A SUBSTITUTE FOR ANIMAL CHARCOAL, APPLICABLE ALSO AS A COLORING MATTER
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ernst Ziegler, of Heilbronn, in the Kingdom of
Wurtemburg, for the Invention of "A SUBSTITUTE FOR ANIMAL CHARCOAL,
APPLICABLE ALSO AS A COLORING MATTER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ernst Ziegler at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th May
1857.
!
I, ERNST ZIEGLER, of Heilbronn, in the Kingdom of Wurtemburg, do
hereby declare the nature of the said! Invention for "A SUBSTITUTE'. FOR
ANIMAL CHARCOAL, APPLICABLE ALSO AS A COLORING MATTER," to be as
follows:
This Invention consists of a preparation obtained by mixing pure clay with
a fluid or dissolved organic substance, such as tar, treacle, or blood: These
I make red hot in hermetically sealed retorts, and thus obtain a pure carbo
naceous or coal substance. The proportions, which I have found answer well
in practice; are about one-third to one-fifth part of the organic substance to
about two-third parts of clay. The admixture of the 'above-mentioned in
gredients should be effected, as far as is practicable, in the before-mentioned
hermetically sealed retorts, the result of which will be to produce small pieces
or lumps, which should afterwards be burnt,' as above stated; and then ground

page_text: in the same manner as bone black, by which the preparation is rendered fit
for use either for refining sugar, coloring chemicals, or for other purposes. In
order to render the above preparation or mixture as efficient as possible, I mix
with the before-mentioned ingredients from 10 to 20 per cent. of common
salt, potash, soda, or lime, in a dissolved state. These last-mentioned ingre-
dients should, however, be separated from the other ingredients before using
the preparation, which may be effected with water and acids.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Ernst Ziegler in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ERNST
ZIEGLER, of Heilbroun, in the Kingdom of Wurtemberg, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Ernst Ziegler, Her special licence that I, the said Ernst Ziegler,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ernst
Ziegler, 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 "A SUBSTITUTE FOR
ANIMAL CHARCOAL, APPLICABLE ALSO AS A COLORING MATTER;" upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Ernst Ziegler, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Ernst Ziegler, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say :-
It is well known that all solid bodies have the. property of attracting and

page_text: retaining with a certain power dissolved substances, such as paint, slimy
.matters, &c. from fluids, by coming into contact with them. This power of
attracting is in proportion to the expansion of the surface; the greater this is,
the greater is the power of attraction. The surface is augmented by porosity,
and for this reason carbon of organic origin is particularly distinguished for
this property, and is therefore so commonly employed for clarifying fluids
generally, and more particularly for refining sugar. The effect on the whole
is purely mechanical, and even carbons differ in their clarifying properties, char-
coal being less effective than bone black, and this again less than carbonized
blood, or blood operated upon by potash. In charcoal the pores are too great,
and consequently the surface not greatly increased; in bone black, on the
contrary, the porosity is obtained in an excellent degree by the admixture of
large quantity of earthy substances, viz., phosphate and carbonate of lime,
&c., that is to say, the cartilages are protected (by burning) from closing up.
If, for example, bone, cartilages, or gristle, are burnt to a coal substance or
cinder, the earthy substances being first removed by acids, a comparatively
close glossy substance, full of blisters, is obtained, which has but little
effectiveness. It follows, therefore, from this, and the retentive power of
carbonized blood (which also without containing phosphate of lime possesses
a great clarifying power), that the phosphate of lime in bone black, as well as
carbon itself, occupies no chemical but purely a mechanical place; and I
conclude from this, that both the above ingredients might be replacel by à
neutral substance, possessing fine separating qualities, such as siliceous earth
or clay.
a
The basis of a substitute for bone black is then a pure clay; it takes the
place of phosphate of lime in bone black, and is particularly suitable for the
purpose, and is capable of very fine comminution, and after sufficient burning
can neither be affected by acids or alkalies, and also possesses considerable
firmness.
The clay should be as free as possible from extraneous matter, such as lime,
magnesia, sulphur, oxide of iron, manganese, and all organic substances that
give off ashes when burnt. The clay should also contain but little quartz
sand, which may be removed by washing in the ordinary manner. Such clay
I unite with carbon, so that while it subjects the carbon to fine comminution,
and after burning prevents it from condensing or thickening, at the same time
it imparts to the whole a certain firmness. Any organic body may be used
for the carbon, which, by being burnt in hermetically sealed retorts, gives a
pure carbonaceous substance; it should however be fluid, or capable of being
dissolved, such as glue, oils, rosin, gum, &c. Treacle may also be used for

