AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE DECAY AND FOULING OF SHIPS' BOTTOMS AND OTHER EXPOSED SURFACES."
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Edgar Cook, of Greenock, in the
County of Renfrew, North Britain, Booking Clerk, Caledonian
Railway, Greenock Station, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
COMPOSITION FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE DECAY AND FOULING OF
SHIPS' BOTTOMS AND OTHER EXPOSED SURFACES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Edgar
Cook at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 29th December 1852.
I, JAMES EDGAR COOK, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE
DECAY AND FOULING OF SHIPS' BOTTOMS AND OTHER EXPOSED SURFACES " to
be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a new composition for coating the
bottoms of vessels, as well as other surfaces exposed to fouling,
oxidation, and decay. The following matters enter into this com-
position: gum shellac, gum seed lac, gum gambouge, gum arabic,
gum benzion, red lead, white oxide of zinc, and French verdigrise,
dissolved in spirit of wine of a strength of sixty per cent. over proof.

page_text: The proposed proportions are two pounds shellac, half a pound seed
lac, half a pound gambouge, half a pound gum arabic, half a pound
gum benzion, one pound red lead, one gallon spirit of wine. This
composition being brushed on the surface as a first coating; then,
for the second coating, the same composition has added to it one
pound and a half of white oxide of zinc, and one pound and a half
of French verdigrise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said James Edgar Cook in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 28th June 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JAMES EDGAR Cook, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Booking Clerk, Caledonian Railway, Greenock Station, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,"
in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Edgar
Cook, Her special license that I, the said James Edgar Cook,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Edgar Cook, my executors, administrators, or 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 "AN IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR
THE PREVENTION OF THE DECAY AND FOULING OF SHIPS' BOTTOMS, AND OTHER
EXPOSED SURFACES, upon the condition (amongst others) that I
the said James Edgar Cook, 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

page_text: 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 James Edgar Cook, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement (that is to say):
:
My said Invention relates to the manufacture, application, and
use of a novel composition or nixture for coating the bottoms of
ships and boats, and other surfaces exposed to fouling, oxidation,
and decay. Such composition is made up of the following in-
gredients:-Gum shell lac, gum seed lac, gum gamboge, gum
arabic, gum benzion, red lead, white oxide of zinc, and French
verdigrise; all mixed or dissolved in spirits of wine or wood spirit
of a strength of about sixty degrees over proof. The proportions
of these several matters which I prefer to use are, shell lac, two
pounds weight; seed lac, half a pound; gambogc, half a pound;
gum arabic, half a pound; gum benzion, half a pound; red lead,
one pound; spirits of wine or wood spirit, one gallon. In making
this mixture, the several guins are first dissolved in the spirituous
ingredient, to form a rich varnish; red lead is then added in a
mortar by degrees. The vessel's bottom, or other surface to be
coated and protected, is first well cleansed, and then this composition
is brushed on like paint. When dry, a second coating is similarly
laid on, and allowed to harden like the first. The surface so treated
is then brushed over again with a second composition based upon the
one which I have already described. In making up this second
composition, there is added one pound and a half of white oxide of
zinc, and one pound and a half of French verdigrise. The verdigrise is
previously made up into a strong solution with spirits of wine; and
whilst the red lead of the first mentioned composition and the
white oxide of zinc are added, a measure of eight gills of the ver-
digrise solution is mixed up with the mass by degrees in a mortar.
Two coatings of this secondary composition are laid on the previously
treated surface, and this completes the operation. This system of

page_text: treatment answers well for all exposed surfaces, whether iron or
wood; and the composition is especially serviceable for protecting
the bottoms of ships. It effectually resists damp, and protects iron
from oxidation, whilst it secures either iron or wooden ships from
fouling in a very perfect manner.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of
my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be
used or carried into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do
not confine or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements
which I have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations
may be made therefrom without deviating from the principles or
main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the application
and use of the composition substantially as herein-before described,
for the coating and preservation of exposed surfaces.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Edgar Cook, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
JAMES EDGAR COOK. · (L.s:)