IMPROVED CONTRIVANCES TO FACILITATE THE ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS AND LEAVES
Year: 1865

page_text: Sealed the 20th October 1865, and dated the 28th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Charles March
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th April 1865.
I, THOMAS CHARLES MARCH, of Ambassadors' Court, St. James's Palace,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVED CONTRIVANCES TO FACILITATE THE ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS AND
LEAVES," to be as follows:-
:)
Firstly, my Invention consists in making separate tubes for the reception
of flowers and leaves, and in so attaching them in considerable numbers to a
base that they shall radiate outwards from the centre, and by their position
give a particular direction and regulated height to the flowers and leaves
placed within them. If the base, for instance, is a circular plate, the tubes

page_text: fixed in the centre of it will be upright or nearly so, the next series of tubes
will be lower and incline outwards, and so on to the external row which will
be the lowest, and will approach the nearest to a horizontal position, and it is
necessary that the tubes when fixed to the base shall be capable of holding
water when used for natural flowers and leaves.
Secondly, instead of the separate tubes fixed to a base described as the
first part of my Invention, I use a base sufficiently large and deep to contain
within itself numerous tubular cavities, the orifices of which must incline
outwards from the centre as described under the first portion of my Invention,
and in these I also place flowers and leaves. I make the base above described
of any material in which a sufficient number of tubular cavities can be
formed by casting, moulding, pressing, or boring, and which will resist the
action of water.
Thirdly, to vessels for holding flowers made as described in the first and
second parts of my Invention I sometimes attach variously shaped handles or
rods made of glass, or other material, which serve to lift the vessels, and also
to ornament them, and in some cases by means of such rods or handles I
place two or more tiers of similar tubular vessels, also for the reception of
flowers and leaves.
Fourthly, I take two sheets, made of metal or of any other material which
resists the action of water, and which must be perforated with very numerous
holes, and I place one sheet at a convenient distance above the other and fasten
the two together. This contrivance I use as a substitute for the ordinary wirework
to put over vases, plates, or dishes, and to keep flowers and leaves in the required
position, these being inserted through the holes in the upper and under sheets,
and into the water contained in the vase or dish below. I make the upper sheet
convex and larger than the under sheet, so as to give to the flowers and
leaves the same radiated inclination from the centre outwards which I have
described under the first portion of my Invention. The contrivance can
be made to hold water by closing it in at the sides and bottom, and
I sometimes add tubes to the sides, so as to insert a border of leaves and
flowers.
The object of the contrivances described in the first and second part of my
Invention is to produce an easy mode of arranging flowers and leaves, and
to give them lightness, distinctness, and a graceful inclination, resembling in
degree their own habit of growth. The tubes themselves are not intended
to be ornamental, nor to be in view more than is necessary, but are altogether
subordinate to the display of the flowers and leaves, and I take care to insert
some
E

page_text: a sufficient number of tubes, and so to graduate the height and inclination of
them that the flowers and leaves placed within them shall conceal to all
practical purposes the artificial nature of the contrivance.
The mode of carrying out the first part of my Invention may thus be
described: I take a shallow plate of glass, earthenware, or other material,
which plate may be circular, oval, or of any other shape preferred, and I
pour into the plate, so as partly to fill it, some cement, which may be
conveniently made by melting together beeswax and rosin, adding color if
desired. When the cement is beginning to solidify, but is yet soft, I insert
in it any convenient number of tubes, so arranged that the upper ends in
which the flowers and leaves are to be placed shall incline outwards from the
centre. The diameter of the tubes for ordinary flowers and leaves may be
three-eighths of an inch or half an inch, and their height from two to six
inches, but I do not limit the Invention to any particular diameter or height
of tube. I find it convenient to close the tubes at one end, so that they may
hold water independently of the base to which they are attached, but this is
not absolutely necessary; and when I require to insert the tubes very
numerously, I reduce the diameter of them at the lower end, so that the
portion fixed in the cement may occupy less space than if the tubes were of
the same diameter throughout. With the same view I also frequently make
the base convex instead of flat, so as to afford more space for the insertion of
tho tubes.
I prefer to make the tubes of glass because it is light in appearance; but
provided they be systematically arranged as to height and position they will
be little seen when filled with flowers and leaves, and may therefore be made
of any other suitable material. Cement made of beeswax and rosin forms a
convenient base for the insertion of the tubes, but I by no means limit myself in
carrying out the first part of my Invention to this particular cement, nor to the
mode described of inserting the tubes. I use any other kind of cement, or I fix
the tubes to bases of wood, cork, metal, earthenware, gutta perchia, caoutchouc,
plaster, or in fact any material to which they can be fastened, soldered, or
cemented in the positions I have described. The tubes may be either fixed
permanently, or may fit into sockets or cavities, so as to be removable at
will. When cement is used I sometimes add an upper sheet of perforated
metal made convex, which I find to be useful in enabling me to pour the
cement evenly, and for determining the number of tubes, and keeping them
firmly fixed in their places.
The most obvious use of the tubular apparatus I have described as the

