A PROCESS BY WHICH CHRTAIN MATERIALS MAY BE MANUFACTURED INTO PAPER OR FELT, OR A SUBSTANCE NEARLY RESEMBLING COARSE PAPER OR FELT, WHICH MATERIAL 50 PREPARED IS APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1824

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
NESBITT, of Upper Thames Street, in the City of London, Broker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the fifth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alexander Nesbitt, His especial licence that I, the said Alexander Nesbitt, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Nesbitt,
my exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "A PROCESS
BY WHICH CHRTAIN MATERIALS MAY BE MANUFACTURED INTO PAPER OR FELT, OR A
SUBSTANCE NEARLY RESEMBLING COARSE PAPER OR FELT, WHICH MATERIAL 50
PREPARED IS APPLICABLE TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES," communicated to me
by William Van Houten the younger, a Foreigner residing abroad; in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Alexander
Nesbitt, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, (as in
and by the same,) reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alexander Nesbitt, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in the following description thereof, that is to say :-
The Invention communicated to me by William Van Houton the younger,
consists in fabricating moss into paper used in ship building, being of a substance
which does not rot, and which does also preserve the wood from decaying and
rotting. The moss is gathered in the low and watering places in the heaths
and ditches in Holland, and might be imported to England if it is not found
here. After gathering it is cleaned and dried, it being soft like sheeps' wool.
It is pressed together in a like machine in which the tobacco is chopped, but
it being done about half an inch long, after this chopping the moss is put into
a large tub, soaked completely in water, and after that it is put in a large tub
about the size used by paper makers, and out of this tub the moss is taken by
a similar frame to that made use of by paper makers, and placed regular
between woollen cloth; after this operation the moss is brought under an ordi-
nary press, but of a heavy construction, and pressed so closely that the moss is
nearly dry. In this state the leave (as the paper is formed) is brought in the
dry loft to dry, and hung regular on cords made and arranged for that purpose.
After the leaf is dry it is placed between two sheets of strong ordinary coarse
paper, and then brought a second time under the press, where it remains about
three hours, and then the moss paper is completely fabricated and fit for different
useful purposes; for instance, in ship building, if it is laid between wood and
wood, that is to say, between the beam and the plank. By the least touch
of water this paper swells, and will also prevent the water penetrating between
the wood, and it is also protected against rotting. In the Dutch Navy there is
a great use made of this moss, because it is an article that never rots, but it is
everlasting. The men of war and merchantmen of the Dutch Navy are coated
with it under the copper, and it is found to be of an invaluable effect.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Nesbitt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of January, in the
year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
ALEXANDER (L.s.) NESBITT.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-sixth day of January,
in the year of our Lord 1825, the aforesaid Alexander Nesbitt came before
our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.