing as
herein before described in a dry or concentrated form.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Christopher Rawson, Philip Ovenden, James
Wylde, William McCree, and Henry Hill in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th June 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHRIS-
TOPHER RAWson of No. 1, Saint Swithin's Lane, in the City of London,
General Manager of the Native Guano Company, and PHILIP OVENDEN,
of No. 17, Lyndhurst Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, and
JAMES WYLDE, of Leamington, in the County of Warwick, Consulting

page_text: Chemist, and WILLIAM MCCREE, of No. 2, Russell Road, Leyton, in
the County of Essex, Analytical Chemist and Engineer, and HENRY
HILL, of Hastings, in the County of Sussex, Analytical Chemist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Christopher Rawson, Philip Ovenden,
James Wylde, William McCree, and Henry Hill, Her special licence,
that we, the said Christopher Rawson, Philip Ovenden, James Wylde,
William McCree, and Henry Hill, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Christopher Rawson, Philip
Ovenden, James Wylde, William McCree, and Henry Hill, our exe-
cutors, 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
DEODORIZING AND PURIFYING SEWAGE, URINE, AND REFUSE MATTERS AND LIQUIDS,
AND IN MAKING MANURE THEREFROM, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THOSE PURPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Christopher
Rawson, Philip Ovenden, James Wylde, William McCree, and Henry
Hill, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of
us or them, 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 we, the said Christopher Rawson, and William
McCree, on behalf of ourselves and the said Philip Ovenden, James
Wylde, and Henry Hill, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 :-
Our Invention in part relates to a process described in the Specifi-
cations of Letters Patent, No. 1954, bearing date the 15 June A.D. 1868,

page_text: and No. 1354, bearing date the 12 May A.D. 1870, both of which
Patents have been assigned to and are now being worked by the Native
Guano Company (Limited).
According to that process alum, blood, clay, manganate of potash or
other compounds of manganese and other substances named in the
aforesaid Specifications were to be mixed together and added to the
sewage for the purpose of deodorizing and purifying it, and the mixture
of sewage and the substances so added thereto was allowed to flow into
tanks in which the greater part of the organic and other impurities
was precipitated. The mud or sediment thus formed was removed from
the tanks and dried for the purpose of making it into manure. When
the said mud was partially dry, acid (by preference sulphuric acid) was
added to it, to prevent loss of ammonia. The process above described is
commonly known as the "A. B. C. process.”
.
Our Invention consists of an improved mode of using the substances
or some of them (inter alia) mentioned in the Specifications herein-before
referred to in order that such substances may (by the separate use of
such of them as have the property of neutralizing acids) act with greater
or more beneficial effect than heretofore; in the use of albuminous,
albuminoid, and gelatinoid substances, in addition to the aforesaid
substances; in aiding the precipitation of the impurities contained in the
sewage by means of an electric current generated by voltaic electro-
magnetic or magneto-electric action; of a mode of destroying wholly or
partially the offensive gases given off during the acidification or other
chemical treatment and drying of the mud herein-before referred to
of an improved mode of drying the mud herein-before referred to in
purifying the efficient water by aeration; and of improved apparatus for
letting off the said effluent water.
We
In carrying our Invention into effect we proceed as follows:-
mix in a suitable pit, tank, or vessel, alum (or by preference as cheaper
and more efficacious) crude sulphate of aluminium or other soluble
compounds of aluminum such as chloride and acetate of aluminum,
blood, albuminous, albuminoid, and gelatinoid, substances such as either
gelatine, glue, size, chondrin, isinglass, fish skins, eggs, or other
analogous matters (together with or in substitution for the blood) animal
and vegetable charcoal or any carbonized animal or vegetable substan-
ces, and clay with water. We for the purpose of distinction call this

page_text: mixture the " A. B. C. mixture." The said mixture is to be employed
for treating ordinary town sewage of an alkaline or neutral nature.
The proportions of the ingredients of the above described A. B. C.
mixture, and their selection must be varied according to the nature of
the sewage to be treated. In practice we find the following proportions
give good results with ordinary town sewage :-
Ingredients contained in 100,000 parts of A. B. C. mixture,-
Crude sulphate of aluminium
Charcoal
-
3,000 parts by weight.
"
Clay
Blood
-
4,000
"
10,000
"
"
6
"
وو
82,994
وو
"
Water
The albuminious and albuminoid matters herein-before described (or
any of them) may be used either in conjunction with or in substitution
for the blood in forming an "A. B. C. mixture." When the albuminous
and albuminoid substances are used in substitution for the blood either
of the following formulæ may be used :-
We digest 3 parts by weight of such albuminous or albuminoid
substances in 10 parts of hot water until solution or diffusion in that
liquid has taken place, we then add the solution in place of the 6 parts
of blood.
وو
And we use this latter mixture in substitution for the "A. B. C.
mixture" herein first described. When the albuminous and albuminoid
substances are used in conjunction with blood about one half the
quantity of the albuminous and albuminoid substances given in the
two formulæ last described may be used. The quantity of mixture to be
added to the sewage will be about one volume of the said mixture to
100 volumes of the sewage, but of course the proportions and con-
stituents will be subject to variation according as the character of the
sewage is found to change, the "feed" being regulated as required by
any suitable mechanical means. We prefer such an arrangement as
will allow of constant inspection of the feed. This "A. B. C." mixture

