Improvements in the Means of Preventing the Formation or Development of Injurious Germs of Animal or Vegetable Life, Applicable to the Treatment of Hides or Skins and to the Manufacture, Preparation, and Preservation of other Materials and Substances Liable to be Affected by such Germs.
Year: 1887

page_text: Improvements in the Means of Preventing the Formation or
Development of Injurious Germs of Animal or Vegetable Life,
Applicable to the Treatment of Hides or Skins and to the
Manufacture, Preparation, and Preservation of other Materials
and Substances Liable to be Affected by such Germs.
We, CHARLES COLLIN, of 15 Rue Quincamcoix, Paris, in the Republic of France,
Merchant, LUCIEN BENOIST, of the Montsouris Observatory, Paris aforesaid, Micro-
graphic Assistant, BENJAMIN NICHOLSON, of The Torrs, South Norwood, in the
County of Surrey, Gentleman, and THOMAS PALMER, of Ashbrooke, Sevenoaks, in
the County of Kent, Bachelor of Sciences and Fellow of the Chemical Society, do
hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to provide efficient means for preventing the
formation or development of injurious germs of animal or vegetable life, as for
example those associated with mildew or fermentation in materials or substances
which are liable to be effected thereby.
According to this invention the substances or materials are treated with a salt of
mercury preferably with bi-iodide of mercury formed into a solution by means of a
solvent thereof. This is applied to the substance or material at any suitable stage
of the preparation or manufacture thereof or after completion of manufacture by
coating or by immersion in a bath thereof or by adding a solution to the liquid or
substance to be treated or in such way as may be most convenient to the particular
manufacture or application to which the invention is applied.
.
The Invention is specially applicable to the preparation or tanning of leather and
the preservation of wool, feathers and other substances chiefly organic capable of
supporting or being attacked by the low forms of animal and vegetable life and forming
a nidus in which the germs thereof can develope.
The mode of application will vary according to the substance to be preserved.
Dated this 17th day of November 1887.
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
47, Lincoln's Inn. Fields, London, W.C.,
Agents for the said Charles Collin,
Lucien Benoist, Benjamin Nicholson,
and Thomas Palmer.

page_text: Improvements in the Means of Preventing the Formation or
Developement of Injurious Germs of Animal or Vegetable Life,
Applicable to the Treatment of Hides or Skins and to the
Manufacture, Preparation, and Preservation of other Materials
and Substances Liable to be Affected by such Germs.
We CHARLES COLLIN of 15 Rue Quincamcoix, Paris, in the Republic of France,
Merchant, LUCIEN BENOIST of the Montsouris Observatory, Paris aforesaid Micro-
graphic Assistant, BENJAMIN NICHOLSON of the Torrs South Norwood in the County
of Surrey, Gentleman, and THOMAS PALMER of Ashbrooke, Sevenoaks in the County
of Kent Bachelor of Sciences and Fellow of the Chemical Society do hereby declare
the nature of this 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 has for its object to provide efficient means for preventing the
formation or developement of injurious germs of animal or vegetable life as for
example those associated with mildew or fermentation in materials matters or substances
which are liable to be affected thereby.
According to this Invention the substances or materials are treated with mercuric
iodide generally known as bi-iodide of mercury which may be brought into a solution
by means of a solvent thereof. This mercuric iodide is applied to the substance or
material at any suitable stage of the preparation or manufacture thereof or after
completion of manufacture by coating therewith or by immersing in a bath thereof
or by adding a solution thereof to the liquid or substance to be treated or in such way
as may be most convenient in the particular manufacture or application to which the
invention is applied.
The invention is specially applicable to the preparation or tanning tawing or dressing
of leather as well as to the preservation of furs, wools, feathers, leather, hides, skins,
blood, albumen, glue, size, slaughterhouse refuse, bones, horns, paper, pulp, inks, dyes,
sewage fibrous material, timber cork and wood in all its forms, tan, liquors, madder,
indigo and tanning dyeing and other vegetable extracts and other substances chiefly
organic capable of supporting or of being attacked by low forms of animal and vege-
table life and forming a nidus in which the germs thereof can develope and cause
deterioration or disease.
The mode of application of the treatment according to the invention will vary
according to the substance to be preserved.
We will now describe the manner in which the invention may be carried into
effect as applied to various kinds of substances. We will take various types of
substances and the description of the application of the invention thereto will we
consider constitute an elucidation of the manner in which the invention may be applied
to the treatment of the many kinds of material to the treatment of which it is or may
be applicable.

