CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
TUDOR MABLEY, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date.at West-
minster, the Third day of October, in the fourteenth year of Her reign, and in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Túdor
Mabley, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said William Tudor Mabley, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such
others as
I, the said William Tudor Mabley, my exors, admors, or 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 and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man,
and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, an Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP," which Invention
has been communicated to me by a foreigner residing. abroad; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said William Tudor Mabley,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High

page_text: 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
William Tudor Mabley, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained by the following explanation thereof (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to the production of rosin soap from crude turpentine,
such soap being suitable for use in combination with tallow or other grease,
soap, or not, as may be desired. The method by which the Invention may be
carried into effect and the proportions of ingredients may be varied to a
considerable extent; the following however is the course which the Inventor
usually follows in order to effect the required object:--One thousand parts of
crude turpentine are to be melted by means of steam or other suitable
application of heat, and four hundred parts of liquid soda containing thirty-
three per centum of pure dry soda added thereto, the vegetable acids con-
stituting the rosin of the turpentine are thus neutralized, and soap is formed
in a liquid or melted state, at the same time the essential oil of the turpentine
is set free. In order to extricate this essential oil from the mass a solution of
common salt is to be added, and the vessel containing the compound connected
with a condensing apparatus, such as is usually employed by distillers of
spirits of turpentine. Heat is then to be applied to the saponaceous
mixture by means of coiled steam pipes, or otherwise, so as to raise the
compound to the boiling point, the steam then arising therefrom and
carrying with it the essential oil of turpentine will become condensed in the
condensing apparatus. In the vessel first employed will remain rosin perfectly
saponified, which is therefore rosin soap, and floating on the solution of salt,
the whole operation requiring but a comparatively short time, the essential
oil having been already set free as described. A solution of common salt is
mentioned in preference to water, only inasmuch as its greater specific gravity
will better buoy up the soap as well as produce steam for the distilling process,
but other substances may be used instead of a solution of salt. Instead of
using the ley so highly concentrated that it contains thirty-three per centum
of dry soda, it may be used in a less concentrated state for distilling the
essential oil from the crude turpentine, and in this case the solution of salt
may also be dispensed with in the process of distilling; a favourable result may
be obtained by using a ley of 20° Beaumé, after the following manner :-With
the melted turpentine, one half of all the ley required for saponifying the

page_text: the mass.
whole is to be mixed, and the distillation being commenced, the remainder added
gradually through a suitably arranged pipe; in the same ratio as the water and
spirits distil over. Even a concentrated solution of soda ash in water will
answer for distilling the turpentine in the same manner, but in such case great
care must be taken, on account of the carbonic acid gas being discharged from
For every four pounds of crude turpentine, one pound of soda ash
containing fifty per cent. of pure dry soda is sufficient for saponifying the
same, whether the soda be used in the caustic or carbonated state. The
remaining soap may be washed in a concentrated solution of common salt,
in order to free it from the coloring matter produced by the action of the
alkali on the rosin. The distillation itself may be carried on in a copper still,
such as is used by distillers of spirits of turpentine, or in a wooden vat connected
with a suitable condensing apparatus, the saponified mixture being heated by
steam or other means; if the former, it may be used in close pipes, or in such
as are perforated so as to admit the steam into the mass. The soap produced
by this improved method will by itself answer all ordinary purposes of washing,
but may be combined with tallow or grease soap in any desired proportion.
A good firm article of light color may be made by combining one hundred
parts of a well-made grease soap to two hundred parts of the rosin soap. The
spirit of turpentine obtained by the distillation of the crude turpentine by
neutralizing the same with an alkali differs somewhat from that obtained in
the ordinary way, being free from rosin; it is more easily soluble in absolute
alcohol and burns with a brilliant light, leaving no residuum.
Although certain proportions of the ingredients have been mentioned, and
particular apparatus referred to, yet the same may be varied to a considerable
extent, without departing from the principle of the Invention; it is not,
however, intended to claim the exclusive right of manufacturing soap con-
taining rosin, certain methods of effecting which object are commonly known;
that which is claimed being,-
Firstly, the making of rosin soap from crude turpentine without the
use of tallow, fat, or other grease.
Secondly, the distillation of the essential oil of turpentine, substantially
as above described, to form soap.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Tudor Mabley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-one
WM TUDOR (L.S.) MABLEY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid William Tudor Mabley came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her 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:
Enrolled the Third day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-one.