IMPROVED MODES OF AND MEANS FOR CURING, DRYING, PRESERVING, AND PACKING MEAT. FRUIT, VEGETABLES. AND OTHER PERISHABLE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the International Patent
Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MODES OF AND MEANS FOR CURING, DRYING, PRESERVING, AND PACKING MEAT.
FRUIT, VEGETABLES. AND OTHER PERISHABLE SUBSTANCES."-A communication
from abroad by Daniel E. Somes, of Washington, District of Columbia,
United States of America.
Sealed the 21st April 1868, and dated the 25th October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th October 1867.
I WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Consulting Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED MODES OF AND MEANS FOR CURING, DRYING. PRESERVING, AND PACKING
MEAT. FRUIT. VEGETABLES, AND OTHER PERISHABLE SUBSTANCES," a communication,
to be as follows:-
The said Invention relates chiefly to processes and apparatus for
cooling and regulating the temperature of preserving and packing houses,
[Price 8d.]

page_text: also to warming and ventilating packing houses and other buildings, for drying
and curing meat, fruits, and other animal and vegetable substances, and for
similar purposes. I take advantage of natural principles for the purpose of
cooling air in the several classes of buildings and structures mentioned above;
to do this itis necessary that the air to be cooled should be brought into contact
either directly with the ice or with a good conducting surface which is cooled
by the ice. The latter plan is far preferable so I have adopted it. Cold may
be produced artificially by evaporation, by condensation, and subsequent
expansion of a permanent gas, by means of the condensation of vapor which
may be absorbed by a liquid, by means of what are known as freezing mixtures,
and by taking advantage of the low temperature of the earth at moderate
distances below its surface. When the object is to preserve organic matter
a very dry atmosphere is required, and the air may be dried by passing it
through absorbent materials such as lime, chloride of calcium, or other water-
absorbing chemical compounds, or by condensing and cooling the air, whereby
the moisture contained in it will be given off and separatad; the air may also
be dried by heating. Air may be purified by the process of filtration. For
this purpose charcoal, lime, cotton, or porous earthenware may be used or any
of these with sand or gravel. It may also be purified by the action of
chemicals or chemical substances which destroy or change such matter as it
is required to be removed. Pure and cold air may also be obtained by taking
it from elevated situations. Air may be also purified by washing it with
water in the form of spray or in an artificial shower. This will remove the
dust and other impurities. Steam or steam and spray may be used to wash
out noxious gases and for disinfecting air.
In applying any mode of warming and cooling to my improvements the
first matter to be attended to is the arrangement of suitable devices for
economizing the material employed. Thus all roofs, floors, and other parts
of the buildings must be constructed in such a manner that they will conduct
heat as little as possible. The entire walls may be formed of dry non-conduct-
ing materials such as wood, brick or plaster. I prefer to construct multiple
walls, roofs, and floors with spaces between them. In vessels for transporting
perishable articles the walls should be light and may be made of cloth orother
textile material rendered as near as possible air and waterproof,and supported
on frames or skeleton boxes. Instead of cloth several thicknesses of boards
may be used with spaces between them filled with charcoal or other like
material or with air. Paraffine and soapstone dust well incorporated constitute
a good coating of these fabrics or articles, soapstone being a good non-
conductor of heat or cold.

page_text: In constructing houses for preserving meat, vegetables, fruit, and other
articles liable to decay the walls should be so formed as to be as little as
possible affected by changes of temperature; one mode is to place them
beneath the surface of the earth when the temperature is nearly equal the
year round. But generally it is preferred to place them above ground, and
in that case the construction of multiple walls, roof, and floors with air spaces
or some good. non-conductor between them must be resorted to. The doors or
other openings should be closed by packing of rubber, leather, or other
substance. Means should be provided for ventilation and the air should
always be cooled and dried. By keeping the temperature of the buildings
slightly above the freezing point of water all kinds of fruits and vegetable or
animal substances may be kept through all seasons.
This temperature may
be maintained by keeping a large mass of ice in the building or near it but not
in contact with the articles to be preserved. The air inside the building may
be caused to circulate either by means of proper machinery or by arranging
the mass of ice or cooling medium in such position that the air as it is cooled
may fall and warmer air takes its place. In this case the building becomes
self-regulating. By placing absorbent materials such as chloride of calciun at
some point of the air current it will be constantly dried, and by passing it in
contact with charcoal it will be constantly purified from any unpleasant odour
which might otherwise accumulate in a closed building.
My Invention relates partly to buildings for dressing meat and other like
purposes, which buildings are constructed in such a manner as to secure at all
times a temperature sufficiently low to cool and preserve the meat in good
condition for packing and curing. The said Invention also relates to the con-
struction of buildings with suitable means for salting, packing,and curing meatat
all seasons in the year, and in all climates, and to means for curing hides and
securing in merchantable form the tallow, hoofs, horns and other offal. The said
Invention also relates to means for transporting from warmer latitudes articles
which by the present processes in use are injured or spoiled during transit.
It will be convenient to have slaughtering and curing houses immediately
adjoining the packing houses but divided by proper walls. In order to keep
the temperature of the buildings under control means for introducing and
removing air must be provided, and all the windows, doors,and skylights should
be made double or multiple and so as to close tightly. For many purposes
it will be most convenient to have several stories of the buildings below the
surface of the earth in order to take advantage of the equable low temperature
which exists at moderate distances below the said surface. In such sub-
terranean buildings, a shaft with skylights and reflectors will furnish an

