IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOSITION OR MEANS FOR THE PURPOSE OF DESTROYING INSECTS BY FUMIGATION, AND IN MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THERE- WITH
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Smith and Thomas Smith, of No. 5, Fell
Street, in the City of London, Wholesale Confectioners, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOSITION OR MEANS FOR THE PURPOSE OF DESTROYING
INSECTS BY FUMIGATION, AND IN MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THERE-
WITH."
Sealed the 20th May 1864, and dated the 27th November 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Smith and Thomas
Smith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 27th November 1868.
We, SAMUEL SMITH and THOMAS SMITH, of No. 5, Fell Street, in the
City of London, Wholesale Confectioners, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPOSITION OR MEANS FOR THE PURPOSE
OP DESTROYING INSECTS BY FUMIGATION, AND IN MEANS OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
The Invention consists of the combination of certain matters into a pastile,
which by being ignited in an enclosure containing the plant or other subject
or the portion thereof affected, will produce fumes destructive to insects
thereon.

page_text: The mixture or composition is formed by combining the following in-
gredients: tobacco, charcoal, gum tragacanth, nitre, sandal wood, balsam of
tolu, gum benzoin, gum olibanum, occasionally a little sulphur; and the
proportions of these we find to answer are,-
The mixture or composition is formed by combining the following in-
gredients: tobacco, charcoal, gum tragacanth, nitre, sandal wood, balsam of
tolu, gum benzoin, gum olibanum, occasionally a little sulphur; and the
proportions of these we find to answer are,-
Tobacco
Charcoal -
Gun tragacanth
Nitre
Sandal wood
Balsam of tolu
Gum benzoin
Gum olibanum
And when sulphur is employed about
-
130 parts by weight.
-
50
do.
12
do.
5
do.
12
do.
3
do.
3
do.
5
do.
3
do.
GO
53
but we do not confine ourselves to these proportions.
We prefer to employ the fumigating means by enclosing the plant or other
subject or the part thereof to be fumigated together with an ignited pastile, or
with several of them, in a chamber formed to about the size of the subject to
be operated upon and supported, or having openings to admit of air being
supplied to support combustion to the fumigating means, by which economy of
the fumigating means with rapidity and certainty of effect is secured.
Apparatus adapted to the purpose may be formed, for convenience of
carriage or stowage, with the sides and top hinged together, so that when not
in use it may be folded into a compact form, and may, when required for use,
be readily opened out, and secured by hooks and eyes, or otherwise to the
form desired; or such apparatus may be formed of paper or other suitable
flexible material stiffened or kept extended by hoops or other suitable means,
yet so as to be capable of folding or collapsing when not in use. By these
means facility is obtained for the thorough fumigation of plants or other
subjects in the open air.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed 3
by the said Samuel Smith and Thomas Smith in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, SAMUEL
SMITH and THOMAS SMITH, of No. 5, Fell Street, in the City of London,
Wholesale Confectioners, send greeting.
3

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Samuel Smith and Thomas Smith, Her special licence that we, the
said Samuel Smith and Thomas Smith, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said Samuel Smith and Thomas Smith, our
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 COMPOSITION OR MEANS FOR
THE PURPOSE OF DESTROYING INSECTS BY FUMIGATION, AND IN MEANS OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Samuel Smith and Thomas Smith, our executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the
hand and seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and
nscertain 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 we, the said Samuel Smith and Thomas Smith, 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 improvements relate, first, to combining certain matters and forming
them into a pastile, to be employed when ignited as a means of destroying
insects by fumigation.
Secondly, the improvements relate to means or apparatus adapted to enclose
the whole or those parts of the object to be fumigated.
In carrying out the first part of our improvements, we combine tobacco,
charcoal, nitre, and occasionally sulphur, and the proportions of these sub-
stances which we employ for the pastile to be employed for the fumigation of
plants are as follows:-

