IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF A RED COLOURING MATTER
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Spence, of 50, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PREPARATION OF A RED COLOURING MATTER."- A communication from
abroad by Nicolas Philibert Guinon, Jean Aimé Marnas, and François
Bonnet, all of Lyons, in the Empire of France, Manufacturers.
Sealed the 23rd January 1863, and dated the 28th July 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Spence at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
July 1862.
I, WILLIAM SPENCE, of 50, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF A RED COLOURING MATTER," (being a com-
munication to me from abroad by Nicolas Philibert, Guinon, Jean, Aimé
Marnas and François Bonnet, all of Lyons, in the Empire of France, Manu-
facturers,) to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object, in the first place, the transformation of
phenic or carbolic acid into a red colouring matter; secondly, the transformation
of this matter into a fast colouring matter capable of resisting the action of
acids and other agents; and, thirdly, the application of this substance to dyeing
and printing. The colouring matter is first prepared thus:-Take about twenty-
three pounds of phenic or carbolic acid, from about ten to twenty pounds of

page_text: oxalic acid, and about from seven to fourteen pounds of sulphuric acid. This
mixture is heated until the colouring matter is formed of the requisite con-
sistence; the matter is then washed with boiling water in order to remove the
excess of acid. It is then in the state of a light pitch, and with a green shade
of cantharide. It may be dried and reduced to powder by exposure to the air,
or by means of a stove. The matter thus produced is converted into more
solid matter by the following process:-Take about two-pounds and a quarter
of this less solid matter, and about five pounds and a half of ammonia of
commerce. This mixture is put into a closed metallic vessel, then heated to a
temperature of about two hundred and seventy degrees Fahrenheit for about
three hours. This is allowed to cool, and then the vessel is opened. The
matter originally introduced therein becomes completely dissolved in the
ammonia, thence yielding a liquor rather thick and with a considerable colouring
power. This liquor when treated by acids furnishes a deep red precipitate,
which is the new matter modified as required. The said matter is called
'péonine," and is applicable to dyeing red silk, wool, and other textile
materials.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Spence in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th January 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SPENCE, of 50, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing,date-the Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Spence, Her 'special license that I, the said William Spence,
my executors; administrators, and assigns, or such other's as I, the said William
Spence, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRE-
PARATION OF A RED COLOURING MATTER," being a communication from abroad
by Nicholas Philibert Guinon, Jean Aimé Marnas, and François Bounet, all

page_text: of Lyons, in the Empire of France, Manufacturers, upon the condition, (amongst
others) that I; the said William Spence, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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 Spence, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the samo is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
:-
This Invention of "Improvements in the Preparation of a Red Colouring
Matter" has for its object, in the first place, the transformation of phenic or
carbolic acid into a red colouring matter; secondly, the transformation of this
matter into a fast colouring matter capable of resisting the action of acids and
other agents; and, thirdly, the application of this substance to dyeing and
printing. The colouring matter is first prepared thus:-Take about twenty
three pounds of phenic or carbolic acid, from about ten to twenty pounds of
oxalic acid, and from about seven to fourteen pounds of sulphuric acid. This
mixture is heated until the colouring matter is formed of the requisite colour
and consistence.. When this operation is considered to be finished the matter
is washed with boiling water in order to remove the excess of acid. It is then
in the state of a light pitch, and with a green shade of cantharide. It may be
dried and reduced to powder by means of heat or by a longer process without
heat. The matter thus produced is converted into more solid matter by the
following process:-Take about two pounds and a quarter of this less solid
matter, and about five pounds and a half of ammonia of commerce. This
mixture is put into a closed metallic vessel, then heated to a temperature of
about two hundred and seventy degrees of Fahrenheit for about three hours.
This is allowed to cool, and then the vessel is opened. The matter originally
introduced therein becomes completely dissolved in the ammonia, thence
yielding a liquor rather thick and possessed of a considerable colouring power.
This liquor when treated by acids furnishes a deep red precipitate which is the
fast colouring matter modified as required, and which is capable of dyeing red
silk, wool, and other textile materials. The matter thus prepared is called
"péonine," and is applicable to dyeing and printing.generally.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I would remark that in the first part of the process
or processes herein-before described other oxydising bases may be employed,

page_text: such as salts of mercury or other salts, arsenic acid, oxide of lead, and others,
not only on ordinary phenic or carbolic acid, but on the analogous substances
such as creosote "cresil" and others, and in the second part of the process
or processes herein-before described ammonical salts or other azotic bases,
such as the acetate or benzoate of ammonia, urea, and others, used at a suitable
temperature, either with or without pressure; but what I claim as of the
Invention communicated to me from abroad as aforesaid is, the preparation
of a red colouring matter from phenic or carbolic acid as herein-before
described, and the application of the same to dyeing and printing.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Spence, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
WILLIAM SPENCE. (L.s.)
Witness,
WALTER W. CLARE,
Clerk to G. B. Coulcher, Law Stationer,
50, Chancery Lane.