IMPROVEMENTS IN SEPARATING FIBRE FROM VEGETABLE MATERIALS CONTAINING THE SAME.
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SEPARATING FIBRE FROM VEGETABLE MATERIALS CONTAINING THE SAME.'
A communication from abroad by Antonio Meucci, residing at Clifton,
in the State of New York. United States of America.
Sealed the 27th June 1865, and dated the 4th April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th April 1865.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SEPARATING FIBRE FROM VEGETABLE MATERIALS CONTAINING
THE SAME;" to be as follows:
The object of the Invention is to liberate vegetable fibre from the mineral,
glutinous, and resinous substances with which it is found combined in its
natural state, and to leave it in a suitable condition for use in the manufacture
of paper; pasteboard, and other articles to which said fibre is applicable.
To this end the vegetable material used as the source of the vegetable fibre

page_text: is treated with the substances produced by the action of nitro-muriatic acid
upon carbonate of lime and iron, or their equivalents, and then the material is
subjected to the action of an alkali or it may be to a mixture of oil and alkali
in place of the alkali alone. The vegetable material used may be wood,
straw, hay, leaves, stalks, husks of maize, rushes, linen or cotton rags, old
rope or similar substances, and the Invention may be practised in several
modes all embodying the same principle. A good mode is to exhaust the air
as completely as possible from the vegetable material and then to treat it in
a wet state with the substances produced in gaseous form by the action of
the compound acid upon oyster shells and cast iron, and as wood from its
mechanical structure presents greater difficulties than any other material
that has been subjected to the process a description of the mode of proceeding
with it will enable the Invention to be clearly understood.
The wood is first split in the direction of the grain to a thickness of about
"one-sixth of an inch.(more or less) it is then soaked in clean water for twenty-
four hours, after which it is passed twice between a pair of crushing rolls by
which it is partially crushed and its grain is opened. The wood is wasbed
thoroughly with clean water after each passage between the rolls. The wood
thus prepared and drained of water is placed in a vat or vessel that can be
closed air-tight and is of suitable form and strength to sustain the pressure
of the atmosphere when the air within it is exhausted. A suitable .vessel
for this purpose is a cylinder with bulging heads one of which is made
removeable to permit the easy insertion and withdrawal of the material. This
-vessel should either be made of a substance that is not affected by the chemical
-agents used, or should be coated on its interior with such a substance, for
example shellac. The vessel is connected by a pipe fitted with a valve with
an air pump or other means of exhausting the air from its interior, it is also
connected by a pipe fitted with a valve with a close vessel constituting the
gas generator in which the nitro-muriatic acid is permitted to act upon
oyster shells and iron. The gas generator is fitted with a funnel pipe extend-
ing to the vicinity of its 'bottom for the introduction of the acid and this
funnel pipe should be fitted with a stop-cock or valve to regulate that
introduction. The oyster shells and iron are charged into the gas generator,
the valve between the gas generator and vessel containing the vegetable
material is closed, the valve between this vessel and the air pump is opened,
and the vegetable material is exhausted as much as practicable of air by the
operation of the air pump. The valve between the vessel and air
pump is
then closed, some of the acid is introduced into the gas generator; and the
mixture of gases produced by the action of the acid upon the oyster shells

