IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING ANIMAL MATTERS AND REFUSE."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Wood, of Monkhill House, near Pontefract,
in the County of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING
ANIMAL MATTERS AND REFUSE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Wood at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
April 1854.
I, WILLIAM WOOD, of Monkhill House, near Pontefract, in the County of
York, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TREATING ANIMAL MATTERS AND REFUSE " to be as follows:-
The Invention relates to means for avoiding the escape into the atmosphere
of the noxious vapours or gases generated during the treating of bones, fish,
and other animal matters & refuse, when obtaining oily, fatty, gelatinous,
fertilizing, and other products therefrom by heat, and also for improving the
quality, colour, and consistency of such or some of such products.
And the improvements consist in boiling, drying, or otherwise treating the
bones, fish, or other matters or refuse by heat in closed vessels, in which a
vacuum or partial vacuum is formed, by withdrawing therefrom the air and the
vapours and gases generated, by means of a pump or other exhauster, and
forcing them into and amongst water, or other suitable mixture or base, for
condensation and absorption.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Wood in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WOOD, of Monkhill House, near Pontefract, in the County of York, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Wood, Her special licence that I, the said William Wood, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Wood, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING ANIMAL
MATTERS AND REFUSE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Wood, 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 William Wood, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Inventiou, 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):-
:-
The Invention relates to means for avoiding the escape into the atmosphere
of the noxious vapours or gases generated during the treating of bones, fish,
and other animal matters and refuse, when obtaining oily, fatty, gelatinous,
fertilizing, and other products therefrom by heat, and also for improving the
quality, color, and consistency of such or some of such products.
And the improvements consist in boiling, drying, or otherwise treating the
bones, fish, or other matters or refuse by heat in closed vessels, in which a vacuum
or partial vacuum is formed, by withdrawing therefrom the air which may
be contained therein, and the vapours and gases generated, by means of a pump
or other exhauster, and forcing such air, vapours, or gases into and amongst
water, or other suitable mixture or base, for condensation and absorption.

page_text: The form or arrangement of vessel employed for the purpose of boiling,
drying, or otherwise treating (by the aid of acid or other means) the matters
from which the products are to be obtained may vary with the matters to be
treated, and forms no part of my Invention, except so far as its being a closed
vessel, in order that a vacuum or partial vacuum may be obtained therein by
the action of a suitable pump or other exhaust apparatus. And this vessel, in
addition to having means for readily supplying matters to be operated upon,
and for withdrawing them when required, I prefer to be provided with valves,
one or more, opening each way, in order to guard against any injury arising
from excess of pressure or of vacuum in the vessel; and I conduct the air
which may be contained therein, and the vapours or gases, by means of a close
pipe into and amongst the water, or other suitable mixture or base, contained
in a chamber, which I prefer to be closed, in order to render the condensation
and absorption as complete as possible.
By the use of a vacuum or partial vacuum in the vessel employed for the
boiling, drying, or otherwise treating the matters under operation, less heat is
necessary to obtain the desired results, whereby in cases where considerable
external heat would otherwise be required, the liability to burning or scorching
of such matters is much lessened, whilst the operation may be advantageously
continued for a much longer period, and the quality, color, and consistency of
the products obtained will be improved.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I would have it
understood that I do not confine myself to any particular arrangement of
apparatus employed; but what I claim is, the boiling, drying, or otherwise
treating animal matters and refuse by heat in closed vessels, in which a vacuum
or partial vacuum is formed, by withdrawing therefrom the air and the vapours
and gases generated by means of a pump or other exhauster, and forcing them
into and amongst water, or other suitable mixture or base, for condensation and
absorption.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Wood, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
WILLIAM WOOD. (L.S.)
Witness,
WILLIAM BROOKES,
Patent Agent, 73, Chancery Lane, London.