IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A CERTAIN SUBSTANCE TO SUPERSEDE BLASTING POWDER
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes
& Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A CERTAIN SUBSTANCE
TO SUPERSEDE BLASTING POWDER."-A communication from abroad by
Nicholas Rave, the elder, of Curegham, near Brussels, in the Kingdom
of Belgium.
Sealed the 22nd May 1860, and dated the 23rd November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 23rd November 1859.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes & Son, Patent Agents,
123, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A CERTAIN SUBSTANCE
TO SUPERSEDE BLASTING POWDER," a communication from abroad' by Nicholas-
Rave, the elder, of Curegham, near Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium; to.
be as follows:-
This substance or mixture, which in commerce may be called "alkal-oxide,"
is produced by saturation by the disengagement of an acid gas from an alkaline
solution in contact with a vegetable and mineral substance, and consists of 80
parts of carbonate of potash, 30 parts of ground straw, and 15 parts of
anthracite, dissolved in a sufficient quantity of water to form a thin paste,

page_text: which mixture may be made or worked in Woulf's machine or other suitable
apparatus, and must be kept at a very moderate temperature.
To obtain the saturation of the said mixture, introduce into it a current of
acid gas, produced by the peroxyde of manganese and hydrochloric acid heated
in a vessel placed in another vessel containing boiling water, commonly called
a bath, the saturation not to continue more than 12 hours, after which the
mixture is withdrawn and placed in ventilated drying ovens, or an ordinary
heating or drying room. Or, instead of the ground straw and anthracite,
ordinary pit coal may be used ground fine, and by thus dispensing with
vegetable matter the mixture becomes incorruptible. During the process of
saturation care must be taken to prevent the alkaline mixture from coming in
contact with the atmosphere, therefore it is necessary that the apparatus
should be in good order. If the mixture be required to be in powder it may
be passed rapidly through a mill after the drying operation has been completed.
Common carbonate of potash may be used as produced by the calcination of
vegetables, or by drying and evaporating, until dry, of nitrates of soda.
This improved substance may be used in the same manner as ordinary
blasting powder, and in the same quantities, although its density is less, and
its advantages very great and numerous.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, W.C., send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special licence that I, the said
Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes; 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 Inven-

page_text: tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF A CERTAIN SUBSTANCE TO
SUPERSEDE BLASTING POWDER," a communication from abroad by Nicholas
Rave, the elder, of Curegham, near Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Edward Thomas Hughes, do. hereby
declare the nature of the 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):
gas
This substance, compound, or mixture, which in commerce may be called
alkal-oxide, is produced by saturation, by the disengagement of an acid
from an alkaline solution in contact with a vegetable and mineral substance.
The mixture consists of about eighty parts of carbonate of potash, thirty parts
of ground straw, and fifteen parts of anthracite, dissolved in a sufficient
quantity of water to form a thin paste, which mixture may be made or worked
in Woulf's machine or other suitable apparatus, and must be kept at a very
moderate temperature.
To obtain the saturation of the said mixture I introduce into it a current of
acid gas, produced by the peroxyde of manganese and hydrochloric acid heated
in a vessel placed in another vessel containing boiling water, commonly called
a bath, the saturation not to continue more than twelve hours, after which the
mixture is withdrawn and placed in ventilated drying ovens or an ordinary
heating or drying room. Care must be taken during the process of saturation
to prevent the alkaline mixture from coming in contact with the atmospheric
air, and for this purpose it is necessary that Woulf's machine or other арра-
ratus used for the purpose should be in perfect condition. Or, instead of
ground straw and anthracite, ordinary pit coal may be used, ground fine; this
mixture to be made as in the case above described, with alkaline salts in
solution, into which must be introduced a current of acid gas, produced as
before stated, then dried and ground. By thus dispensing with vegetable
matter the mixture becomes incorruptible. This mixture may be used in a
state of paste, blocks, or powder; if in the latter state it may be passed very
rapidly through a mill after the drying operation has been completed.
common carbonate of potash may also be used, such as produced by the

page_text: calcination of vegetables, or by drying and evaporating nitrates of soda
until dry.
This improved substance may be used in the same manner as ordinary
blasting powder, and in the same quantities, although its density is less and
danger of explosion entirely avoided; it burns slowly in the open air, and
allows the gases to escape without any offensive smell or suffocating effects,
which advantages are very great to operatives working in mines or sub-
terranean galleries; it only acquires its expansive powers by compression, or
being confined; therefore, instead of projecting the mineral or material a great
distance, it only dilates or expands it, thus preventing serious accidents to
which the workmen are exposed. The first cost of this mixture is also much
less than ordinary powder, and all danger in warehousing, carriage, or transit,
is entirely avoided, as no concussion or even a spark of fire will have any
effect on it in the open air. This mixture may be used in a damp state, with
equal if not more advantages than dry, and therefore admits of its being ware-
housed and used in damp places without injury.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, as communicated
to me by my foreign correspondent, I desire it to be distinctly understood that
I do not confine myself to the exact proportions herein specified; but I claim
the mixture, combination, or amalgamation of the products or materials herein
described as a substitute for blasting powder, particularly applicable to stone
quarries and similar purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
EDWARD T. HUGHES. (L.S.)