page_text: abundance of sunlight. Wells, water cisterns, or other means for supplying
water must be provided. When necessary the cooling of the water can be
cheaply effected by means of pipes and cisterus lying deep in the earth, and
if it is not sufficiently cooled by this process one or more of the other processes
herein-before described may be used to complete the cooling. All parts of the
buildings, all implements and adjacent grounds and buildings must be kept
clean and free from all decaying inatter. All offal should be immediately
cooled before fermentation takes place. The temperature of the packing house
should range from forty to fifty degrees Fahrenheit throughout the year.
The water is brought from a deep cold point in the earth through coils of
pipes in a tower, and then conducted down again into the earth to be cooled
after it has been partially warmed by the air passing over the pipes; the air
may be condensed in pipes which are in contact with water or moist earth.
Or the surface of the condenser tubes may be covered with cotton, tow, hemp,
cloth, or any fibrous materials kept moist and having a blast af air playing
upon them. This mode is especially applicable when a body of cool moist
earth or water is not attainable for carrying off the heat during the process
of condensing. Water in jets or spray may be let in to keep the fibrous
covering of the small tube constantly wet. Should the air be too moist after
being condensed and cooled, it should be dried by being passed through
water or some absorbent material. Disinfecting materials should be used to
keep the entire premises free fromany taint or odour,and also for thoroughly
disinfecting and preventing all decay in the offal, hides, hoofs, hair, and the
like. Deutoxide of nitrogen will remove every particle of oxygen from
packages containing offal and other portions which might be injured by close
packing, and will preserve all animal matters from putrefactive fermentation.
It may also be applied in curing hides, glue, stock, and the like.
In constructing a packing house thick strong walls are carried up to a
point within a few feet of the surface of the ground when multiple or hollow
walls are commenced, and carried to a height of say fifteen to thirty feet above
the ground with air spaces between them,or having the spaces filled with saw-
dust, charcoal, cotton, or other substance that is a bad conductor of heat.
The roof of the building is also double or multiple like the walls. A series of
windows of glass are inserted in the walls and roof with spaces made air-tight
between them, which serve to adinit light and exclude heat. Wooden or
other screens painted white and made larger than the windows are placed a
few inches from the walls and roof of the buildings to protect the glass from
the rays of the sun while the space admits light. Transparent or translucent
screens are still better than wooden ones. In one of the spaces between the

page_text: walls and roofs I insert perforated pipes filled with water.
The spray or jets
of waterkeep the walls and roofs wet, while a suction blower is applied to rarely
theairand produce rapid evaporation, thereby keeping the walls and roofs cold.
Flues are made in the wallsfor purposes of ventilation withdampersand registers
to regulate the draught. The buildings are ventilated at the top in any of the
known ways, and arranged to be opened and closed by dampers or registers
operated by a cord, or rod, or otherwise. Ventilating flues are constructed in
the building or near it, the upper ends of which reach nearly to the roof of the
building inside. A suction blower or equivalent device is attached to the
lower end, and the air is drawn down the flue and forced to some other
apartinent or outside of the building while the space it occupied will be
filled with cooler air below giving place to still cooler air admitted as
herein-after described. The packing house is divided into several apartments,
one of which is used as a curing room, others for cutting and cooling the
carcasses and others for storing the packages of meat, hides, and the like. In
the curing room are placed a large number of vats or tanks in which the meat
is cured. These tanks are made of double or multiple walls having a current
of cold water running through the space next the inner wall.
Air may also
be blown over the tops of the tanks producing evaporation and thereby cooling
the brine contained therein. One space between the walls of the tanks may be
filled with ice or brine, or ice and salt, or any cooling mixture. The air spaces
between the walls of the tanks should be connected together and a suction blower
provided to produce rarefaction of theair in drawing it through the said spaces.
The slaughter house is constructed in a manner similar to that of the
packing house, and is furnished with spouts to conduct the blood and offal to
reservoirs in the ground to be mixed with lime and other articles and fitted
for the market. The slaughter house should be approached by a narrow
passage leading from the cattle pen. The floor of this passage is an endless
one moving on rollers operated by steam or other power and the cattle are
thereby carried into the slaughter house. The lower end of the passage is
strongly barred till each lot of cattle is ready to be carried forward. The
walls of the passage should be made smooth and strong and so close to the
platform as to leave no room for the hoofs of the cattle to get caught. After
the cattle are slaughtered they are conveyed to the cooling room which may be
in the slaughter house or in the packing room. The cooling and cutting
rooms have latticed or perforated floors and a casing near the walls also
provided with openings or holes through which air is forced upon the carcasses
and meat for the purpose of expelling the animal heat. Connected with the
packing house or not far from it is a tower extending sufficiently high to-