page_text: this purpose, when the inorganic salts contained therein, after burning, have
been removed by water and acids. The high price of these articles, however,
being an obstacle to their use, I therefore use, as the next most advantageous
substance as a substitute for the above ingredients, tar generated in gasworks,
by the dry distillation of organic bodies (coal and wood by preference): The
oil contained in the tar may be previously separated by distillation and applied
to other purposes. From one-fifth to one-third part of coal or wood tar added
to water should be well mixed with the clay according to its richness, until the
whole forms a plastic mass of a brown color. By adding a larger quantity of
tar a more operative substance is produced, and by putting less tar a more
durable substance is produced. The addition of about th part of the tar of
animal or vegetable fibres increases its effectiveness. The operation of mixing
may be performed either by hand or by machinery.
I have found the following mode of manufacture answer best in practice:
The clay, which should be first dried, is ground in a mill and finely sifted,
then a certain quantity, say, about one ton, spread out in a receptacle lined
with stone. The above given quantity of tar and the necessary amount of
water, which should be in the proportion of about, one part of' tar, to two parts
of water, and the whole worked superficially together by means of hand
implements, as commonly used in brick kilns. The intimate or complete
mixing may be accomplished by means of apparatus, such as is commonly
employed in large potteries. This mixing process should be continued until
the mass is as completely combined as possible, so that in cutting through a
clod of the same it shall present an uniform appearance throughout, both in
color and material. The substance so obtained is now made into small cakes,
say, in hollow cylinders of from 4 to 5 inches long and 1 inch in diameter.
The form of the cakes does not matter, but should not be too thick, about th
of an inch, so as to receive an equal heat when under the process of burning.
The cakes may be dried either at an ordinary temperature in the open air, or
for quickness, in a heated room; the heat should, however; not be too great
at first, as otherwise a part of the tar will become liquid and run out of the
mass. After drying the cakes, they should then undergo the process of car-
bonization, which may be effected in ovens, in the same manner as at present
practised for carbonizing bones, in air-tight pots or retorts, care being taken
that the heat is neither too great or too little, as if too little the mass will
have parts not sufficiently carbonized, and if too great it will become too
dense, and consequently lose in clarifying power (I have found a temperature
of from 25 to 32 degrees (Wedgwood) of heat answer well); for the same
reason clay retorts are preferable to iron, and greater care should be taken in

page_text: burning than is necessary for ordinary bone black: The grinding and sifting
of my improved substitute is the same as in the manufacture of ordinary bone
black, and may be performed: with similar apparatus. The..dusty refuse
resulting from the.grinding process. may be employed as. black coloring/matter
in the manufacture of blacking for boots and shoes. If blood is used instead
of tar, the manner of proceeding is the same as above stated, only the iron
must be removed from the carbon, before it is used; by water and acids. The
carbon obtained, as above stated, either by mixture of blood or tar with clay,
bears great resemblance to bone black, is of about the same specific gravity,
color, and porous nature; it is lastly well washed with water in order to
remove the fine dust which it contains, and may then be employed
refining manufactories. And in all cases where bone black is used for clarifying
purposes, I have found in practice that my substitute possesses equal, and in
some cases, even greater clarifying powers than bone black, as even lime,
alkali, and other dissolved bodies have been absorbed-from-the-fluid under
examination by the use of my substitute. After its absorbing power becomes
lost, it may be revived by, the same process as is at present employed for
reanimating animal charcoal.
sugar
A still more effective carbon than the above may be obtained by mixing
with the tar or other material employed (before its amalgamation with the
clay) from 10 to 20 per cent. of salt, potash, soda, or lime dissolved in water,
and then proceeding in the same manner as already described. After burning
and grinding the composition, these ingredients must be again extracted by
water and acids, and this I have found to add to the porosity of the carbon
and give very beneficial results.
A carbon similar to carbonized blood may be produced by adding tar to a
fixed alkali, and then proceeding as before described; but the carbon so
obtained, as is the case with carbonized blood, can only be used in a
powdered form for refining sugar, and is, therefore, not capable of being
revivified.
Another preparation or substitute for animal charcoal, suitable for clarifying
purposes, may also be produced in the following manner:-I add to the clay
before mentioned from to part of tar, coal, or other combustible substance
that has been previously impregnated or mixed with a solution of alum or
other salt; the mixture is then dried and burnt in closed retorts or in an
open fire; the mass is then granulated or ground, and gives a very effective
substance for clarifying organic acids. I have found clay, mixed with an acid
solution and burnt, to possess son:e effectiveness.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my said

page_text: Invention of "A Substitute for Animal Charcoal, applicable also as a Coloring
Matter," together with the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion; that I hereby declare
my Invention to consist in, and I claim; manufacturing a substitute for animal
charcoal from clay, prepared as above stated:
In witness whereof, I, the said Ernst Ziegler, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
JOH. FRIEDRICH MAYER,
Amts-Notar von Heilbronn.
(L.S.)
ERNST ZIEGLER. (L.S.)