page_text: is added to and mixed with the sewage which is then passed or allowed
to pass into settling tanks where the precipitation of the impurities
takes place. These tanks may be of any suitable construction, but we
prefer to make them with sloping bottoms and mud channels as described
in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to George William Wigner,
and dated 8th February 1870, No. 364. The mud deposited is treated
in the manner herein-after described for the manufacture of manure.
The foregoing description relates to the use of a single pit, tank, or
vessel for containing the substances to be used in the A. B. C. mixture
for the purification of the sewage.
-
When two pits, tanks, or vessels are used we proceed as follows :-
We mix in one pit, tank, or vessel the ingredients herein-before referred
to as constituting the "A. B. C." mixture. In the other pit, tank, or
vessel we make a mixture (which we designate the "alkaline mixture")
consisting of one or more of the alkalies or their carbonates or of the
alkaline earths or their carbonates mixed with or dissolved in water.
The proportions of these ingredients and their selection will vary
according to the acidity of the sewage to be treated, the object being to
reduce the sewage to at least a neutral state.
66
We may here state generally that the directions given in the Specifi-
cations No. 1954, A.D. 1868, and No. 1354, A.D. 1870, respecting the
modification of formulæ and the quantity of the purifying substances
to be added to the sewage apply to this Invention also. We add the
A. B. C." and the "alkaline" mixtures separately and simultaneously
to the sewage essentially as represented in Figures 1 and 2 of the
accompanying Drawing, which Figures respectively represent in vertical
section and plan the mixing pit in which the said mixtures are added
to the sewage.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts
in both Figures. « is the mixing pit; is the sewer; c is the pipe
through which the A. B. C. mixture is added, and d is the pipe through
which the alkaline mixture is added.
In some cases (especially where the sewage is acid) it is expedient to
add the alkaline mixture to the sewage in order to render it neutral
or alkaline previously to its receiving the "A. B. C. mixture," but we
do not claim as of our Invention the previous addition of the alkaline
mixture to the sewage. After the addition to the sewage of the
alkaline and A. B. C." mixtures in either of the two ways herein last
66

page_text: described, the said sewage is passed or allowed to pass into settling tanks
for precipitation, as herein-before described.
The A. B. C. and alkaline mixtures may for the sake of economy
and portability be made up in a dry form, and so kept until required
for use, at which time the requisite quantity of water may be added.
The precipitation of the impurities contained in the sewage or urine or
refuse matters and liquids may be aided by means of an electric current
generated by voltaic electro-magnetic or magneto-electric action; em-
ploying poles or electrodes of carbon, platinum, or other material not
prejudicially acted upon by the contents of the sewage or other matters
under treatment. Instead of allowing the treated sewage or urine or
refuse matters and liquids to flow continuously through the said tanks
we prefer to allow it or them to remain quiescent in the said tanks for a
sufficient time to allow of subsidence, after which we draw or drain off
or otherwise separate the supernatant water from the mud at the bottom
of the tanks. It is important to do this without disturbing the mud.
For this purpose we use a penstock or gate hinged at its lower side to
the sill or to the side walls of the outlet passage through which the water
is drawn off. The sides of the said penstock are furnished with double
flanges of leather, caoutchouc, vulcanized india-rubber, or other suitable
material which work water-tight between quadrantal wing plates fixed
to the sides of the said passage. A toothed quadrant worked by a
worn and shaft (or any other suitable mechanical appliance) is affixed
to the penstock, so that it can be lowered so as to allow the water to
flow over its upper edge or raised into a vertical position. Or the said
penstock may be raised and lowered by means of a chain.
Figures 3, 4, and 5 of the accompanying Drawing represent a penstock
constructed according to this part of our Invention, Figure 3 being a
front elevation of the said penstock, Figure 4, a section (taken on the
line A, Figure 3) and Figure 5 a plan of the same. The same letters of
reference indicate the same parts in Figures 3, 4, and 5. a is the penstock
which turns on hinges or pivots at b; c, c, are the flexible flanges which
are affixed to the penstock by means of a plate or frame d bolted to the
said penstock; c¹is a strip of leather, or caoutchouc, or other flexible
material which is similarly secured to the penstock and the sille of the
outlet passage f, so as to prevent water from passing between them;
I, y, are the quadrantal wing plates between which the penstock works;

