AN APERIENT BISCUIT
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marc Antoine François Mennons, of the British and
Foreign Patent Offices, 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of
France, for the Invention of "AN APERIENT BISCUIT."-A communication.
France, for the Invention of "AN APERIENT BISCUIT." -A con
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marc Antoine François
Mennons at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th May 1858.
I, MARC ANTOINE FRANÇOIS MENNONS, of the British and Foreign Patent
Offices, 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN APERIENT BISCUIT,"
communication, to be as follows:-
The base of this biscuit is pure scammony precipitated from its alcoholic
solution; of this precipitate I take three ounces, which are incorporated with
thirteen ounces of flour, one pound of sugar, and a sufficient quantity of the
white of eggs to bring the mass to the necessary consistence. The whole is
then divided into two hundred biscuits, one of which suffices for an ordinary
dose. The extreme division of the scammouy renders its action in this form
more effective than when administered in the ordinary way.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Marc Antoine François Mennons in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd November 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARC
ANTOINE FRANÇOIS MENNONS, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices,
39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Marc Antoine François Mennons, Her special licence that I, the said
Marc Antoine François Mennons, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, 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 "AN APERIENT BISCUIT," (a communication,)
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Marc Antoine François
Mennons, 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 Marc Antoine François Mennons, 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, that is to say:-
The Invention communicated to me consists in the preparation of a cake or
biscuit containing an aperient medicine, to which it serves as vehicle.
66
Among the aperients susceptible of this application, the resin known as
Aleppo scammony" is most generally advantageous, and may be adopted as
the standard in the processes bercafter enumerated.
The first operation in this case is to purify the scammony of commerce
by precipitation from its alcoholic solution, previously treated with animal

page_text: charcoal to discharge the colour. About three ounces (avoirdupois) (90
grammes) of this precipitate aro thoroughly incorporated with-
Wheaten flour, about 13 oz. (390 grammes),
Sugar in powder, about 16 oz. (500 grammes),
and the whole is brought to the required consistence by the addition of a
sufficient quantity of white of eggs well beaten. The mass is then divided
into two hundred biscuits, which are baked in the oven. One of these biscuits
containing about 7 grains (45 centigrammes) of the pure scammony is
sufficient for an ordinary dose. The extreme division of the resin renders the
action of this quantity as efficacious as double the amount administered in the
ordinary way.
It is obvious, from the example given, that a variety of substances may be
employed as the aperient base of the biscuits compounded as above, the pro-
portions and mode of purification being modified according to the nature of
the base selected. In all cases the medicinal substance employed when in the
dry state should be reduced to an impalpable powder, and incorporated as
thoroughly as possible with the other constituents of the biscuits, so as to
secure its equal diffusion throughout the mass.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the most
advantageous mode of carrying it out, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details laid down, as these may be modified
according to circumstances; but what I claim is, the preparation, substantially
as above described, of a biscuit or cake, serving as vehicle to an aperient
medicine incorporated with it in the course of manufacture.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marc Antoine François Mennons, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
M. F. MENNONS.
(L.S.)