IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE or SOAP
Year: 1845

page_text: CHAUVIER, of the City of London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Seventeenth day of April, in the eighth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Hyppolite Chauvier, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho
rity, that I, the said Hyppolite Chauvier, my exors, admors, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Hyppolite Chauvier, my exors, adññors, or assigns;
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
or SOAP;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I; the said
Hyppolite Chauvier, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled
in Her said Majesty's High Court. of Chancery, within six calendar months.
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Hyppolite Chauvier, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in manufacturing soap, whether soft or hard, by the
ise of the hair or fur of seals, or other marine animals. In the manufacture
of soap as heretofore practised the oil of seals and other animals has been
commonly employed, but not the hair or fur, and I have discovered that the
hair or fur may be advantageously used for such purposes. In making soft
soap I employ the hair or fur, which I put into a copper used for soap boiling,
with caustic potash leys, and keep the same boiling for five or six hours, and
in order then to ascertain whether the hair is perfectly dissolved, I draw up
from the bottom of the copper a ladle full of the materials, and if I perceive
the hair is not entirely dissolved, I add more leys, and continue the ebullition
until the hair or fur is all dissolved. The strength of leys I employ is from
twelve to eighteen degrees by Centigrade scale.
In order to make hard soap I change the basis of the alkali employed by
throwing common salt into the copper, about the half in weight of the quantity
of hair employed; I cause, a brisk ebullition to take place during about an
hour, when a second decomposition takes place, which changes the soft soap
into hard soap, and causes all foreign substances to fall to the bottom. I then
leave the matter to repose during about twelve hours, and this process is appli-
cable when the soft soap is made from other matters as heretofore. I would
remark, that in place of using potash' leys in performing the first operation,
soda, leys can be employed, but I have not found the foreign substances are
then so well precipitated. When the matter has reposed, I open the copper
and I withdraw all the water which floats over the leys, and place it in another
copper; the remaining matter will be found to be the combination of caustic
alkali with the oily substance, of which the hair is formed;-in other words, a
saponification of hair. The foreign substances being separated as above
mentioned, I proceed with the manufacture of the soap in the second copper
with caustic leys of soda or potash, according as the soap to be made is to be
hard or soft. After an ebullition of some hours, I again leave the soap to
repose, and I withdraw the spent leys by the ordinary process; I renew this
operation with fresh and weaker leys twice more,, and I obtain a soar yellow,
clear, and of excellent quality.. The making of soap from seal han does not
differ from the process of making soap from oil; the workman will therefore
judge of the progress of the process, and work accordingly. The seal hair
may also be mixed with oils, grease, or tallow, and be saponified together with
those substances; but I believe that such means will not be found so advan
tageous as that of making a soap from the hair separately, and to mixing it

page_text: afterwards with other soap made with oils, fat, or tallow, before putting the
soap into the frames.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I would wish it to be
understood that what I claim is,
First, the manufacture of soap by employing the hair or fur of seals or
other marine animals.
Secondly, I claim the process herein described, which consists in changing
the base of the alkali, so that by a double decomposition a purer and more
dense soap may be obtained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hyppolite Chauvier, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
HYPPOLITE (L.S.) CHAUVIER.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of September, in the
year of our Lord 1845, the aforesaid Hyppolite Chauvier came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-five.