page_text: his a chain by means of which the said penstock is raised or lowered
as required.
Instead of the arrangement of flanges and wing plates described the
wing plates may be affixed to the sides of the penstock and work
between double flanges of leather, or caoutchouc, or other flexible
material affixed to the sides of the outlet passage. This arrangement is
represented in vertical section in Figure 6, and in plan in Figure 7, in
which Figures the same letters of reference indicate the same parts.
is the penstock, and b, b, are the quadrantal wing plates bolted thereto;
c is a strut which keeps the said plates the requisite distance apart;
d, d, are flanges or strips of leather or caoutchouc or other flexible
material which are fixed by means of bars of wood e, e, in channels f, f
in the masonry or brickwork g of the outlet passage; (see Figure 7) is
a caoutchouc or other elastic cushion against which the lower edge of
the penstock works water-tight.
The effluent water may, where necessary, be further purified as herein-
after described before leaving the works. Where the mud resulting
from the purification and precipitation above described can be made into
a manure we remove such mud from the tanks (after draining off
the supernatant water as herein-before described) by pumping, dredging,
or other suitable means, and place it in an intermediate tank where
further settlement takes place, the supernatant water being here drawn
off as far as possible. We then put the mud in a closed tank or cistern
which communicates by means of a pipe with a pump, or a fan, or other
forcing or exhausting apparatus. In this tank or cistern the sulphuric
or hydrochloric or other acid to be used for fixing or retaining the more
or less volatile matters or other valuable constituents of the said mud
is added thereto and stirred and incorporated or mixed therewith. As
soon as this has been done the pump or fan herein-before referred to is
set in motion and the gases given off by the mixture of mud and acid
are by this means commingled with chlorine or sulphurous acid in a
vaporous or gasous form. The chlorine or sulphurous acid gas may be
generated by ordinary or well-known means either in the flue or chimney
through which the foul gases pass or in the tank itself in which latter
case the fan is not required. By this means the offensive gases given
off as aforesaid are either wholly or partially decomposed, and the
foul smell arising from the mud under treatment is cither wholly or
partially removed.

page_text: This part of our Invention is also applicable for deodorizing and
rendering inoffensive foul gases accompanying sewage or arising from
it during its treatment. When the evolution of gases from the mixture
of mud and chemicals has ceased or diminished, the said mud is dried.
The drying of the said mud (which completes the manufacture of the
manure) may be effected in any suitable way, as for instance by spreading
the said mud on a suitable surface in the open air or under cover, and
if necessary completing the drying by means of artificial heat, but we
prefer to effect the drying of the said mud by means of the apparatus
described in a Provisional Specification filed by Christopher Rawson,
Philip Ovenden, and William McCree (three of the present Patentees)
in the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, on the 24th December,
in the year of our Lord, 1870.
The said apparatus consists essentially of a drying chamber furnished
with a drying floor or several drying floors arranged one above another.
The said floor or floors is or are heated from beneath by steam or other
suitable heating medium and hot air is drawn or forced over such floor
or floors, so that the mud spread thereon being heated both from above
and below is rapidly dried.
Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the accompanying Drawing represent a
drying chamber constructed according to this part of our Invention.
Figure 8 is a horizontal section of the said drying chamber; Figure 9
is a transverse vertical section of the same, showing it with a roof;
Figure 10 is a transverse vertical section of the said chamber showing
the application of flat iron covers thereto, and Figure 11. is a longi-
tudinal vertical section of the same. The same letters of reference
indicate the same parts in the several Figures. a is the drying chamber;
b is the drying floor on which the mud c is spread. Steam is intro-
duced under the said floor through a pipe d, and branch pipe d', which
latter is pierced with holes d³, d²; e is a pipe for drawing off the
water formed by the condensation of the steam; ff, are pipes through
which the hot air is introduced above the drying floor; and 9, 9, are
pipes through which the said air passes from the drying chamber either
into the open air or into a chimney shaft. The course of the air is indicated
by the arrows. The said pipes are splayed out as shown, and are fur-
nished with guide plates or partitions f¹, f', g', g', by which means the
hot air is equally diffused throughout the chamber. The said air may
be drawn or forced through the aforesaid pipes by means of a fan