page_text: permit its top to be in a stratum of cool air, say from fifty to one hundred and fifty
feet above the ground. This tower is made with hollow walls or air spaces in
order that the sun's rays shall have no power to heat the air on its downward
passage within the tower. Air ducts run from the bottom of the tower to the
packing house, tanks, and slaughter house, andarearranged deep in the ground
or in a body of water to keep the air cool. Air thus taken from a great
height is much purer and drier than that taken from nearer the earth's surface.
The tower near the top may have a number of openings large enough to
permit a free ingress of air, and should be covered with a cap like an inverted
fluted cone to deflect the wind downward as it blows from any quarter, or a
hood or equivalent device may be so arranged that its opening shall always
face the wind and turn it downwards. Common trenches tightly covered
or metal pipes may be used for the main ducts ur lerground or small pipes
may be connected with the ducts or tower and carried through tanks if ice or
other cold substance. I also for special purposes force air into large cylinders
or pipes and compress it. The cylinders are sunk deep in the earth or else
surrounded by some cold substance so that when the air is heated by com-
pression its latent heat is conducted away by the earth or other surrounding
cold medium. The air is then permitted to escape through a small aperture
in the room or vessel to be cooled, when it suddenly expands and becomes very
cold. I sometimes use such substances as solid carbonic acid, or sulphuric
ether, or both together a reservoir or cylinder surrounded by any cold
mixture or substance to absorb the vapour and lower the temperature. A
room in this building may be constructed with thick or multiple walls and
cooling appliances for the manufacture of ice. To lower the temperature of
the air before it is admitted to the pumps to be compressed, I first use
several air pumps placed within a vessel containing cold water pumped from
deep wells in the earth or passed through pipes from cold springs or streams
or other bodies of cold water, or the water may be carried through pipes in
the earth. The pipes before reaching the said vessel may be surrounded by ice
orother cold medium as before described. The vessel containing the pumps may
also be filled with ice. Air tubes are carried through the ground or through
the water pipes and also through the vessel containing the air pumps if
desirable to conduct the air to the pumps and cool it before it is compressed.
The air is forced into pipes or cylinders surrounded by the earth or water or by
some cold agent which carries away the heat remaining in the air after the
same has been compressed. I insert one or more of the large cylinders in the
earth in a vertical position and surround them by cooling agents as before set
forth. Each cylinder is furnished at or near the bottom with a valve opening

page_text: inwards for receiving the air from the outside of the cylinder. A similar valve
opens outwards into an air-tight passage or channel communicating with a
receiver which like the cylinder is surrounded by cold agents or mixtures. On
the inside of this receiver are valves opening inward which permit the ingress
of the air from the cylinder but prevent its return. A piston is connected
with the cylinder and with a lifting or hoisting apparatus. Attached to the top
of the piston is a loop, the top of the horizontal bar of which forms a ridge or
angle falling away on each side to the bottom or under side of the loop which
is some inches above the piston. Two upright parallel posts extend from the
cylinder far enough apart to allow the piston to slide up and down between
them. On the top of these uprights is a cross piece which supports the bearings
of a pulley over which a rope may pass. One end of this rope is attached to
a drum driven by steam or other power, and the other end is made fast to a
pair of hooks jointed crosswise so that as the upper ends shall be forced together
the other ends shall open or separate from each other. The lower ends of these
hooks are in contact, but their points are far enough apart to receive between
them the edge or ridge of the loop of the piston. The weight of the hooks will
carry them down until they latch under each side of the loop. The upper
arms of the hooks being larger keep the hooks latched by their preponderance
in weight. The piston is now ready to be hoisted when the height from
which it is desired to let fall the piston has been fixed. At such height on
the inside of each upright is placed an inclined plane sloping upwards and
inwards, the space between the said planes being so narrow at to close the
upper arms of the hook and open the bottom of the same, thereby releasing
the piston which then descends. The air is by this means forced along the
passage into the receiver wherein it is retained, and this process is repeated
until as many atmospheres are compressed into the space of one as is desirable.
A spring may be introduced into the bottom of the cylinder, and the piston
may havea cross head from which two plungers may work in air-tight cylinders
or air cushions which can be adjusted to check the fall of the piston at the
proper instant. The valves may be placed a little above the bottom of the
cylinder, thereby leaving an air cushion below the valves, or springs may be
attached to the bottom of the piston. The air as it is forced into the receiver
is made warm by compression, but its temperature is soon reduced by con-
duction or by the employment of frigid agents and compounds.
In applying my improvements to forcing liquids which from their incom-
pressible character necessarily oppose a sudden resistance to the falling piston
causing a shock and loss of power, I construct an apparatus substantially as
follows: The piston instead of being the size of the cylinder is made much