page_text: first and second parts of my Invention is to make an arrangement of flowers
and leaves which can be placed on tables or other similar flat surfaces, or
to fit over ordinary vases, plates, or dishes, but I also apply the Invention
for making flower receptacles which may be fixed against walls, so as to
form garlands, ribbon shaped ornaments, mirror frames, and floral devices
of any desired shape, for which purpose I so attach the tubes to a base that
they may diverge outwards from the centre at any required angle which will
permit them to hold water, and I sometimes so curve the tubes that a
portion of them may hold water, although the mouth of the tube inclines
downwards.
All the preceding explanations in this Provisional Specification apply to the
use of natural flowers and leaves, but I also claim to use all the contrivances I
have described for the reception of artificial flowers and leaves, the only
difference being that when such are used the tubes or vessels need not be mado
to hold water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Charles March in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 28th October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
CHARLES MARCH, of Ambassadors' Court, Saint James' Palace, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Charles March, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Charles March, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Charles March, 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
"IMPROVED CONTRIVANCES TO FACILITATE THE ARRANGEMENT OF FLOWERS AND
LEAVES, upou the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Charles Mareb, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing

page_text: 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 Thomas Charles March, 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 :-
My Invention consists in attaching a number of glass tubes to a base in
such manner that they shall radiate outwards in different directions from the
centre, and by their position, height, and different water level give a particular
direction as well as firm support to the flowers and leaves inserted within them.
To effect this purpose the tubes must be closed at the bottom, so that they
may be filled with water. It is further necessary that the tubes be placed
sufficiently near together to mask the artificial nature of the contrivance, the
tubes themselves being almost entirely concealed by the flowers and leaves
overhanging from the stalks inserted within them.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I will proceed
to describe the explanatory Drawing hereto annexed.
Fig. 1 represents a flower holder constructed according to this first part of my
Invention. A is a vessel (in this instance a circular plate) within which some
cement is melted or poured; B is a perforated plate, in this instance made
convex, so as to afford a greater surface for the insertion of tubes; C, C, C,
represent three of the numerous tubes which are inserted through the
perforations in the plate into the cement below, which when solidified holds
them firmly in their places. The perforated plate is most conveniently made
of metal; it is useful in regulating and retaining the position of the tubes, but
is not absolutely necessary. It will be observed that the centre tubes are
the most upright, and that the outer tubes approach the nearest to a hori
zontal direction. The tubes must be deep enough to give support to the
stalks of flowers and leaves, and although I do not limit myself to any exact
dimensions, I find that within a circular space of six inches, fifty tubes,
ranging in height from two inches to five inches, and in diameter from three-
eighths of an inch to five-eighths of an inch, may be placed conveniently.
The cement used may be a mixture of beeswax, rosin, pitch, or similar
substances, but I use any other kind of cement fit for the purpose, and I
sometimes attach the tubes to a base of metal, wood, earthenware, china,

page_text: cork, or other material provided with holes for their acception. The tubes
may be made to be removeable from the base at pleasure, and the shapo of
the vessel to be fitted with tubes may be varied to any extent. I also claim
as part of my Invention the method of cementing tubes of other material
than glass on to plates or vessels of glass, china, or earthenware, in the
manner described and illustrated at Fig. 1.
My Invention consists, secondly, in making a vessel sufficiently large
and deep to contain within itself numerous tubular cavities corresponding in
size, use, and direction with the collections of tubes described as the first part
of my Invention, and like them made to be filled with water.
1
vance.
The Drawing, Fig. 2, represents a tubular vessel of this description. A is
plate to receive the surplus water, which plate may form part of the vessel
or may be detached; it does not in fact form a necessary part of the contri-
B is a vessel in which numerous tubular cavities are made, and
of which three are shewn at C, C, C. I prefer to make this description of
vessel in earthenware or china, but it may be made of any material in which a
sufficient number of tubular cavities can be formed by casting, moulding,
pressing, or boring, and which will resist the action of water.
Thirdly, to vessels for holding flowers and leaves made as above described,
either with tubes or tubular cavities, I sometimes add handles of various
shapes, fixed or moveable, so as to lift or ornament such vessels, or I add rods
of glass or other material, which may support other vessels made on the same
principle.
Fig. 3 only differs from Fig. 1 by the addition of a handle cemented like
the tubes into the plate below.
Fig. 4 only differs from Fig. 1 by the insertion of a rod in the centre of the
plate, which supports another tubular vessel.
Fig. 5 represents a glass vessel in tiers, of which the upper tier only is
furnished with tubes.
Fourthly, in conjunction with contrivances of double wirework or perforated
metal, through the holes of which flowers are inserted into a vessel containing
water, I use a border of tubes such as I have described as the first and second
parts of my Invention, and I hereby obtain a different level of water from that
which the vessel itself affords.
Having thus described the various parts of my Invention, the object of
which is to allow of flowers being arrauged quickly and effectively, I have
only to add that the system described is applicable not only to vessels to be
placed on tables or similar flat surfaces, but that it can be adapted to flower

page_text: receptacles to be placed against walls or in other vertical or inclined positions,
so as to form garlands and floral devices of any required shape, for as each
tube has its own water level it is obvious that any number can be arranged
one above another in any direction required.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Charles March, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight bundred and sixty-five.
THOMAS CHARLES MARCH. (L.S.)