THE PREPARATION AND PRODUCTION OF CERTAIN NEW ANIMAL FATTY BODIES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hippolyte Mège, of Paris, Boulevart de Stras-
bourg, No. 70, Chemist Manufacturer, for the Invention of "THE
PREPARATION AND PRODUCTION OF CERTAIN NEW ANIMAL FATTY BODIES."
Sealed the 1st January 1870, and dated the 17th July 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hippolyte Mège at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th July 1869.
I, HIPPOLYTE MÈGE, of Paris, Boulevart de Strasbourg, No. 70,
Chemist Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "THE PREPARATION AND PRODUCTION OF CERTAIN NEW ANIMAL FATTY
BODIES," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to make neutral products new by their
nature and superior in quality.
The Invention is based on the deductions of modern science, which
prove, first, that odoriferous coloring matters volatile and becoming
rancid (acres et rancissantes) do not preexist in the natural fats called

page_text: suets (graisses en branches); second, that they are developed by the
action of the organized tissues under the influence of fermentation, of
heat, or of chemical agents; third, that the fats of milk, called butter, arc
only grease from fat modified, first, by its cellular tissue, and afterwards
by the organized tissues of the udder.
In applying these facts industrially there is obtained from suet, first,
a virgin fat without any smell or odour of fat, and like the best fatty
bodies; second, a variety of true butter taken at its source formed as in
ordinary lactation, and superior to butter from milk by the length of its
preservation.
These new products are obtained by known and unknown means, the
combination of which constitutes the following process:-
I. Completo Washing.-This is obtained by reducing or crushing the
fresh suet under a shower of fresh water which falls between two rollers
at the same time as the fat, which divided by the water and the pressure
falls into a vessel, in which the washing is completed by a stream of
water.
II. Artificial Digestion.-This fat deprived of all soluble animal
matters is mixed with artificial gastric juico (infusion of a pig's stomach
in acidulated water) in sufficient quantity to immerse it, and the whole
is kept at the temperature of animal heat until all the dissolved fat
appears limpid on the surface. It is left to deposit, and the deposit is
submitted to a new operation to extract all the fatty body, which in this
case has no smell of animal fat and all the odour of the most delicato
fatty body.
III. Pressure. This operation is intended to separate the hard part
which makes the fatty body grained and coagulate rapidly. In the
ordinary mode this operation is effected with difficulty. It becomes easy
by the following means:-The fatty body, liquid and limpid, is poured
into boxes which have an opening at bottom and contain a layer of tepid
water. They are covered, and when by the cooling the crystallization is
effected the water is removed by the opening, the box turned upside
down, the mass allowed to fall on a table and cut into pieces about half
an inch thick; these pieces are wrapped in cloth and put in a press
between hot plates, there is thus obtained about 60 per cent. of a mixture
of margarin and olein of a composition identical to lard, but of superior
savour; the solid part remains in the cloths.

page_text: IV. Regular Solidification.-To have this fatty body solid and uniform
leprived of the granular state without introducing air which injures its
preservation, it is put into a vessel of tinned iron which is quite filled
herewith. This vessel well closed is provided with an agitator which
receives its motion from the outside; it is besides plunged into cold
water so that the fatty body being cooled and agitated without air
becomes thick and uniform; it is then put into a vessel, in which it
becomes quite solidified to a hard and brittle state if the temperature
8 cold