page_text: smaller and is fitted to fill an aperture in the head or cover of the cylinder so
as to move up and down easily. Valves are placed in the cylinder or pipes
leading thereto from the supply fountains and also in those leading from the
cylinder to the receiver. When the supply fountain is above the top of the
cylinder self-acting valves should be provided to cut off the supply when the
cylinder is full. The lower end of the piston is cone shaped or pointed, and
therefore penetrates the water without much resistance. Instead of constructing
the compressing apparatus as above described it may be so made as to use
steam in raising the piston. The piston or plunger should be constructed in
a cylindrical form, and loaded with clay, sand, water, iron, or any other heavy
substance, in order that it may be graduated in weight without changing its
size or form. The bottom must be tight and strong. Instead of compressing
several atmospheres into the space occupied by one, and retaining it there
till the latent heat is conducted away, the air may be permitted to flow from
the cylinder after being compressed,and before it is cooled through channels or
tubes to the building or room intended to be warmed. The salting and
curing of meats may be effected by the ordinary processes or by forcing the
brine into the pores of the meat, and also by forcing gas composed of preser-
vative chemicals into the pores of the meat; also by passing the brine or
other preservative fluid through the blood vessels of the animal. By this
process the entire carcass is salted at the same time. A stream of cool pure
water should first be injected so as to enter by the arterial system and escape
by the venous system. A weak cool brine should next be prepared and pressed
through the blood vessel, and then followed by stronger brine till the salting
is effected.
Another process consists in impregnating the air with salt, saltpetre, or
other chemicals, and forcing the same through the meat. The salt and other
solid materials in the state of impalpable powder should be mixed with the air
and forced by pressure of from five to twenty atinospheres through the meat.
Gaseous materials of a preservative nature may also be mixed with the air,
such gases being produced from the proper substances volatilized by heat and
then mixed with air and forced through hot tubes into a room or vessel
containing the meat to be cured. The meat may also be cured by keeping it
cool and forcing over and through it dry pure air till nearly all the moisture
is removed. This process of drying may be used in conjunction with any of
the processes above described for salting so as to produce dry salt meat.
Before meat can be cured the animal heat must be removed, but the cooling
process should be applied with caution. I prefer to immerse the carcass in
cool water and let it remain until the heat is nearly expelled. Cold water or

page_text: weak brine is then introduced. I also remove the heat by forcing water or
air against the carcass.
. A packing house may be built so high as not to need a tower if there be
left a space from the lower floors to the top for free ventilation, and if the
walls are built to exclude heat and air from the sides or bottom except when
cooled as herein described, but the expense of such a building would be a
serious objection. A platform to convey the cattle to the slaughter house
may be constructed and placed upon small wheels to run upon a railway
track. Charcoal and other purifying and disinfecting substances are used in
and about the buildings. Coils or systems of water pipes through which cold
water passes are arranged in front of air blowers or in the rear of suction
blowers so that while the blowers are in operation a blast of air will be driven
or drawn through the said system of pipes. To produce ventilation, and at
the same time to lower the temperature of the air without the aid of machinery,
I connect a pipe or flue next the top of the room or rooms and conduct the
vitiated air into a chimney or flue. Suitable instruments for indicating the
temperature, moisture, and electric condition of the air and for detecting the
amount of ozone, carbonic acid, and other matters affecting the chemical
condition of the air should be placed in the buildings used in carrying out my
Inventions.
There has always been a great difficulty in preventing the active fermenta-
tion in cane juice in tropical clymates. By constructing a sugar house
according to the principles above described, cane juice may be always kept
from fermentation and the loss of sugar from that source prevented. Any of
the means above described for cooling air or liquids may be employed, as well
as the mode of constructing walls, roof, and other features of the building.
The air may also be dried and purified by any of the means above specified.
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 24th April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our
Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of

page_text: 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 "IMPROVED MODES OF
AND MEANS FOR CURING, DRYING,
PRESERVING, AND PACKING MEAT, FRUIT, VEGETABLES, AND OTHER PERISHABLE
SUBSTANCES." upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Robert Lake, 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 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:-
The said Invention relates chiefly to processes and apparatus for cooling and
regulating the temperature of preserving and packing houses, also to warming
and ventilating packing houses and other buildings for drying and curing
meat, fruit, and other animal and vegetable substances, and for similar purposes.
I take advantage of natural principles for the purpose of cooling air in the
several classes of buildings and structures mentioned above. To do this it is
necessary that the air to be cooled should be brought into contact either
directly with ice or with a good conducting surface which is cooled by the
ice, the latter plan is far preferable so I have adopted it.
Cold may be pro-
duced artificially by evaporation, by condensation, and subsequent expansion
of a permanent gas, by means of the condensation of vapour which may be
absorbed by a liquid by means of what are known as freezing mixtures, and
by taking advantage of the low temperature of the earth at moderate distances
below its surface. When the object is to preserve organic matter a very dry
atmosphere is required, and the air may be dried by passing it through
absorbent materials such as lime, chloride of calcium, or other water-absorbing
chemical compounds, or by condensing and cooling the air, whereby the
moisture contained in it will be given off and separated; the air may also be

