Iminous MENTS IN TREATING BONES, OTHER ANIMAL MATTERS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES CONTAINING PHOSPHATES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING MANURE AND OTHER PRODUCTS."
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander MacDougall, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of "Iminous
MENTS IN TREATING BONES, OTHER ANIMAL MATTERS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
CONTAINING PHOSPHATES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING MANURE AND OTHER
PRODUCTS."
MENTS IN TREATING BONES, OTHER ANIMAL MATTERS, AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
CONTAINING PHOSPHATES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING MANURE AND OTHER
PRODUCTS."
Sealed the 29th July 1856, and dated the 5th February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander MacDougall
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th February 1856.
I, ALEXANDER MCDOUGALL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING BONES, OTHER ANIMAL MATTERS, AND OTHER SUB-
STANCES CONTAINING PHOSPHATES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING MANURE AND
OTHER PRODUCTS, to be as follows:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in operating upon bones by sulphurous acid.
Secondly, in submitting other animal matters to the joint action of sul-
phurous acid and steam, or other heat.
And, thirdly, in treating other substances, as for instance, coprolites with
sulphurous acid, by which operations the said coprolites or animal substances
are dissolved or decomposed, and the gelatinous matters and fat contained in

page_text: some of these substances or combined therewith are separated, and may be
usefully employed in the arts or manufactures, while the residue may be
employed as manure, as it will be found to contain most of the active chemical
agents found in the best artificial manures.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander MacDougall in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MACDOUGALL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturing
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alexander MacDougall, Her especial license that I, the said Alexander
MacDougall, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Alexander MacDougall, 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 Invention for
" IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING BONES, OTHER ANIMAL MATTERS, AND OTHER SUB-
STANCES CONTAINING PHOSPHATES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING MANURE AND
OTHER PRODUCTS," upon the condition, amongst others, that I, the said
Alexander MacDougall, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Alexander MacDougall, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 :-
My Invention consists, firstly, in operating upon bones by sulphurous acid.
Secondly, in submitting other animal matters to the joint action of sul-
phurous acid and steam, or other heat.

page_text: And, thirdly, in treating other substances, as for instance, coprolites with
sulphurous acid, by which operations I obtain manures, also gelatinous matters
and fat.
The process or treatment I have found to answer with reference to the
first
part of my Invention is as follows:-I expose bones to the action of
sulphurous acid, by which the earthy matter of the bones is dissolved, and
the gelatine and fat are obtained in a comparatively scentless condition. I
accomplish this object by introducing the bones into a suitable vessel, and cover-
ing them with water, I then inject a current of steam, or raise the temperature
of the water by means of pipes heated by steam or other heat, and then inject a
stream of sulphurous acid by means of a pipe dipping beneath the surface of
the water, which process is continued till the bones are dissolved; the contents
of the vessel are then discharged and allowed to stand until the fat collects on
the surface. The fat is then removed, and the remaining liquor which is
slightly acid, is neutralised and conveyed into pans or other suitable vessels;
to be boiled down until it attains the specific gravity at which it is commonly
used. During the boiling down, the earthy matter of the bones is precipitated.
The gelatine is then carefully decanted, and the precipitated earthy matter of
the bones dried. It will be found sometimes convenient to separate the fat
from the bones before subjecting them to the action of sulphurous acid; when
this is done, the gelatine and the earthy matters of the bones are treated as
above described.
According to the second part of my Invention, I submit other animal matters,
such as flesh, blood, animal offal, night soil, fish of all kinds, and fish offal, to
the joint action of heat and sulphurous acid, by which they are disinfected and
dissolved. This I effect by introducing the above-named matters into a suitable
vessel, and injecting into it, when so charged, a current of steam or other
heat and sulphurous acid. As soon as this part of the process is complete,
by the substances being dissolved, the contents of the vessel are discharged, and
allowed to stand until the oily or fatty portions (if any) collect on the surface,
when it is skimmed off, and the dissolved gelatinous matter is either boiled
down for use in manufacturing processes, or boiled down, and afterwards
thickened and dried by mixing it with the powder obtained from the treatment
of bones or other suitable material to prepare it for agricultural use.
With reference to the third part of my Invention, the process is as follows:-
I treat coprolites, mineral guano, and other mineral substances containing
phosphates, with sulphurous acid, by which the carbonates they coutain are
converted into sulphites, and the phosphates into superphosphates, and so are
greatly improved for the use of the farmer. I accomplish this object by intro-

page_text: ducing (either after crushing or otherwise) the mineral substances above
described into a suitable vessel, and after covering them with water, injecting
a stream of sulphurous acid until the mass gives an acid reaction, when the
contents of the vessel are discharged and allowed to settle, when the liquid
portion is returned to the vessel to be used in the next operation, and the
solid portion is dried and reduced to a powder suitable for manure.
Having described and ascertained the nature of my Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood that
I claim, as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters Patent,―
Firstly, the dissolution of bones by sulphurous acid, and subsequent re-
duction of their earthy constituents to a powder to be used for manure or
other purposes.
Secondly, the use of sulphurous acid and heat to dissolve and disinfect
animal matters for their subsequent thickening, drying, and reduction to
powder for use as manure.
Lastly, I claim the treatment of mineral substances containing phosphates
with sulphurous acid to change the carbonates they may contain into sulphites,
and the phosphates into superphosphates, to be used for manure and other
purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander MacDougall, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
A. MCDOUGALL. (L.S.)