IMPROVEMENTS IN MATCHES POR LIGHTING VIGARO AND ZUR VERBR Pumposms
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Michael Letchford, of Three Colts Lane,
Bethnal Green, Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MATCHES
POR LIGHTING VIGARO AND ZUR VERBR
Pumposms."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Michael Letchford
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th November 1867.
I, ROBERT MICHAEL LETCHFORD, of Three Colts Lane, Bethnal Green,
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MATCHES FOR LIGHTING CIGARS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
I make a paste of amorphous phosphorus with a small quantity of powdered
glass and dissolved gum, and apply the paste to the ends of stems of suitable
material and finish in the way that vesuvian cigar lights are made.
By this method I obtain an inextinguishable match for lighting signals,
lamps in lifeboats and lighthouses. This constitutes the first part of my
Invention.
The second part refers to the material to form the stems of cigar & other
lights of this description. In place of wood I form them of bone, by which
method I prevent the burning material falling off, the heat descending to the
fingers and the stem breaking when the light is struck.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Michael Letchford in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
MICHAEL LETCHFORD, of Three Colts Lane, Bethnal Green, Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Robert Michael Letchford, Her special licence that I, the said
Robert Michael Letchford, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Robert Michael Letchford, 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 MATCHES POR LIGHTING CIGARS AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Robert Michael Letchford, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 Robert Michael Letchford, 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, that is to say:-
My Invention has for its object "Improvements in Matches or Lights for
Lighting Cigars, Pipes, Signal Lamps, and Lamps for Lifeboats and Light-
houses, and for other Purposes.
The principal objects I have in view are the production of a match that
is not easily extinguishable under ordinary circumstances, and the prevention
of the conduction of the heat up the stem that is held between the fingers.
The 1st part of my Invention has reference to the composition for burning
at the end of the stem.
This part of my Invention consists in forming a paste of amorphous phos-

page_text: and
phorus with a small quantity of powdered glass and dissolved
gum
a proportion of water. I apply this paste to the end of stems of suitable
material and finish in the way that vesuvian cigar lights are now finished.
The proportions of the materials I use are, amorphous phosphorus 4 oz.,
powdered glass 8 lbs., gum arabic 3 lbs., water 4 pints; but I do not
absolutely restrict myself to these proportions as others may be used, but
these I find from practical experience to give a good result, and they are
those which I generally prefer.
The 2nd part of my Invention relates to the stems of cigar and other lights.
Stems of cigar and other lights have hitherto been made of wood or glass, now
according to my Invention I make them of bone.
I find by the use of bone the burning material does not fall off, the
heat is not conducted to the fingers, and the stems do not break when the
match is struck, three most important advantages.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the means I
employ to carry it into practical operation, I wish it to be understood that what
I claim as my Invention and desire to secure by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. The use of the materials named and in or about the proportions named
for the production of a composition for the purpose of applying it to the
manufacture of matches.
2ndly. The use of bone for the stems of matches as above set forth.
I wish it to be understood that I reserve to myself the right of using either
separately or both combined, that it is not necessary that the one should form
an integral part of the other.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Michael Letchford, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
ROBERT MICHAEL LETCHFORD. (L.s.)