page_text: dried by heating. Air may be purified by the process of filtration. For this
purpose charcoal, lime, cotton, or porous earthenware may be used, or any of
these with sund or gravel. It may be also purified by the action of chemicals
or chemical substances which destroy or change such matter as it is required
to be removed; pure and cold air may be also obtained by taking it from
elevated situations. Air may be also purified by washing it with water in
the form of spray or in an artificial shower, this will remove the dust and
other impurities; steam or steam and spray must be used to wash out noxious
gases and for disinfecting air.
In applying auy mode of warming and cooling to my improvements,
the first matter to be attended to is the arrangement of suitable devices
for economizing the material employed. Thus all roofs, floors, and other parts
of the buildings must be constructed in such a manner that they will conduct
heat as little as possible. The entire walls may be formed of dry non-
conducting material, such as wood, brick, or plaster; I prefer to construct
In vessels for
multiple walls, roofs, and floors with spaces between them.
transporting perishable articles the walls should be light and may be made of
cloth or other textile material rendered as near as possible air and waterproof
and supported on frames or skeletou boxes. Instead of cloth several thicknesses
of boards may be used with spaces between filled with charcoal or other
like material or with air; paraffine and soapstone dust well incorporated
constituie a good coating for these fabrics or articles, soapstone being a good
non-conductor of heat. In constructing houses for preserving meat, vegetables,
fruit, and other articles liable to decay, the walls should be so formed as to
be as little as possible affected by changes of temperature. One mode is to
place them beneath the surface of the earth where the temperature is nearly
equal the year round; but generally it is preferred to place them above
ground, and in that case the construction of multiple walls, roofs, and floors
with air spaces or some good non-conductor between them must be resorted
to. The doors or other openings should be closed by packing of rubber,
leather, or other substance; means should be provided for ventilation, and the
air should always be cooled and dried. By keeping the temperature of the
buildings slightly above the freezing point of water, all kinds of fruits and
This
vegetable or animal substances may be kept through all seasons.
temperature may be maintained by keeping a large mass of ice in the
building or near it, but not in contact with the articles to be preserved. The
air inside the building may be caused to circulate either by means of
machinery, or by arranging the mass of ice or cooling medium in such position
that the air as cooled may fall and warmer air take its place. In this case
proper

page_text: the building becomes self-regulating. By placing absorbent materials such as
chloride of calcium at some point of the air current it will be constantly dried,
and by passing it in contact with charcoal it will be constantly purified of any
unpleasant odour which might otherwise accumulate in a closed building.
My Invention relates partly to buildings for dressing meat and for
other purposes, which buildings are constructed in such a manner as to secure
at all times a temperature sufficiently low to cool and preserve the meat in
good condition for packing and curing.
The said Invention also relates to the construction of buildings with
suitable means for salting, packing, and curing meat at all seasous in the year,
and in all climates, and to means for curing hides and securing in merchantable
form the tallow hoofs, horns, and other offal.
The said Invention also relates to means from transporting from warmer
latitudes articles which by the present processes in use are injured or
spoiled during transit. It will be convenient to have slaughtering and
curing houses immediately adjoining the packing houses, but divided by
proper walls. In order to keep the temperature of the buildings under
control means for introducing and removing air must be provided, and all
the windows, doors, and skylights should be made double or multiple, and
so as to fit tightly. For many purposes it will be most convenient to have
several stories of the buildings below the surface of the earth in order to take
advantage of the equable low temperature which exists at moderate distances
below the said surface. In such subterranean buildings a shaft with skylights
and reflectors will furnish an abundance of sunlight. Wells, water cisterns,
or other means for supplying water must be provided. When necessary the
cooling of the water can be cheaply effected by means of pipes and cisterns
lying deep in the earth, and if it is not sufficiently cooled by this process one
or more of the other processes herein-before described may be used to complete
the cooling. All parts of the buildings, all implements and adjacent grounds
and buildings, must be kept clean and free from all decaying matter. All
offal should be immediately cooled before fermentation takes place. The
temperature of the packing house should range from forty to fifty degrees
Fahrenheit throughout the year. The water is brought from a deep cold point
in the earth through coils of pipes in a tower connected with the packing
house, and then conducted down again into the earth to be cooled after it has
been partially warmed by the air passing over the pipes. The air may be
condensed in pipes which are in contact with water or moist earth; or the
surface of the condenser tubes may be covered with cotton, tow, hemp, cloth,
or any fibrous materials kept moist and having a blast of air playing upon