page_text: and iron is permitted to enter the vessel containing the wet vegetable material
by opening the valve between the vessel and the gas generator. The vegetable
material immediately commences to absorb the mixture of gases, and as fast
as absorption takes place fresh quantities of the acid are introduced into the
gas generator until the charge of acid required to treat the charge of wood is
exhausted and the wood is saturated with the gases. The vessel is then opened,
the wood is removed from it and is placed in a bath of caustic alkali for about
twenty-four hours (more or less). At the end of this period the wood is
taken from the alkaline bath and is passed again between the crushing rolls,
after which it is washed with clean water and macerated either in a stamping
mill or in the ordinary cylinder pulping engine used in the manufacture of
paper. The washed material is then soaked for two or three hours in a bath
of water containing from two to five per cent., of acid (muriatic acid being
preferred for this purpose) after which it may be pressed and dried if it is
required in a dry state, or it may be bleached with chlorine in the usual
manner practised in bleaching paper pulp, if the purpose for which the fibre
is to be used requires bleaching.
The quantities of acid and other materials which have been used with
success to produce the mixture of gases, are, for five hundred pounds of wood,
12 lbs. of commercial muriatic acid,
36
12
2
" "
وو
"
commercial nitric acid,
» iron,
", oyster shells,
2
"
"
water.
The alkaline bath which has been successfully used is composed of
1,000 lbs. of water,
100
"
33
soda or potash,
50
"
"
quick lime,
for each 1,000 lbs. of wood.
The above proportions may, however, be varied as circumstances render
expedient.
Another mode in which the Invention may be practised is by dissolving the
mixture of gases in water, and then subjecting the crushed vegetable material
to the action of this watery solution previous to placing it in the alkaline bath.
But in order that this mode may be used with success, the water in which
the mixture of gases is dissolved should be kept cold by ice, and after the
vegetable material has been steeped in the solution the temperature should be
raised to about 95° Fahrenheit to hasten the operation.
Another mode of practising the Invention is to subject the vegetable

page_text: material to a dry gassing by the mixture of gases before wetting it and treating
it with the alkali. In operating by this mode a vat or vessel to contain the
vegetable material and a gas generator are required. The vat may be a
cylindrical vessel, fitted with two covers, the one perforated, and the other
close and fitted tightly to it; it should also be provided at a short distance
above its bottom with a perforated diaphragm to support the vegetable
material. The vat should either be made of some material that is not affected
materially by the gases, or should be coated on its interior with such a
material; in the latter case shellac applied in the form of varnish will answer
the purpose. The gas generator may be made of glass or earthenware; it
should be provided at a short distance above its botton with an iron grating
to support the carbonate of lime; it should also be fitted with a funnel pipe
(the end of which terminates in the vicinity of the grating) for the purpose of
sintroducing the acid, and with a pipe connecting its upper part with the vat
beneath the perforated diaphragm thereof, so as to conduct the mixture of
If
gases from the generator to the under. side of the diaphragm of the vat.
wood be the vegetable material to be treated it should be sawed crosswise to
the grain into pieces about three inches thick, and then split in the direction
of the grain into pieces of about the size of match splints. The split wood,
which, if not already dry should be dried by stoving it, is placed in the vat
the perforated diaphragm and is covered with the perforated cover. The
gas generator is charged with oyster shells or other form of carbonate of lime,
and sufficient water is introduced to cover them. The acid is then poured
little by little into the funnel pipe, and the mixture of gases produced by the
action of the acid upon the oyster shells, and the iron of the grating passes
through the connecting pipe to the under side of the mass of dry split wood
and rises among it. This operation or dry gassing of the material is continued
until the gas begins to escape at the perforations of the cover of the vat; then
water at the temperature of the atmosphere is poured into the vat until the
wood is covered; the tight cover is applied to the vat, and the introduction of
the gases from the generator is continued so that the wood is subjected while
wet to the action of the gases, and this wet gassing is continued until the wood
becomes yellow throughout its entire substance, the result being better the
longer the wood is subjected to this second operation. The wood is then
withdrawn from the vat and is drained of the liquid, after which it is steamed
until it becomes tender, this operation being conveniently effected by placing
it in a covered vat admitting steam from a steam boiler. After it is
steamed it is wetted with the caustic alkali, or with a compound of caustic
alkali and oil, and is crushed in an ordinary putty mill, it is reduced to a
upon

