IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING FATTY MATTERS TO RENDER THEM SUITABLE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Aristide Michel Servan, of Philpot Lane, in
the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TREATING FATTY MATTERS TO RENDER THEM SUITABLE FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES."
Scaled the 9th August 1853, and dated the 27th May 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Aristide Michel
Servan at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 27th May 1853.
I, ARISTIDE MICHEL SERVAN, of Philpot Lane, in the City of London,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TREATING FATTY MATTERS TO RENDER THEM SUITABLE FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CANDLES" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in acting on elaidine or claiodic acid (which
is the substance formed by acting on fatty bodies with the gas formed
by acting on nitric acid with an organic body) with a variable propor-
tion of sulphuric acid, according to the quality of the elaidine, thus
producing fatty matters more suitable for making candles, when distilled
by steam at its natural temperature.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Aristide Michel Servan in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 24th November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ARISTIDE MICHEL SERVAN, of Philpot Lane, in the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, 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 Aristide Michel Servan, Her special
licence that I, the said Aristide Michel Servan, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Aristide Michel
Servan, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING FATTY MATTERS TO RENDER THEM
SUITABLE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Aristide Michel Servan, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 Aristide Michel Servan, 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 thereof (that is to say):
My Invention consists in acting on elaidine or elaidic acid (which is
the substance formed by acting on fatty bodies with the gas formed
by acting on nitric acid with an organic body) with a variable pro-
portion of sulphuric acid, according to the quality of the elaidine, thus

page_text: producing fatty matters more suitable for making candles, when dis-
tilled by steam at its natural temperature; and in order that my said
Invention may be most fully understood, and readily carried into effect,
I will proceed to describe the means employed by me. I take, for
instance, 1000 lbs. of the fatty body to be operated upon, and place it in
a suitable vessel, so arranged as to prevent the escape into the air of
the gas employed in the process; and should the fat to be operated
upon be naturally solid, I here melt the same by means of steam, or in
any other convenient manner.
When this is accomplished, I cause
nitrous acid gas to pass through the fluid fat during about three hours,
and I usually obtain the nitrous acid gas by the decomposition of nitric
acid by means of an organic body, such as saw dust, but other means
of generating the nitrous acid may be employed; and I have found that
the gas produced by the action of one pound of saw dust on three pounds
of nitric acid will be sufficient to produce the change required in 1000 lbs.
of fat or oil. When this process is complete, the fatty body, if
originally neutral, as, for instance, tallow, will have been converted into
the substance ordinarily known as claidine. But should the substance
operated upon have been originally acid, as, for instance, oleic acid, the
result of the process will be the formation of claidic acid. In either
case I wash the transformed fatty matter in water until every trace of
acid is removed, and I then raise the fat to a heat sufficient to dry the
same. When in this state I add for every 1000 lbs. of fatty matter
from 100 lbs. to 170 lbs. of sulphuric acid, of a density of 66° Baumé,
according to the nature of the fatty body to be treated. The fats which
have the lowest melting points requiring the largest proportion of acid;
thus a little experience will soon teach the workman the quantity of
I allow this acid to
acid which is necessary to produce the best effect.
trickle gradually during eight hours into the fat, which should be kept
in a gently heated state, and after all the acid has been introduced the
temperature should be raised to about two hundred and thirty degrees.
the whole operation occupying about sixteen hours; after which, I allow
the black matter which is formed by the action of the acid to settle, and
I draw off the clear fat; after which, I wash the product until all trace
of acid is removed, and I then proceed to dry by heat, as before. This

page_text: substance, after it has been distilled in a still, heated by any of the well-
known means, and from which the air is excluded by means of steam or
otherwise, is very suitable for the manufacture of candles. I would
mention, that I believe this process to be applicable to all fats and oils
of an animal or vegetable origin, whether neutral or acid, which require
or are improved by being rendered harder and less easily fusible for the
purpose of the manufacture of candles. I would also mention, that I
sometimes mix with the more fluid oils, before the commencement of
the process, a certain quantity of resin to obtain a harder product, but
I do not find it to be advantageous to exceed the proportions of three
parts of resin to five of oil, and in such a case I employ only five per
cent. of sulphuric acid for the acidification.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not claim
the conversion of fatty matters in claidine and claidic acid by means of
nitrous acid; but what I claim is, the acting on claidine or claidic acid,
by whatever means the same may be obtained, by means of sulphuric
acid.
In witness whercof, I, the said Aristide Michel Servan, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Niucteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
A. SERVAN. (L.S.)