page_text: them. This mode is especially applicable when a body of cool moist earth or
water is notattainable for carrying off the heat during the process of condensing.
Water in jets or spray may be let in to keep the fibrous covering of the
tubes constantly wet; should the air be too moist after being condensed and
cooled it should be dried by being passed through some water or absorbent
material. Disinfecting materials should be used to keep the entire premises
free from any taint or odour, and also for thoroughly disinfecting and preventing
all decay in the offal, hides, hoofs, hair, and the like. Deutoxide of nitrogen
will remove every particle of oxygen from packages containing offal and other
portions which might be injured by close packing, and will preserve all animal
matters from putrefactive fermentation. It may also be applied in curing
hides, glue, stock, and the like.
In constructing a packing house thick strong walls are carried up to a
point within a few feet of the surface of the ground when multiple or hollow
walls are commenced and carried to a height of, say, fifteen to thirty feet above
the ground with air spaces between them, or having the spaces filled with
sawdust, charcoal, cotton, or other substance that is a bad conductor of heat.
The roof of the building is also double or multiple like the walls. Aseries of
windows of glass are inserted in the walls and roof with spaces made air-tight
between them, which serve to admit light and exclude heat.
Wooden or
other screens painted white and made larger than the windows are placed a
few inches from the walls and roof of the buildings to protect the glass from
the rays of the sun while the space admits light. Transparent or translucent
screens are still better than wooden ones. In one of the spaces between the
walls and roof I insert perforated pipes filled with water. The spray or jets of
water keep the walls and roof wet, while a suction blower is applied to rarify
the air and produce rapid evaporation, thereby keeping the walls and roof
cold. Flues are made in the walls for purposes of ventilation with dampers
and registers to regulate the draught. The buildings are ventilated at the
top in any of the known ways,and arranged to be opened and closed by dampers
or registers operated by a cord, or rod, or otherwise. Ventilating flues are
constructed in the building or near it, the upper ends of which reach nearly to
the roof of the building inside. A suction blower or equivalent device is
attached to the lower end, and the air is drawn down the flue and forced to
some other apartment or outside of the building, while the space it occupied
will be filled with the cooler air below, giving place to still cooler air admitted
as herein-after described. The packing house is divided into several apart-
ments, one of which is used as a curing room, others for cutting and cooling
the carcasses, and others for storing the packages of meat, hides, and the like.

page_text: In the curing room are placed a large number of vats or tanks, in which the
meat is cured. These tanks are made of double or multiple walls having a
current of cold water running through the space next the inner wall. Air
may also be blown over the tops of the tanks, producing evaporation, and
thereby cooling the brine contained therein. One space between the walls of
the tanks may be filled with ice, or brine, or ice and salt, or any cooling
mixture. The air spaces between the walls of the tanks should be connected
together, and a suction blower provided to produce rarefaction of the air in
drawing it through the said spaces.
is
The slaughter house is constructed in a manner similar to that of the
packing house, and is furnished with spouts to conduct the blood and
offal to reservoirs in the ground to be mixed with lime and other articles and
fitted for the market. The slaughter house should be approached by a narrow
passage leading from the cattle pen. The floor of this passage is an endless
one moving on rollers operated by steam or other power, and the cattle are
thereby carried into the slaughter house. The lower end of the passage
strongly barred till each lot of cattle is ready to be carried forward. The
walls of the passage should be made smooth and strong, and so close to the
platform as to leave no room for the hoofs of the cattle to get caught. After
the cattle are slaughtered they are conveyed to the cooling room, which may
be in the slaughter house or in the packing house. The cooling and cutting
rooms have latticed or perforated floors and a casing near the walls also pro-
vided with openings or holes through which air is forced upon the carcases and
meat for the purpose of expelling the animal heat. Connected with the
packing house or not far from it is a tower extending sufficiently high to
permit its top to be in a stratum of cool air, say from fifty to one hundred and
fifty feet above the ground. This tower is made with hollow walls or air
spaces in order that the sun's rays shall have no power to heat the air on its
downward passage within the tower.. Air ducts run from the bottom of the
tower to the packing house tauks and slaughter house, and are arranged deep
in the ground or in a body of water to keep the air cool. Air thus taken
from a great height is much purer and drier than that taken from nearer the
earth's surface. The tower near the top may have a number of openings
large enough to permit a free ingress of air, and should be covered with a
cap like an inverted fluted cone to deflect the wind downward as it blows
from any quarter, or a hood or equivalent device may be so arranged that its
opening shall always face the wind and turn it downward. Common trenches
tightly covered or metal pipes may be used for the main ducts under ground
or small pipes may be connected with the ducts or tower and carried through