page_text: As applied to the treatment of tan liquors for use in tanning hides or skins.
We take a solution of tannic acid or ordinary tan yard liquors and we add thereto
a solution of mercuric iodide for the purpose of preventing or arresting the fermenta-
tion of the said tan liquor and the consequent destruction of the tanning principles
contained therein. Care must be taken to keep the tanning liquors slightly acid as
the antiseptic possesses a precipitating action on the tannins when added in the
presence of an alkali.
If the liquors are to be used for goods which have not been previously sterilized
a proportion of one part by weight of the mercuric iodide to every two thousand
parts by weight of the liquors or thereabouts will generally be required, but if the
Goods have been previously sterilized (by treatment with mercuric iodide as herein-
after described) then a proportion of one part by weight of mercuric iodide to every
forty thousand parts by weight of the liquor will generally be sufficient.
As applied to the treatment of blood we may proceed as with tan liquors but the
proportion of the bi-iodide of mercury should be about 1 part by weight to every 1000
parts by weight of the blood.
As applied to the treatment of hides and skins vellum parchment and the like.
The hides skins or the like may be thrown into a bath containing more or less
mercuric iodide in solution according to the time they may be required to be kept
and this applies equally to the treatment of bones horns, scrap, entrails and other
slaughterhouse refuse with the exception of blood.
A bath made with 1 part by weight of mercuric iodide to every 5000 parts by
weight of water will effectually sterilize and stay the verulence of the septic and
charbon germs by an immersion of 5 minutes.
A bath made by dissolving 1 part by weight of mercuric iodide to every 2,000
parts by weight of water will effectually sterilize 250 to 300 hides in 24 hours
immersion and remove all tendency of putridity or deterioration. The bath may be
replenished with mercuric iodide as it becomes exhausted.
In some instances it has been found advantageous to add a small proportion of
soda or potash salts as for example caustic alkalies so as to assist in the more
effectual penetration of the antiseptic. This is especially the case in the treatment
and preservation of greasy leather hides furs kid or other materials in which case
we have found the following bath to be efficient. To every 10,000 parts by weight
of water 10 parts by weight of mercuric iodide and 1 part by weight of caustic
soda or potash.
3.
As applied to the treatment of glue, size, albumen gelatine and the liko substances
and to the manufacture of and preparation of the same or the treatment of substances
containing them as for example, paper, paper pulp, fibrous material glair (or
facing or such like materials used with or without admixture with dyes. The
substance or materials may be treated either by immersing in a solution or adding
solution of bi-iodide of mercury (mercuric iodide). The proportion of about two to
three parts by weight of bi-iodide of mercury to every 100,000 parts or at most
1 part per 20,000 by weight of glue gelatine or such other before named solution or
matters will usually suffice but this quantity must necessarily vary somewhat depending
upon the amount of fermentible matter present.
As applied to the treatment of inks dyes and other similar products, liable to be
affected by fermentation, we employ one part by weight of mercuric iodide to each
100,000 parts by weight of the liquor or substance to be treated.
As applied to the treatment of gums, resins starch glucose, dextrin, paste farina
and other allied substances used in various manners and for a variety of purposes we
may add thereto mercuric iodide in the proportion of one to two parts by weight
thereof to every 100,000 parts by weight of material or substance to be treated.
As applied to the treatment of vegetable substances such as madder indigo tumeric,
and the like including tanning extracts. The solution before evaporation or dilution
should be rendered sterile by using a solution of mercuric iodide so that there is one
part by weight of the mercuric iodide to every 20000 parts by weight of the liquor to
be treated. After evaporation or dilution it may be found advisable in some instances

