AN IMPROVED COMPOUND FOR TREATING HIDES OR SKINS PREPARATORY TO TANNING THE SAME
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED COMPOUND FOR TREATING HIDES OR
SKINS PREPARATORY TO TANNING THE SAME."-A communication from
abroad by Louis Frederick Robertson, of the City and State
of New York, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 31st August 1871.
I, WILLIAM ROBBET LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED COMPOUND FOR TREATING
HIDES OR SKINS PREPARATORY TO TANNING THE SAME," a communication, to
be as follows :-
-
This Invention relates to a compound of lime, carbonate of soda, and
fish oil or other oil, with or without molasses, for the purpose of treating

page_text: "
-
hides and skins in such a manner that the operation of removing the
hair therefrom and the subsequent operation of tanning the same are
materially facilitated.
:
I do not confine myself to the precise substances mentioned, as known
equivalents thereof can be used without departing from the nature of my
Invention.
The proportions in which I mix the ingredients together are about as.
follows:-Lime 12 parts, soda or other alkali 12 parts, fish oil 3*parts.
When molasses is added to the compound I take about 4 parts thereof
and mix it with the other ingredients.
In substituting equivalents of either of the above articles, such for
instance as other saccharine substances for molasses or grease instead of
oil, or other alkali for soda, regard must be had to the strength or
quality of the substitutes, so that the quantity employed may be
increased or diminished in order to preserve about the proper pro-
portion. The proportions I have above given are intended for green
hides and skins. For dry hides and skins I alter the proportions as
follows:-Lime about 9 parts, soda 12 parts, oil 2 parts, molasses
3 parts. These proportions must however be changed according to the
· season and the nature of the hides or skins to be treated; for instance,
in winter and when working' very hard stock the proportions of alkali
and oil should be increased and also tho proportion of the saccharine`
matter when used in the mixture.
In preparing my compound I dissolve the lime in sufficient water to
slake it, and add the other ingredients under constant agitation until
the mass is intimately mixed, using a gentle heat to expedite the
making of the mixture if the heat evolved by the dissolving of the
lime is not deemed sufficient. The compound thus obtained with or
without the addition of saccharine substances can be used with great
advantage for softening, depilating, or unhairing hides and skins, and it
materially shortens the time required for tanning, since by its use the
operation of liming the hides and skins is rendered superfluous, and
furthermore by its action the hides and skins are made more susceptible
and predisposed to the speedy and favourable action of the tanning
materials. The oil produces a saponaceous compound when brought in
contact with the alkali, softens the hides and skins, and facilitates the
removal of the hairs without the deleterious effects produced by the

page_text: lime and alkali in the absence of the oil upon the gelatinous and fibrous
parts of the hides and skins. By the addition of the molasses or
saccharine matter, which contains an acid, the deleterious qualities of the
lime and alkali are entirely counteracted, the pores and nerves of the
hides and skins are opened more expeditiously, the epidermis is raised,
and thereby the unhairing of the hides and skins is rapidly accomplished
without destroying the gelatine, which must be as much as possible
saved in order to manufacture a good quality of leather. Molasses
dissolved in water is capable of preparing green hides and skins for the
depilating process if the same are afterwards treated with alkalis,
without using lime or oil.
"
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th February 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 "AN IMPROVED
COMPOUND FOR TREATING HIDES OR SKINS PREPARATORY TO TANNING THE SAME,”
a communication to me from abroad by Louis Frederick Robertson,
of the City and State of New York, United States of America,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert

page_text: i
Lake, my exccutors 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 t
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 :-
This Invention relates to a compound of lime, carbonate of soda, and
fish oil or other oil, with or without molasses, for the purpose of treating
hides and skins in such a manner that the operation of removing the
hair therefrom and the subsequent operation of tanning the same are
materially facilitated.
I do not confine myself to the precise substances mentioned, as known
equivalents thereof can be used without departing from the nature of
my
Invention.
The proportions in which I mix the ingredients together are about as
follows:-Limo 12 parts, soda or other alkali 12 parts, fish oil 3 parts. 2
When molasses is added to the compound I take about 4 parts thereof
and mix it with the other ingredients.
!.
In substituting equivalents of either of the above articles, such for
instance as other saccharinė substances for molasses, or grease instead
of oil, or other alkali for soda, regard must be had to the strength or 2
quality of the substitutes, so that the quantity employed may be
increased or diminished in order to preserve about the proper pro-
portions. The proportions I have above given are intended for green
hides and skins. For dry hides and skins I alter the proportions as
follows: Lime about 9 parts, soda 12 parts, oil 2 parts, molasses a
3 parts. These proportions must however be changed according to the
season and the nature of the hides or skins to be treated; for instance,
in winter and when working very hard stock the proportion of alkali
and oil should be increased and also the proportion of the saccharine
matter when used in the mixture.

page_text: In preparing my compound I dissolve the lime in sufficient water to
slake it, and add the other ingredients under constant agitation until the
mass is intimately mixed, using a gentle heat to expedite the making
of the mixture if the heat evolved by the dissolving of the lime is not
deemed sufficient. The compound thus obtained with or without the
addition of saccharine substances can be used with great advantage for
softening, depilating, or unhairing hides and skins, and it materially
shorten's the time required for tanning, since by its use the operation of
liming the hides and skins is rendered superfluous, and furthermore by
its action the hides and skins are made more susceptible and predisposed
to the speedy and favorable action of the tanning materials. The oil
produces a saponaceous compound when brought in contact with the
alkali, softens the hides and skins, and facilitates the removal of the hairs
without the deleterious effects produced by the lime and alkali in the
absence of the oil upon the gelatinous and fibrous parts of the hides
and skins. By the addition of the molasses or saccharine matter, which
contains an acid, the deleterious qualities of the lime and alkali are
entirely counteracted, the pores and nerves of the hides and skins aro
opened more expeditiously, the epidermis is raised, and thereby the
unhairing of tho hides and skins is rapidly accomplished without
destroying the gelatine, which must be as much as possible saved in
order to manufacture a good quality of leather. Molasses dissolved in
water is capable of preparing green hides and skins for the depilating
process if the same are afterwards treated with alkalies, without using
lime or oil
Third. Depilating hides and skins by first applying molasses or

page_text: saccharine substances, and afterwards treating them with alkaline
solution, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lako, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy- į
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
W“. BOB². LAKE. (L.S.)