IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF NIGHT SOIL AND SEWAGE MATTERS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURES THEREFROM,
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Young Darracott Scott, of Ealing, in the
County of Middlesex, Major-General, C.B., for the. Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF NIGHT SOIL AND SEWAGE MATTERS,
AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURES THEREFROM,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Young Darracott
Scott at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 21st April 1873.
I, HENRY YOUNG DARRACOTT SCOTT, of Ealing, in the County of
Middlesex, Major-General, C.B., do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF NIGHT SOIL AND SEWAGE
MATTERS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURES THEREFROM," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is the economical and inoffensive treat-
ment of sewage and night soil. The process essentially consists in the
utilisation of the deposit obtained from liquid sewage by the lime

page_text: method of precipitation for the deodorisation of the night soil of towns,
and the retention of the fertilising clements of such excrementitious
matters.
•
In carrying out my Invention I precipitate the sewage with lime in
the usual manner. The deposit thus obtained is collected and dried by
any convenient method, but with the view of preventing nuisance and
bringing the nitrogen present into a form in which it can be retained,
I sometimes mix with the wet deposit a small quantity of free lime.
In order to retain the ammonia set free in the drying process I lightly
cover the wet deposit with some substance which has been impregnated
with acid, but which does not neutralize the acid employed. Sawdust,
hay, or straw answer very well, but I may also use vegetable charcoal
for the purpose, or dried horsedung or shoddy. The deposit may be dried
on hot floors, or when previously compressed into cakes or allowed to
consolidate spontaneously in the open air it may be arranged in drying
chambers together with the acidified matters above referred to and be
there desiccated. The desiccation may with advantage be carried to
scorching when the size of the town is such as to justify the use of
special apparatus. In such cases also the ammonia evolved from the
drying or scorching mass may be collected by well known methods
instead of the above. For small places simple air drying may be
employed. The deposit may for instance be spread over a porous
surface and be lightly covered with the acidified matters above referred
to to retain the ammonia which would otherwise escape.
When the deposit has been dried or scorched it is to be reduced to a
powder (if this has not been done in the desiccating process), and it is then
applied in dry closets, privies, or cesspool matters cither by mechanical
contrivances or by hand. I sometimes mix with the powdered deposit
lime, chloride of lime, carbolate of lime,' or chlorides of the cheaper
metals to assist in the deodorization of the night soil and to retain the
phosphoric acid of the soluble phosphates., I sometimes also cover the
bottoms of the cesspools with a layer of lime for similar objects. The
liquid which drains off can be treated for the recovery of ammonia either
with a salt which will retain the substance, or when the night soil is to
bc converted into manure at a depôt by distillation.
The mixed night soil and sewage precipitate obtained as above will
have a sufficiently fertilizing value to find a market at some distance

page_text: from the town, and by its sale towns whilst clarifying their sewage will
find the means of ridding themselves of their deposit which is in itself
so weak in fertilizing clements as to be practically worthless if dealt
with separately.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Young Darracott Scott in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 21st October 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
YOUNG DARRACOTT SCOTT, of Ealing, in the County of Middlesex,
Major-General, C.B., send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Young Darracott Scott, Her special
licence that I, the said Henry Young Darracott Scott, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Young
Darracott Scott, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no otliers, 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 THE TREATMENT OF NIGHT SOIL AND SEWAGE MATTERS,
AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF MANURES THEREFROM," upon the condition
(ainongst others) that I, the said Henry Young Darracott Scott, 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.