page_text: body is in fact scarcely modified, and becomes the variety of fat called
butter; in fact when the virgin and pure fat is obtained as above stated
it becomes white in the air and under the influence of oxidating matters,
and receives the usual flavour of fat, but it is no longer so after the
following operation which transforms it by a sort of physiological action.
This metamorphosis, which is very simple, is effected sufficiently by the
following means, for it must not be forgotten that pure yellow fat
obtained by the process above described is nothing but butter in its
primitive state: I take this fatty body and mix it at animal licat with
its weight of water in which have been mixed a fifticth part of mammary
tissues, a hundredth part of bi-carbonate of soda, a fifticth part of caseum
of fresh milk, and a sufficient quantity of yellow color. I cause it to
digest for at least three hours while agitating and maintaining the
animal heat, when the transformation is effected I leave it to cool, I
prevent the granular and brittle state, as is before described (IV. and V.)
and I have two varieties of butter superior to ordinary butter. I may
observe that if the mammary tissue be dispensed with, which is nothing
but the organized system of the udder of the cow, an inferior product is
obtained. With regard to the hard part remaining in the tissues and
forming cakes after the pressure, it may be made into stearic acid by
ordinary means. With this object the following operations may be
applied with advantage:-First, saponification known as cold saponi
fication with soda; it is effected at about 120° Fahrenheit; second,
the application of the cutter used by perfumers to cut soap into thin
pieces; third, the decomposition in a tepid state by sulphuric acid;
fourth, the crystallization by the means before described for the fat (III.)
and fifth, the pressure under heat followed by the cold pressure of the
residuos
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 3
filed by the said Hippolyte Mège in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th January 1870..

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Hippolyte Mège, Her special licence
that I, the said Hippolyte Mège, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Hippolyte Mège, 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 "THE PREPARATION
AND PRODUCTION OF CERTAIN NEW ANIMAL FATTY BODIES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Hippolyte Mège, 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 Hippolyte Mège, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to make neutral products new by
their nature and of superior quality.
The Invention is based on the deductions of modern science, which
prove, first, that odoriferous coloring matters volatile and becoming
rancid (aeres et rancissantes) do not preexist in the natural fats called
suets (graisses en branches); second, that they are developed by the
action of the organized tissues under the influence of fermentation, of
heat, or of chemical agents; third, that the fats of milk called butter
are only grease from fat modified, first, by its cellular tissue and after-
wards by the organized tissues of the udder.
In applying these facts industrially there is obtained from suet,
first, a virgin fat without any savor or odor of fat and like the best
fatty bodies; second, a variety of real butter taken at its source formed

page_text: as in ordinary lactation, and superior to butter from milk by the length
of its preservation.
These new products are obtained by known and unknown means, the
combination of which constitutes the following process:-
I. Complete Washing.-This is obtained by reducing or crushing the 5
fresh suet under a shower of fresh water, which falls between two rollers
at the same time as the fat, which divided by the water and the pressure
falls into a vessel, in which the washing is completed by a stream of
water.
II. Artificial Digestion.-This fat deprived of all soluble animal 1
matters is mixed with artificial gastric juico in sufficient quantity to
immerse it, and the whole is kept at the temperature of animal heat
until all the dissolved fat appears limpid on the surface. It is left to
deposit, and the deposit is submitted to a new operation to extract all
the fatty body, which in this case has no smell of animal fat and all 1
the odor of the most delicato fatty body.
III. Purification.-When the fat is melted it is passed through a
sieve, from which it falls into a tub immersed in hot water, where it is
kept at the melting temperature until it is absolutely limpid.
IV. Pressure. This operation is intended to separate the hard part
which makes the fatty body grained and coagulate rapidly; in the
ordinary mode this operation is effected with difficulty. It becomes
easy by the following means:-The fatty body, liquid and limpid, is
poured into boxes, which have an opening at bottom and contain a
layer of tepid water. They are covered, and when by the cooling the
crystallization is effected the water is removed by the opening, tho
box turned upside down, the mass allowed to fall on a table, and cut
into picces about half an inch thick; these pieces are wrapped in cloths
and put in a press between hot plates. There is thus obtained about 60
per cent. of a mixture of margarin and olein of a composition identical
to lard, but of superior savor; the solid part remains in the cloths.
V. Regular Solidification.-To have this fatty body solid and uniform,
deprived of the granular state without introducing air, which injures
its preservation, it is put into a vessel of tinned iron which is quite
filled therewith. This vessel well closed is provided with an agitator
which receives its motion from the outside; it is besides plunged into
cold water, so that the fatty body being cooled and agitated without