page_text: fibrous mass, the wetting with the alkali or with the mixture of the alkali and
oil being continued during the crushing. The use of oil renders the fibrous
material more elastic.
The fibrous material produced by the above operations should be well washed
with water to free it as much as possible from the alkali. If it is required to
be white, it should be bleached with chlorine in the following manner :-The
fibre is steeped and stirred in a solution of muriatic acid in water in the
proportion of from two to five parts of muriatic acid to one hundred parts of
water; a solution of chloride of lime in water in the proportion of from one to
five parts. of chloride to one hundred parts of water is gradually added, the
stirring being continued during the operation. The fibrous material when.
sufficiently bleached by these operations is drained, washed in water, drained
of water, and is pressed and dried for use,. or, if required, it may be used in its
wet state.
The nitro-muriatic acid employed in practising the Invention according to
the foregoing mode may be a mixture of 4 parts by weight of commercial
nitric acid of 24° of Beaumé's hydrometer, and one part by weight of commercial
muriatic acid of 20° of Beaumé's hydrometer. The caustic alkali may be a
solution of caustic soda in water of from 2° to 5° of Beaumé's hydrometer, and
when oil is used, the alkaline solution is mixed with 3 per cent. of a non-
drying oil, such as olive oil or rape-seed oil. This mixture should be used in
a warm state, say at a temperature of not less than 150° of Fahrenheit; the
water in which the material is washed and the bleaching solutions should also
be warm, the temperature being not less than 150°.
The kinds of wood which are preferred when the fibre obtained is to be
used for the manufacture of paper are white pine and spruce, the branches
being preferred, as they contain less resin and are more readily split.
The Invention is applicable to the rotting of hemp and flax to fit these
materials for spinning, but when it is applied to them the operations are not
carried to so great an extent as they are when the fibre suitable for the manu-
facture of paper or pasteboard is required, as the fibre obtained must be
sufficiently long to spin. It may also be used to prepare old Manilla rope for
spinning, and in this case the rope previously cut into lengths of about
three inches should be opened by a picker before being subjected to the
process.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I,
the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 SEPARATING FIBRE FROM
VEGETABLE MATERIALS CONTAINING THE SAME," a communication to me from
abroad by Antonio Meucci, a person resident at Clifton, in the State of New
York, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The object of the Invention is to liberate vegetable fibre from the mineral,
glutinous, and resinous substances with which it is found combined in its
natural state, and to leave it in a suitable condition for use in the manufacture
of paper, pasteboard, and other articles to which said fibre is applicable. To
this end the Invention consists of the process of treating the vegetable material
used as the source of the vegetable fibre with the substances produced by the
action of nitro-muriatic acid upon carbonate of lime and iron, or their equiva

page_text: lents, and then subjecting the material to the action of an alkali. The Inven-
tion consists also in subjecting the material to a mixture of an alkali in place
of the alkali alone. The vegetable material used may be wood, straw, hay,
leaves, stalks, busks of maize, rushes, linen or cotton rags, old rope, or similar
substances, and the Invention may be practised in several modes, all
embodying the same principle. A good mode is to exhaust the air as com-
pletely as possible from the vegetable material, and then to treat it in a wet
state with the substances produced in gaseous form by the action of the
compound acid upon oyster shells and cast iron, and as wood from its mechan-
ical structure presents greater difficulties than any other material that has
been subjected to the process, a description of the mode of proceeding with
it will enable the Invention to be clearly understood.
The wood is first split in the direction of the grain to a thickness of about one-
sixth of an inch (more or less), it is then soaked in clean water for twenty-four
bours, after which it is passed twice between a pair of crushing rolls, by which
it is partially crushed and its grain is opened. The wood is washed
thoroughly with clean water after each passage between the rolls. The wood
thus prepared and drained of water is placed in a vat or vessel that can be
closed air-tight, and is of suitable form and strength to sustain the pressure
of the atmosphere when the air within it is exhausted. A suitable vessel for
this purpose is a cylinder with bulging heads, one of which is made removable
to permit the easy insertion and withdrawal of the material. This vessel
should either be made of a substance that is not affected by the chemical
agents used, or should be coated on its interior with such a substance, such,
for example, as shellac. The vessel is connected by a pipe fitted with a valve
with an air pump or other means of exhausting the air from its interior, it
is also connected by a pipe fitted with a valve with a close vessel constituting
the gas generator, in which the nitro-muriatic acid is permitted to act upon
oyster shells and iron. The gas generator is fitted with a funnel pipe extending
to the vicinity of its bottom for the introduction of the acid, and this funnel
pipe should be fitted with a stop cock or valve to regulate that introduction.
The oyster shells and iron are charged into the gas generator, the valve
between the gas generator and vessel containing the vegetable material is
closed, the valve between this vessel and the air pump is opened, and the
vegetable material is exhausted as much as practicable of air by the operation
of the air pump. The valve between the vessel and air pump is then closed,
some of the acid is introduced into the gas generator, and the mixture of gases
produced by the action of the acid upon the oyster shells and iron is permitted
to enter the vessel containing the wet vegetable material by opening the valve

