IMPROVEMENTS IN MEDICATED AND OTHER FOOD FOR DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter William Barr, of Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEDICATED AND OTHER FOOD
FOR DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS."
Sealed the 25th June 1878, and dated the 28th December 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter William Barr at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th December 1877.
PETER WILLIAM BARR, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster.
MENTS IN MEDICATED AND OTHER FOOD FOR DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS."
" IMPROVE-
Difficulty is frequently experienced in making animals take medicine. Now my
Invention is designed to remedy this defect, and also to supply foods, preferably in
the form of biscuits or meal, for a nutritious, medical, and semi-medical character.
The main portion of these biscuits consists of mixtures of:-(a), oatmeal, wheat,
flour, bean meal, pea meal, indian meal, or other like substances or mixtures of
these; (b), finely chopped meat; (c), chopped raisins, figs, boiled or raw vegetables;
(d), gum, if necessary, to cause the materials to adhere; (e), ginger carraway
seeds or other flavouring, with or without linseed meal or other oily nutritious
seed. Sometimes I omit one or more of these classes. To these I add, as required,
any of the various medecines found best suited to dogs and other animals. The
raisins, spice, et cetera, hide the taste of these, and the animals eat them greedily.
Raisins or figs form with the other nutritious ingredients alone and without any
medical preparation an excellent "condition" meal or biscuit, and an anti-scorbutic.
As curatives for the various diseases to which fowls and dogs are heir to I add
medical preparations (adapted to the complaints) to the above compositions or any
of them; thoroughly knead and mix them before drying or baking.
I prefer to shape them in moulds, which divide them into two or more parts,
joined together by a narrow junction easily broken, so that while of a good size for
a large animal they can be broken into smaller but proportional parts for smaller
animals.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Peter William Barr in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th June
1878.
PETER WILLIAM BARR, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster. "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MEDICATED AND OTHER FOOD FOR DOGS AND OTHER ANIMALS."
Difficulty is frequently experienced in making animals take medicine. Now my
Invention is designed to remedy this defect, and also to supply foods, preferably in
the form of biscuits or meal, of nutritious medical and semi-medical character. For
this purpose I make the groundwork or main ingredient of the biscuit of a mixture
of farinaceous matters, meat, vegetables, and dried figs or raisins, and then add
thereto the medical compounds required. The whole is then kneaded into form, and
baked, or sometimes in some cases, where baking would destroy the medicine, pressed
into moulds.
Sometimes, where the medicine is of such a nature that it will not bear baking, it
is soluble in alcohol. In such cases therefor when it be desirable to bake the biscuit
I bake it before adding the medicine, and then steep the biscuits already cooked in
the tincture, or moisten them with the tincture, and then let them dry slowly or with
a gentle heat. It will be found however that nearly all the medicines valuable for
dogs will stand the heat of cooking without decomposition, or can be taken in
biscuits simply moulded to shape, and agglutinated, if necessary, by a little gum
arabic.
For ordinary purposes, whether medicated or otherwise, I find that the following
is an excellent composition for biscuits :-(a), farinaceous matter, namely, oat meal,
Indian corn meal, bean meal, seconds or middlings flour, it is immaterial which, a
mixture of the whole lot in equal quantities is perhaps best, 50 lbs. ; (b), scrap cake,
butchers' clippings or other meat, pulverized, or chopped up, or disintegrated so as
to mix with the flour, 20 lbs.; (c), figs or raisins or both, also disintegrated, 20 lbs.
To these are added, if necessary boiled potatoes or other vegetables of like natures,
10 lbs.; to agglutinate the mass together, or to hide the flavour of the medicines,
pounded carraway seed, say, 6 lbs.; and gum arabic, say, 1 lb.; if the cake is
not to be baked about 8 lbs. will be required; 2 lbs. of carraway seeds; 2 lbs.
ginger. The raisins or figs are capital things (when mixed in biscuits) for dogs and
other animals.
Besides medicated biscuits or purely meat biscuits there are others of a semi-
medical character, called condition biscuits. The following are useful receipts for
these 1 cwt. of faranaceous matter, such as flour, bean, or pea meal, Indian meal,
oat meal, and the like, or preferably a mixture of these, the relative quantities being
immaterial; ground carraway seed, enough to flavour (the exact quantity required
depending on what meals are used, but the amount can easily be found by taste);
6 lbs. gum arabic; 20 lbs. linseed meal; 10 lbs. raisins or figs chopped fine.
In the case of medicated biscuits I prefer to shape them in moulds which almost
divide them into two or more parts by a narrow junction, which can be easily
broken, so that while a good dose for a larger animal, they can be broken into
smaller but proportional parts as doses for smaller animals.
In some cases it is desirable to give the food or medicine in the form of meal.
I find for a condition meal the following mixture admirable:-112 lbs. best round
Scotch oatmeal; 20 lbs. fresh white wheaten flour; 20 lbs. bean meal ground very
fine; 20 lbs. Indian meal; 20 lbs. meat; 20 lbs. finely chopped raisins or figs ; 8 lbs.
gum arabic ground as fine as possible, or in place of this latter 8 lbs. linseed meal;
2 lbs. powdered ginger; 2 lbs. flour of carraway seeds, all mixed together in the most
intimate manner.
Having now described my Invention, and the best modes known to me of carrying
it into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim as my Invention the
use of any special drugs for curing the diseases of dogs, but use the ordinary

page_text: remedies found in books of veterinary practice, or that may be ordered by my
customers; consequently, I have not thought it necessary to specify any medicines
here; but that what I believe to be new and desire to protect under the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. The manufacture of medicated dog biscuits with the taste of the medicine
disguised so as to be palatable to dogs.
2nd. The manufacture of meal biscuits or cakes for dogs, composed of (a),
farinaceous matter; (b), chopped meat or other animal food of like nature; (c),
chopped raisins or figs, with or without flavouring (such as caraway seed), agglu-
tinators (such as gum), drugs, or linseed meal.
3rd. The manufacture of food for dogs and other like animals with an admixture
of comminuted raisins or figs as one of the principal ingredients.
4th. So shaping a medicated dog biscuit that it can be broken into uniform pieces,
each representing one dose or a given fraction of one dose.
5th. The composition of dog biscuits or meal, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter William Barr, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
1878.
Witness,
JOHN HAYES,
Apprentice to W. P. Thompson,
Patent Agent,
6, Lord Street,
Liverpool.
PETER WILLIAM BARR. (L.S.)