page_text: air becomes thick and uniform; it is then put into a vessel, in which
it becomes quite solidified to a hard and brittle state if the temperature
is cold.
VI. Malleability.-As it is usual to see fatty bodies soft and ductile
the cutter used by perfumers to cut soap into pieces is employed, only
the blades are arranged so as to scrape into thin pieces instead of to
cut. This operation which gives the fatty body the desired ductility
can be effected by hand.
VII. Decoloration.-Generally the preceding fat is slightly colored
yellow; to remove this color without attacking the fatty body the
property which it has to remain for some time liquid, even when cold,
is taken advantage of. In this state a pure acid, hydrochloric for
example, is mixed with it in sufficient quantity to remove the color, and
the fatty body is washed with hot water, which is changed until all trace
of acid has disappeared. This combined process with or without
pressure, is naturally applicable to all suets (graisses en branches).
Whatever suct be employed I obtain by this process a sort of white or
slightly yellow lard of absolute purity, and having an almond odor
hitherto unknown in animal fats. This new fatty body is especially
applicable, among other purposes, first, for food to replace fats and lard;
second, in the manufacture of fancy or toilet soaps which are of superior
quality; third, in the manufacture of ordinary soaps to replace olive
oil, and to give a superior product; and fourth, for greasing or lubricating
machinery, which it does not injuriously affect if a little calcined
magnesia (about a hundredth part) be added. There is besides obtained
by this process a distinct product destined to render great service in
domestic economy; in fact the fatty body obtained as above is composed
like butter of margarin, olein, and a little odoriferous oil. It is this
fatty body, when it is pure and which has experienced no modification
either by heat or by chemical agents, that the cow resorbs into her
economy in order to pass it into her mamma; after this passage the above
fatty body is in fact scarcely modified and becomes the variety of fat
called butter. This metamorphosis, which is very simple, is effected
sufficiently by the following means, for it must not be forgotten that
pure yellow fat obtained by the process above described is nothing but.
butter in its primitive state; in fact when the virgin and pure fat is
obtained as above stated it becomes white in the air and under the
influence of oxidating matters, and receives the usual flavor of fat, but

page_text: it is no longer so after the following operation, which transforms it by
a sort of physiological action:-I take this fatty body and mix it at
animal heat with its weight of water in which have been mixed a
fiftieth part of mammary tissues, a hundredth part of bi-carbonate of
soda, a fiftieth part of caseum of cold milk, and a sufficient quantity of
yellow color. I cause it to digest for at least three hours while agitating
and maintaining the animal heat; when the transformation is effected
I leave it to settle, I decant, I leave it to cool, I prevent the granular
and brittle state as is before described, and I have a variety of butter
superior to ordinary butter in its use for food and in its preservation.
I may observe that if the mammary tissue, which is nothing but the
organized system of the udder of the cow, be dispensed with an inferior
product is obtained. The butter thus obtained is preserved butter, but
fresh butter identical with ordinary butter is also obtained by agitating
the above mixture at a lukewarm temperature until the formation of
a cream possessing all the properties of real cream. This cream is
afterwards treated in the usual manner in order to extract the butter.
With regard to the hard part remaining and forming cakes after the
pressure it may be made into stearic acid by ordinary means, that is to
say, I can apply as well as what follows the ordinary means in order to
obtain a new result viz., first, ordinary saponification and decomposition,
and second pressure into cakes, or I can according to circumstances
obtain less altered products. With this object the following operations
may be applied with advantage:-First, saponification known as cold
saponification with soda, it is effected at about 120° Fahrenheit; second,
the application of the cutter used by perfumers to cut soap into thin
pieces; third, the decomposition in a tepid state by sulphuric acid;
fourth, the crystallization by the means before described for the fat;
and fifth, the pressure under heat followed by the cold pressure of the
residues. If the stearine has been well purified I dispense with the
pressings. All the iron implements which come in contact with the
suets and fats should be carefully tinned. The press should be covered
with a thin plate of tin, and the plates which separate the cakes of fat
which are pressed should be doubly tinned.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,
treating suet substantially by the means and in the manner herein-
before described, and the production by such treatment, first, of a virgin

page_text: fat without odor or savor of fat; and second, of a variety of real butter
taken at its source formed as in ordinary lactation, and superior to butter
obtained from milk by the length of its preservation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hippolyte Mège, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Thirtieth day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
23, Boulevard de Strasbourg,
à Paris.
H. MÈGE. (L.S.)