page_text: between the vessel and the gas generator. The vegetable material immediately
commences to absorb the mixture of gases, and as fast as absorption takes
place fresh quantities of the acid are introduced into the gas generator until
the charge of acid required to treat the charge of wood is exhausted, and the
wood is saturated with the gases. The vessel is then opened, the wood is
removed from it and is placed in a bath of caustic alkali for about twenty-four.
hours (more or less). At the end of this period the wood is taken from the
alkaline bath and is passed again between the crushing rollers, after which
it is washed with clean water and macerated either in a stamping mill or in
the ordinary cylinder pulping engine used in the manufacture of paper. The
washed material is then soaked for two or three hours in a bath of water
containing from two to five per cent. of acid (muriatic acid being preferred
for this purpose), after which it may be pressed and dried if it is required in a
dry state, or it may be bleached with chlorine in the usual manner practised
in bleaching paper pulp if the purpose for which the fibre is to be used requires
bleaching.
The quantities of acid and other materials which have been used with
success to produce the mixture of gases are, for five hundred pounds of
wood,-
12 lbs. of commercial muriatic acid,
36
"
"
commercial nitric acid,
12
2
"
of iron,
"
وو
oyster shells,
2
water.
"
"
The alkaline bath which has been succesfully used is composed of,
1,000 lbs. of water,
100
50
for each 1,000 lbs. of wood.
soda or potash,
"
"
quick lime,
The above proportions may, however, be varied as circumstances render
expedient.
Another mode in which the Invention may be practised is by dissolving the
mixture of gases in water, and then subjecting the crushed vegetable material
to the action of this watery solution previous to placing it in the alkaline bath.
But in order that this mode may be used with success the water in which the
mixture of gases is dissolved should be kept cold by ice, and after the vegetable
material has been steeped in the solution the temperature should be raised
to about 95° Fahrenheit to hasten the operation.
Another mode of practising the Invention is to subject the vegetable