page_text: And when the pastile is to be employed for the fumigation of fabrics, we
add 3 parts by weight of sulphur.
In making up these compositions we usually employ for the purpose of
imparting an agreeable odour in the burning, and as also facilitating their
cohesion, 23 parts by weight of the gums following, and in the proportions
following, viz.-Gum tragacanth 12 parts by weight, balsam of tolu 8 parts,
gum benzoin 3 parts, and gum olibanum 5 parts; we also add occasionally for
the odour 12 parts of sandal wood. It will be obvious that some of these
gums may be omitted, and the proportions of the others increased without
affecting the effect of the pastile for destroying insects. We thoroughly mix
these matters in a dry powdered state, except the balsam of tolu, which we
dissolve in a sufficient quantity of spirits of wine to make a thin solution of it,
which we then sprinkle carefully over the other parts of the mixture, mixing
it gradually in with them, and then by the addition of a little water we produce
a plastic composition which may be moulded into various forms, and the form
we prefer is that of a cone or pastile, and a convenient size for them is that
indicated by Figures 1 and 2. The forms adopted are dried by a stove, or by
other suitable means, to remove from them the moisture employed in bringing
the composition into a plastic state. Supposing the subject to be fumigated
to be a plant, we prefer to place it within one of the enclosing means described
under the second head of the Invention, and then having placed two of these
pastiles, or more of them if the object is of large size, on a shelf or saucer, or
otherwise under the object to be fumigated, we ignite the apexes of them,
when combustion will progressively take place, and fumes will be given off
destructive of insect life. The object, as in the case of a plant, having been
subject to these fumes during the burning of the composition and for a short
time after, we then prefer to syringe it with water by the aid of a fine syringe.
Figure 3 shows a side view, and Figure 4 a plan of an arrangement of
apparatus for carrying out our improvements under the second head of Inven-
In these views the parts are shown in the form for enclosing the
upper portion of a plant; Figure 5 shows the same opened out into a plane
surface previous to folding for stowage; and Figure 6 shows an edge view of
the same folded for carriage or stowage. In this case the parts a, a, a, Cb,
forming the sides are connected together at their edges a', a', a³, a', by hinge
joints, and the top 6 is connected to one of them by a hinge joint 6'; c, c, c, c, are
legs, by which they may be held at any desired height according to the length
of these legs. When placed in position, as indicated by Figures 3 and 4, the
tion.

page_text: lid or top will, by embracing the studs a, a, from the sides a, a, keep the
parts in correct relation. In place of having legs the sides a, a, may be
continued to the floor or other support for the subject to be fumigated.
Figure 7 shows an external view, and Figures 8 and 9 a vertical and a
horizontal section of another arrangement of apparatus. In this case the
sides d, d, which may be of millboard, or other suitable material, are connected
together by cloth or other hinges d¹, by which they may be folded together for
carriage or otherwise, as indicated by the horizontal view of one of them
folded at Figure 10. The cover e serves by its overhanging edges to keep in
the fumes, and also to hold the sides in position, as indicated by Figures 7
and 8. d are openings in the sides d for the admission of a small quantity of
air to assist combustion of the pastile; Figure 11 shows a section of the
cover separately..
Figure 12 shows an external side view, Figure 13 a plan, and Figure 14 a
section of another arrangement of apparatus according to our improvements.
In this case the side surface f and the top.g are formed of silk or other fabric,
which is kept distended by hoops or rings f¹, f, f, and in use it may be
supported from the outside by the bar or rod h, which is stuck by its lower
end in the ground, or in the soil of a pot, and its upper end is bent or turned
over to support the apparatus by the top at h¹; f' is a table formed of coiled
wire projecting from the lower rim, to serve as a table for the support of the
pastile. This arrangement, and that represented by Figures 3, 4, and 5, are
particularly applicable when a single bough or only portion of a plant or
other object is desired to be fumigated. Figure 15 shows the apparatus folded
for carriage or stowage. The supporting bar h may be applied internally if
desired, as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 12.
a
By the employment of enclosing apparatus the action of fumes calculated
to destroy insect life will be limited to the object or the part of the object
affected, and not only will economy of the fumigating means be obtained, but
greater certainty of effect and less inconvenience to the operator. Facility is
also obtained for the fumigation of plants in the open air. When fumigating
fabric or other object infested with moth, we support it, or the part thereof
affected, at a suitable distance above the pastile by a slight wire frame, or by
other suitable means, so as to avoid ignition of the fabric or other object, and
yet secure the full effect thereon of the fumes. The object so supported may
be enclosed in apparatus such as referred to.
Having thus described our improvements, we would have it understood that
what we claim is,-

page_text: First, a composition of materials for destroying insects by fumigation, as
above described.
And, secondly, the construction and adaptation of apparatus to enclose
plants and other objects under fumigation, as above described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Samuel Smith and Thomas Smith,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Twenty-seventh day
of May, in the year our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
sixty-four.
SAM SMITH. (L.S.)
THOMAS SMITH. (LS.)