page_text: tanks of ice or other cold substance. I also for special purposes force air into
large cylinders or pipes and compressit. The cylindersaresunk deep in the earth
or else surrounded by some cold substance, so that when the air is heated by
compression its latent heat is conducted away by the earth or other surrounding
cold medium. The air is then permitted to escape through a small aperture
in the room or vessel to be cooled, when it suddenly expands and becomes very
cold. I sometimes use such substances as solid carbonic acid or sulphuric
ether, or both together, in a reservoir or cylinder surrounded by any cold
nixture or substance to absorb the vapour and lower the temperature. A
room in this building may be constructed with thick or multiple walls and
cooling appliances for the manufacture of ice. To lower the temperature of
the air before it is admitted to the pumps to be compressed I first use several
air pumps placed within a vessel containing cold water pumped from deep
wells in the earth, or passed through pipes from cold springs or streams, or
other bodies of cold water; or the water may be carried through pipes in the
earth. The pipes before reaching the said vessel may be surrounded by ice or
other cold medium, as before described. The vessel containing the pumps
may also be filled with ice. Air tubes are carried through the ground or
through the water pipes, and also through the vessel containing the air pumps
if desirable to conduct the air to the pumps and cool it before it is compressed.
The air is forced into pipes or cylinders surrounded by the earth or water, or
by some cold agent which carries away the heat remaining in the air after the
same has been compressed. I insert one or more of the large cylinders in
the earth in a vertical position and surround them by cooling agents, as before
set forth. Each cylinder is furnished at or near the bottom with a valve
opening inwards for receiving the air from the outside of the cylinder. A
similar valve opens outwards intoanair-tight passage or channel communicating
with a receiver which like the cylinder is surrounded by cold agents or
mixtures. On the inside of this receiver are valves opening inward, which
permit the ingress of the air from the cylinder but prevent its return.
piston is connected with the cylinder and with a lifting or hoisting apparatus.
Attached to the top of the piston is a loop the top of the horizontal bar of
which forms a ridge or angle falling away on each side to the bottom or under
side of the loop, which is some inches above the piston. Two upright parallel
posts extend from the cylinder far enough apart to allow the piston to slide
up and down between them. On the top of these uprights is a cross piece
which supports the bearings of a pulley over which a rope may pass. One
end of this rope is attached to a drum driven by steam or other power, and
the other end is made fast to a pair of hooks jointed crosswise, so that as the
A

page_text: upper ends shall be forced together the other ends shall open or separate from
each other. The lower ends of these hooks are in contact, but their points
are far enough apart to receive between then the edge or ridge of the loop of
the piston. The weight of the hooks will carry them down until they latch
under each side of the loop. The upper arms of the hooks being larger keep
the hooks latched by their preponderence in weight. The piston is now ready
to be hoisted when the height from which it is desired to let fall the piston has
been fixed. At such height on the inside of each upright is placed an inclined
plane sloping upwards and inwards, the space between the said planes being
so narrow as to close upon the upper arms of the hook and open the bottoin of
the same, thereby releasing the piston, which then descends. The airis by this
means forced along the passage into the receiver, wherein it is retained, and
this process is repeated until as many atmospheres are compressed into the
space of one as is desirable. A spring may be introduced into the bottom of
the cylinder, and the piston may have a crosshead from which two plungers
may work in air-tight cylinders or air cushions which can be adjusted to check
the fall of the piston at the proper instant. The valves may be placed a little
above the bottom of the cylinder, thereby leaving an air cushion below, the
valves or springs may be attached to the bottom of the piston. The air as
it is forced into the receiver is made warm by compression, but its temperature
is soon reduced by conduction or by the employment of frigid agents and
compounds.
In applying my improvements to forcing liquids which from their in-
compressible character necessarily oppose a sudden resistance to the falling
piston causing a shock and loss of power, I constructan apparatus substantially
as follows The piston instead of being the size of the cylinder is made
much smaller and is fitted to fill an aperture in the head or cover of the
cylinder so as to move up and down easily. Valves are placed in the
cylinder or pipes leading thereto from the supply fountains, and also in those
leading from the cylinder to the receiver. When the supply fountain is
above the top of the cylinder self-acting valves should be provided to cut
off the supply when the cylinder is full. The lower end of the piston is cone
shaped or pointed, and therefore penetrates the water without much resistance.
Instead of constructing the compressing apparatus as above described it may
be so made as to use steam in raising the piston. The piston or plunger
should be constructed in a cylindrical form and loaded with clay, sand, water,
iron, or any other heavy substance, in order that it may be graduated in weight
without changing its size or form. The bottom must be tight and strong.
Instead of compressing several atmospheres into the space occupied by one,