page_text: or a draught may be obtained by leading the pipes f, f, g, g, into a
chimney; h, h, are man-holes through which the workman enters the
drying chamber in order to spread or remove the mud or manure.
Flat
plates or covers i, i, are hinged to cach side of the drying chamber,
Figures 10 and 11. The said chamber may in addition to these covers
have a roof as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 10.
Several drying floors constructed as above described may be arranged
one above another, steam being introduced under each floor and hot air
being drawn or forced over each floor. In this case openings (closed by
means of suitable doors) are made in the sides of the apparatus (one
opening to each floor) to allow of the insertion of the mud and the
removal of the dried manure.
In order, to decompose any offensive gases given off by the mud while
being dried we pass over it chlorine or sulphurous acid gas or otherwise
bring the said gases into contact. When sulphurous acid gas is used in
this or the preceding process it may be produced by burning sulphur or
coal containing a large proportion of sulphur or from other sources.
When the apparatus above described is used the sulphurous acid gas
may be produced by burning sulphur in the flue through which the hot
air is introduced.
For the purification of urine or refuse liquids or the further purification
of the effluent water where circumstances render a high degree of purity
desirable, we mix with the said urine or refuse liquids or effluent water
sulphate of manganese, or other soluble compound of that metal con-
verted into oxide by the addition of lime either before, at, or after the
addition of such compound to the urine or refuse liquids or effluent.
We take about four grains of the black oxide of manganese and add
thereto as much sulphuric acid as will dissolve it, and we add the
solution of sulphate of manganesc so formed to each gallon of the
urine, refuse liquids, or effluent water decomposing with lime as above
described.
We would here observe that where manure is to be made the
above described treatment with sulphate of manganese should not be
adopted.
Another mode by which we purify the effluent water consists in
aerating it by means of atmospheric air. This may be done in a variety
of ways, as for example, by forcing the air into and through the effluent

page_text: water by means of force pumps delivering the air through finely per-
forated pipes into the said effluent water.
Having now described the nature of our Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be
understood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein-
before described as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of our said Invention, but we claim as our Invention,-
Firstly. The use of albuminous and albuminoid substances in addition
to the substances named in this Specification or in the Specifications
of Letters Patent, No. 1954, A.D. 1868, and No. 1354, A.D. 1870, or
in substitution for the blood mentioned in these Specifications in the
treatment of sewage, urine, and refuse matters and liquids.
Secondly. The improved mode herein-before described of using the
substances by means of which the precipitation of the impurities con-
tained in sewage, urine, and refuse matters and liquids, is effected, that
is to say, making two separate mixtures, the one herein-before termed
the "A. B. C. mixture" and the other the "alkaline mixture," essentially
as herein-before described, and adding both mixtures simultaneously and
separately to the sewage, urine, or refuse matters or liquid to be purified
so that the said "A. B. C. mixture" and the said "alkaline mixture"
shall simultaneously meet and mix in and with the said sewage, urine,
or refuse matters or liquids.
Thirdly. The method herein-before described of aiding the precipitation
of the impurities contained in the sewage by means of an electric
current generated by voltaic electro-magnetic or magneto-electric
action.
Fourthly. The method herein-before described of destroying wholly
or partially the offensive gases accompanying the sewage or given off
from it during its treatment or arising from sewage mud during its
treatment, that is to say, mixing such gases with chlorine or sulphurous
acid in a gaseous form.
Fifthly. The purification of the effluent water by aërating it with
atmospheric air essentially as herein-before described.
Sixthly. The improved apparatus herein-before described and illustrated
in Figures 3, 4, and 5, of the accompanying Drawing for letting off the
cffluent water from the surface, that is to say, a hinged penstock

page_text: working between wing plates and furnished with flexible flanges and
fittings, the whole constructed and arranged essentially as described.
Seventhly. The modification of the aforesaid apparatus herein-before
described and illustrated in Figures 6 and 7 of the accompanying
Drawing, that is to say, a hinged penstock furnished with wing plates,
working between flexible flanges affixed to the sides of the outlet passage,
the whole constructed and arranged essentially as described.
Eighthly. The improved method herein-before described and illustrated
in Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11, of the accompanying Drawing, of drying
sewage mud, that is to say, by the use of steam heat underneath a 1
drying floor, and a current of hot air above the mud spread on the said
floor essentially as described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Christopher Rawson, and William
McCree, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-
ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight 1
hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
H. H. MURDOCH,
7, Staple Inn.
C. RAWSON. (L.S.)
W. McCREE.
(L.S.)