page_text: material to a dry gassing by the mixture of gases before wetting it and treating
it with the alkali. In operating by this mode a vat or vessel to contain the
vegetable material, and a gas generator are required. The vat may be a
cylindrical vessel fitted with two covers, the one perforated and the other
close and fitted tightly to it. It should also be provided at a short distance
above its bottom with a perforated diaphragm to support the vegetable
material. The vat should either be made of some material that is not affected
materially by the gases, or should be coated on its interior with such a
material. In the latter case shellac applied in the form of varnish will answer
the purpose. The gas generator may be made of glass or earthenware; it
should be provided at a short distance above its bottom with an iron grating
to support the carbonate of lime; it should also be fitted with a funnel pipė
(the end of which terminates in the vicinity of the grating) for the purpose of
introducing the acid, and with a pipe connecting its upper part with the vat
beneath the perforated diaphragm thereof, so as to conduct the mixture of
gases from the generator to the under side of the diaphragm of the vat. If
wood be the vegetable material to be treated it should be sawed crosswise
to the grain into pieces about three inches thick, and then split in the direction
of the grain into pieces of about the size of match splints. The split wood,
which, if not already dry should be dried by stoving it, is placed in the vat
upon the perforated diaphragm, and is covered with the perforated cover.
The gas generator is charged with oyster shells or other form of carbonate of
lime, and sufficient water is introduced to cover them. The acid is then
poured little by little into the funnel pipe, and the mixture of gases produced
by the action of the acid upon the oyster shells and the iron of the grating
passes through the connecting pipe to the under side of the mass of dry split
wood, and rises among it. This operation or dry gassing of the material is
continued until the gas begins to escape at the perforations of the cover of
the vat. Then water at the temperature of the atmosphere is poured into
the vat until the wood is covered, the tight cover is applied to the vat, and
the introduction of the gases from the generator is continued, so that the
wood is subjected while wet to the action of the gases, and this wet gassing
is continued until the wood becomes yellow throughout its entire substance,
the result being better the longer the wood is subjected to this second
operation. The wood is then withdrawn from the vat, and is drained of the
liquid, after which it is steamed until it becomes tender, this operation being
conveniently effected by placing it in a covered vat, and admitting steam
from a steam boiler. After it is steamed it is wetted with the caustic alkali,
or with a compound of caustic alkali and oil, and is crushed in an ordinary

page_text: putty mill until it is reduced to a fibrous mass, the wetting with the alkali
or with the mixture of the alkali and oil being continued during the crusbing.
The use of oil renders the fibrous material more elastic.
The fibrous material produced by the above operations should be well washed
with water to free it as much as possible from the alkali. If it is required to be
white it should be bleached with chlorine in the following manner:-The fibre is
steeped and stirred in a solution of muriatic acid in water in the proportion of
from.two to five parts of muriatic acid to one hundred parts of water, a solution of
chloride of lime in water in the proportion of from one to five parts of chloride
to one bundred parts of water is gradually added, the stirring being continued"
during the operation. The fibrous material, when sufficiently bleached by these
operations, is drained, washed in water, drained of water, and is pressed
and dried for use, or if required it may be used in its wet state.
The nitro-muriatic acid employed in practising the Invention according
to the foregoing mode may be a mixture of 4 parts by weight of com-
mercial nitric acid of 24° of Beaumé's hydrometer and 1 part by weight
of commercial muriatic acid of 20° of Beaumé's hydrometer. The
caustic alkali may be a solution of caustic soda in water of from 2°
to 5° of Beaumé's hydrometer, and when oil is used the alkaline solution is
mixed with three per cent. of a non-drying oil, such as olive oil or rape seed oil.
This mixture should be used in a warm state, say at a temperature of not less
than 150° of Fahrenheit; the water in which the material is washed, and the
bleaching solutions should also be warm, the temperature being not less
than 150°.
The kinds of wood which are preferred when the fibre obtained is to be
used for the manufacture of paper are white pine and spruce, the branches
being preferred, as they contain less resin, and are more readily split.
The Invention is applicable to the rotting of hemp and flax to fit these
materials for spinning, but when it is applied to them the operations are not
carried to so great an extent as they are when the fibre suitable for the
manufacture of paper or pasteboard is required, as the fibre obtained must be
sufficiently long to spin. It may also be used to prepare old Manilla rope
for spinning, and in this case the rope, previously cut into lengths of about
three inches, should be opened by a picker before being subjected to the
process.
What is claimed as the Invention to be secured by Letters Patent is, the
process of treating vegetable material with the substances produced by the
action of nitro-muriatic acid upon carbonate of lime and iron, or their equiva-
lents, and then subjecting the vegetable material to the action of a caustic

page_text: alkali substantially as herein-before set forth.
Also the treating of the
vegetable material previously subjected to the action of the gaseous substances
as herein before set forth with a mixture of alkali and oil substantially as set
forth.
In witness whereof; I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.s.)