IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING FUR AND HAIR
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernest Francillon, of Puteaux, near Paris, in the
Department of the Seine, in the Empire of France, Manufacturer
and Dyer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING FUR AND
HAIR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ernest Francillon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th December 1868.
I, ERNEST FRANCILLON, of Puteaux, near Paris, in the Department of
the Seine, in the Empire of France, Manufacturer and Dyer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DYEING FUB
AND HAIR," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in dyeing fur and hair.
In order to dye a fast and brilliant black all sorts and descriptions of bair

page_text: and furs of animals, whether the hair or fur is attached to or separated
from the skin, I proceed as follows:-
First operation.-I cleanse the furs or hair thoroughly from all
extraneous substances which may have been used to remove the grease
from the fur or hair, then I wash well in water rendered slightly
alkaline.
Second operation.-After having well washed in plenty of water I drain
the fur or hair and brush it over with a solution prepared as follows:—
I take water, 17 ounces, and add to it chlorate of potash, 4 drachms;
chloride of ammonium, 14 drachm; nitrate of aniline, 1 ounce; and
sulphate of copper, 4 drachms. To give the bath a greater density I use
tapioca as a thickening. When the fur or hair is thoroughly saturated
to the roots I place it in an oven at a gentle and moist heat, and there
I allow it to remain for four days; the fur or hair will then have become
a myrtle green. When this has taken place I troat it with the following
preparation, viz., 7 quarts of water, having dissolved in it 4 ounces of
bichromate of potash and 4 ounces of carbonate of soda, or the chromate
of potash may be employed-in-place-of-the-bichromate. Afterwards-the-
fur or hair is washed in a bath of alkaline soap, and without being
rinsed dried in the open air. When skins with the fur upon them are
treated they are stretched and finished in the usual way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Ernest Francillon in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th June 1869.
TO ALL TO. WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ERNEST
FRANCILLON, of Puteaux, near Paris, in the Department of the Seine, in
the Empire of France, Manufacturer and Dyer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Ernest Francillon, Fer special licence
that I, the said Ernest Francillon, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Ernest Francillon, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no

page_text: 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
DYEING FUR AND HAIR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Ernest Francillon, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Ernest Francillon, 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 thercof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in dyeing fur and hair.
In order to dye a fast and brilliant black all sorts and descriptions of hair
and furs of animals, whether the hair or fur is attached to or separated
from the skin, I proceed as follows:-
Having cleansed the furs or hair thoroughly in any convenient manner
from all extraneous substances which may have been used to remove
the grease from the fur or hair I wash well in water rendered slightly
alkaline. After having well washed in plenty of water I drain the fur
or hair and brush it over with or steep it in a solution prepared as
follows:

page_text: water and exposing a large surface may be placed in it, but this is not
essential. The oven may be as hot as is compatible with, maintaining
the moisture in the fur or hair. The process is carefully watched, and
when the proper color is obtained the fur or hair is removed from the
Then I treat it with the following preparation, viz., 7 quarts of
water having dissolved in it 4 ounces of bichromate of potash and 4
ounces of carbonate of soda, or the chromate of potash may be employed
in place of the bichromate. This preparation is applied in the manner
described in respect to the first solution. Afterwards the fur or hair is
washed in a bath of alkaline soap, and without being rinsed dried in the
open air. When skins with the fur upon them are treated they are
hung up to dry in the open air, wet as they come out of the bath without
being rinsed; they are stretched and finished in the usual way, and
manipulated to soften them. Detached fur is spread out in the air
to dry.
What I claim is the dyeing fur and hair substantially in the manner
above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ernest Francillon, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Third day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
ERN. FRANCILLON. (L.s.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
within-named Ernest Francillon, in
the presence of
HENRY WILLOUGHBY,
Her Britannic Majesty's
Acting Consul at Paris.