page_text: meat.
and retaining it there till the latent heat is conducted away, the air may be
permitted to flow from the cylinder after being compressed and before it is cooled
through channels or tubes to the building or room intended to be warmed. The
salting and curing of meats may be effected by the ordinary processes or by
forcing the brine into the pores of the meat, and also by forcing gas composed
of preservative chemicals into the pores of the meat. Also by passing the
brine or other preservative fluid through the blood vessels of the animal. By
this process the entire carcase is salted at the same time. A stream of cool
pure water should first be injected so as to enter by the arterial system
and escape by the venous system. A weak cool brine should next be prepared
and pressed through the blood vessels and then followed by stronger brine
till the salting is effected. Another process consists in impregnating the air
with salt, saltpetre, or other chemicals and forcing the same through the
The salt and other solid materials in the state of impalpable powder
should be mixed with the air and forced by a pressure of from five to twenty
atmospheres through the meat; gaseous materials of a preservative nature
may also be mixed with the air, such gases being produced from the proper
substances, volatilized by heat, and then mixed with air and forced through
hot tubes into a room or vessel containing the meat, to be cured. The meat
may also be cured by keeping it cool and forcing over and through it dry pure
air, till nearly all the moisture is removed. This process of drying may be
used in conjunction with any of the processes above described for salting so
as to produce dry salt meat; before meat can be cured the animal heat must
be removed but the cooling process should be applied with caution, I prefer
to immerse the carcass in cool water and let it remain until the heat is
nearly expelled; cold water or weak brine is then introduced. I also remove
the heat by forcing water or air against the carcass. A packing house may
be built so high as not to need a tower if there be left a space from the lower
floors to the top for free ventilation, and if the walls are built to exclude heat
and air from the sides or bottom except when cooled as herein described, but
the expense of such a building would be a serious objection. A platform to
convey the cattle to the slaughter house may be constructed and placed upon
small wheels to run upon a railway track; charcoal and other purifying and
disinfecting substances are used in and about the buildings. Coils or systems
of water pipes through which cold water passes are arranged in front of air
blowers, or in the rear of suction blowers, so that while the blowers are in
operation a blast of air will be driven or drawn through the said system of
pipes. To produce ventilation and at the same time to lower the temperature
of the air without the aid of machinery I connect a pipe or flue near the

page_text: top of the room or rooms and conduct the vitiated air into a chimney or flue.
Suitable instruments for indicating the temperature, moisture, and electric
condition of the air and for detecting the amount of ozone, carbonic acid,
and other matters affecting the chemical condition of the air should be placed
in the buildings used in carrying out my Invention.
There has always been a great difficulty in preventing the active fermentation
ofcane juice in tropical climates. By constructing a sugar house according to
the principles above described, cane juice may be always kept from fermentation
and the loss of sugar from that source prevented. Any of the means above
described for cooling air or liquids may be employed, as well as the mode of
constructing walls, roofs, and other features of the building. The air may
also be dried and purified by any of the means above specified.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be conveniently
and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,—
First. The processes for preserving animal and vegetable substances
substantially as herein described.
Second. The construction of buildings, fixtures, andupparatus substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
Third. Compressing air,gas, and liquids substantially as and for the purposes
specified.
Fourth. Thecombination of the buildings, apparatus,and devices substantially
as set forth.
Fifth. The buildings and apparatus in combination with processes sub-
stantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Sixth. As forming part of an establishment for curing and packing meat,
the means and devices for cooling, drying, and purifying substantially as
described.
Seventh. Means for excluding warm air, dust, and insects in combination
with means for cooling the air admitted substantially as described.
Eighth. Means for excluding warm air, dust, and insects in combination
with means for purifying the air admitted substantially as described.
Ninth. Means for excluding warm air, dust, and insects in combination
with the means of drying the air admitted substantially as described.
Tenth. Salting and packing meat in buildings constructed for the exclusion
of warm air substantially as described.
Eleventh. The use of dentoxide of nitrogen, sulphurous acid, alkaline
sulphites or other equivalent deoxidizing substances in salting and curing
meat substantially as described.

page_text: Twelfth. Curing meat by means of gases under pressure substantially as
described.
Thirteenth. Curing meat by means of materials in fine powder by pressure
substantially as described.
Fourteenth. Utilizing the offal and other waste products from slaughter and
packing houses by means of cooling, drying, and preservative agents sub-
stantially as described.
Fifteenth. The use of pressure and agitation in salting meat substantially
as described.
Sixteenth. The construction of a sugar house with means herein specified
for excluding heat, dust, and insects.
Seventeenth. Cooling cane juice by the employment of the meaus sub-
stantially as herein described.
Eighteenth. Lowering the temperature of the air in sugar houses sub-
stantially as set forth.
Nineteenth. Purifying the air adınitted to sugar houses substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, 1, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE.
(L.S.)
Witness,
THO. N. PALMER,
Clerk to Mess, Haseltine, Lake, & Co.
8, Southampton Buildings,
W.C.