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is the economical and inoffensive treat-
ment of sewage and night soil. The process essentially consists in the
utilization of the deposit (obtained from liquid sewage by the lime
method of precipitation) for the deodorization of night soil and the
retention of its fertilizing elements.
In carrying out my Invention I precipitate the sewage with lime in
the usual manner. The deposit thus obtained is collected and dried in
any convenient manner or by means of any suitable apparatus, but
with the view of preventing nuisances I sometimes mix with the wet
deposit a small quantity of free lime, and in order to retain the ammonia
set free in the drying process I lightly cover the wet deposit with some
substance which has been impregnated with sulphuric or hydrochloric
acid, but which does not neutralize the acid employed. I may use
sulphate of iron for a similar purpose, or chloride of iron will effect a
similar result. Sawdust, hay, or straw answer very well as substances
which may be impregnated with the acid or salt containing the acid
which is used to fix the ammonia, but I may also use vegetable charcoal
or dried horsedung or shoddy, or other refuse substances for this
purpose; the object being merely the employment of a vehicle for the
acid, and in so far as this vehicle contains nitrogenous matter it will be
better suited (of course) to enrich the deposit. The deposit may be
dried on hot floors, or when previously compressed into cakes or allowed
to consolidate spontaneously the deposit may be arranged in layers in
drying chambers together with the acidified substances above referred
to, and be there desiccated, or it may be dried by simple exposure to
currents of air in any suitable apparatus. The desiccation may be
carried to the point of scorching when the size of the town is such as to
justify the use of special apparatus for this purpose. In such cases the
ammonia evolved from the drying or scorching mass may be collected
by well known methods. For small places simple air drying may be
employed. The deposit may for instance be spread over a porous
surface and be lightly covered with the acidified matters above referred
to in order to retain the ammonia which would otherwise escape.
When the deposit has been dried, or dried and scorched it is to be
reduced (in the generality of cases) to a powder (if this has not been

page_text: In applying the dried sewage deposit to the Goux system, the deposit
whilst still moist is moulded into the shapes required by that system,
and is then dried. Absorbents such as are now employed under the
Goux plan may be mixed with the moist deposit before moulding it.
In the employment of the dried deposit in cesspools and other like
receptacles I sometimes cover the bottoms of such receptacles with a
layer of lime and then allow the liquid to drain through the layer of
lime into the sewers, the ammonia being retained by means of filters of
phosphate of magnesia, or if the ammonia be allowed to escape the lime
will still have the effect of rendering the urine and other drainings from
the solid excreta innocuous. If the cesspools or other receptacle do not
drain into the sewers, the liquid urine may be expressed from the wet
compost of excreta or deposit, and be treated at a factory for the recovery
of ammonia.
The mixed night soil and sewage precipitate obtained as above will.
have a sufficiently fertilizing value to find a market at some. distance
from the town, and by its sale, towns (while clarifying their sewage and
removing its offensiveness) will find the means of ridding themselves of
a deposit which is in itself too weak a fertilizer to find a market, and is
therefore (if dealt with as a manure separately) pratically worthless.
The advantages of the process are in brief these:-The deodorant and
absorbent employed is by the addition of the night soil enriched with
fertilizing matter which makes its practical value approximate more
nearly to its theoretical valuc, and the night soil is not so much degraded
as it would be by admixture with absorbents and deodorants which have
no manurial value, and which therefore practically reduce the theoretical
value due to its fertilizing elements.
Although I have above stated that my claim has reference to the lime
method of precipitation, I wish it to be understood that I should
consider the employment of iron or alumina salts in conjunction with a
lime where such lime is used, not merely to neutralize or combine with
the acids of these precipitants, but in effect as the chief precipitant of
the sewage water (producing a copious deposit of carbonate of lime from
it) to be an infringement of the right granted to me under these Letters
Patent.
Having now explained my Invention, and the means whereby I carry
the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the before in

page_text: part recited Letters Patent I claim as the Invention secured to me by
Letters Patent as aforesaid the use of the deposit obtained from sewage
by what is termed the lime method of precipitation (and understood as
such by chemists) as a deodorant and absorbent of sewage as herein set
forth, and also for rendering such deodorant and absorbent more
efficacious by treating it as hercin set forth, and combining it with salts
of iron, alumina, and lime, as and for the purposes above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Young Daraacott Scott, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.