page_text: to add a small quantity of a solution of mercuric iodide to ensure perfect sterilization.
A solution of 1 part by weight of mercuric iodide to every 100,000 by weight of the
liquid or concentrated syrup or substance will usually be found sufficient.
As applied to the treatment of fibrous materials, either in a manufactured
or in a partially manufactured or in an altogether crude or raw condition,
such as wool hair feathers vegetable fibre as for example Esparto and other
paper stuffs, Rhea, cocoa fibre, cotton, flax, hemp, jute and other allied
materials or substances, animal or vegetable fabrics, such as rags cloth, woollen
and cotton materials and the like or vellum or parchment, the materials can be
rendered sterile by placing them in a chamber and submitting them to a spray of
mercuric iodide in solution (or by treating them in the usual washing or rinsing
process where such is employed) say of a strength of 1 part by weight of mercuric
iodide to every 5000 parts by weight of water which may be slightly acidified with
somo weak and inactive organic acid as for example, tannic acid by which means the
action of the antiseptic is increased for it must be borne in mind that in the
presence of an alkali the action of the antiseptic is retarded while it is largely
increased in the presence of an acid.
As applied to the treatment of sewage waters, The solid matter and matter in
suspension being pressed or separated out by any ordinary or suitable method, the
effluent water is treated so as to render it incapable of fermentation. For this purpose
we take the effluent water from the sewage works and may add thereto sufficient acid
possessing no precipitating action on the Mercuric iodide (and this acid may be added
to the antiseptic solution) to render it acid but not sufficiently so to set free the Iodine
and we then add a solution of Mercuric iodide in the proportion to the amount of
organic matter present in the effluent water but under ordinary conditions 1 part by
weight of the Mercuric iodide to every 10,000 parts by weight of the effluent will be
found sufficient.
As applied to the preservation of timber cork wood fibre shavings sawdust and other
allied substances including fruits barks roots leaves and the like the treatment must
necessarily vary. To strengthen harden consolidate and preserve against decay and
from the attacks of worms insects dry-rot mould and the like we proceed as follows:
After the removal of the sap (which may be effected by means of any of the ordinarily
employed methods) there is introduced a solution of Mercuric iodide in water pre-
ferably in the proportion of one part by weight of the Mercuric iodide to every 10,000
parts by weight of water and this solution may be admitted under vacuum or pressure
hot or cold or in such other manner as to cause it to penetrate the wood or substance
to be treated.
With fruits barks leaves roots and other kindred substances we prefer to use a spray
as already described.
Generally we may observe that the dose of the Mercuric iodide employed as
compared with the amount of fermentible matter increases with the degree of dilution
of the fermentible matter and in the opposite ratio to its degree of concentration.
Thus a highly concentrated extract may require only 15 grains of Mercuric iodide
whilst the same fermentible matter diluted may require 45 grains of the Mercuric
iodide.
The Mercuric iodide may be used either alone or added to other antiseptic compounds
if so desired such for instance as Sanitas Eucalyptus oil Carbolic Acid, Camphoric
Acid Thymol, Peroxide of Hydrogen and preparations of Creosote, Turpentine,
Glycerine, Ether, Alcohol and other like substances containing Camphoraceous or other
antiseptic bodies either in connection with or without other salts or solvents.
There are many other applications of the Invention but the foregoing particulars
will sufficiently explain the way of performing the Invention in all its applications.
Mercuric iodide or bi-iodide of Mercury is insoluble in water. For the purpose
therefore of effecting its solution we employ a solvent thereof preferably
a solution of an Alkaline iodide such as the Potassium iodide containing the
same part by weight of the latter salt that it may be required to dissolve
of the Mercuric iodide to which may also be added in some cases some of the

page_text: Salts of Potash or soda preferably one of the caustic alkalies or an Acid which does
not possess a precipitating action on the salts of Mercury in solution may likewise be
used with advantage in increasing the antiseptic action of the substance since it has
been shewn that the antiseptic properties of Mercuric iodide are reduced in the
presence of an Alkali. In some cases where liquids are treated as for instance in the
case of the effluent waters of sewage the treatment with the Mercuric iodide may be
effected by causing the liquid to flow into a well or the like containing Mercuric
iodide and thence overflow in a sterilized condition. The sewage water usually will
be sufficiently Alkaline to dissolve a sufficient quantity of iodide of Mercury.
Although we have particularly dealt with the treatment of the substances herein
mentioned we do not limit ourselves thereto as the Invention may be applied generally
to the arrest or destruction of germs as aforesaid operating on substances liable to be
affected by them in the manner hereinabove referred to.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed applied or carried out we
declare that what we claim is:
1st. The employment of Mercuric iodide or bi-iodide of Mercury for preventing
the formation or development of injurious germs of animal or vegetable life in
substances or matters liable to be affected thereby..
2nd. In the manufacture or treatment of hides skins and other materials or
substances liable to be affected by injurious germs of animal or vegetable life the
employment of a solution of Mecuric iodide or bi-iodide of Mercury in water
prepared by the use of a solvent for the Mercuric iodide or bi-iodide of Mercury such
as an Alkaline iodide for example the iodide of Potassium with or without the
addition of a Salt of Potash or of Soda or in conjunction with an Acid all substantially
as and for the purposes herein before described.
3rd. The employment of Mercuric iodide or bi-iodide of Mercury in combination
with other antiseptic compounds or materials such as for example Sanitas, Eucalyptus,
Carbolic Acid, Camphoric Acid, Thymol, Peroxide of Hydogen as well as prepara-
tions of Creosote, Turpentine, Camphoraceous and other bodies possessing antiseptic
properties either with or without other salts or compounds substantially as and for
the purposes herein before described.