IMPROVEMENTS IN CIGARETTES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Harmer, of Union Street, Spitalfields, in
the County of Middlesex, Clerk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CIGARETTES."
Sealed the 18th June 1858, and dated the 30th December 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Harmer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th
December 1857.
I, RICHARD HARMER, of Union Street, Spitalfields, in the County of
Middlesex, Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN CIGARETTES," to be as follows:-.
My improvements in cigarettes consists in the application of a glass, porcelain,
or pipeclay mouthpiece to cigarettes. For this purpose I form the glass,
porcelain, or pipeclay mouthpiece in the form of a short tube of the size of
the cigarette, the opening at one end of which is contracted, while the other
is of the full size and receives a portion of the material forming the cigarette.
The paper case of the cigarette is cemented to the exterior of the tube, and
extends the length required for the cigarette; when filled a little cotton.
occupies part of the space in the glass, porcelain, or pipeclay tube, and the
remainder of the case is filled with tobacco or material to be smoked as in.
ordinary.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Harmer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
HARMER, of Union Street, Spitalfields, in the County of Middlesex, Clerk,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Thirtieth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Harmer, Her special licence, that I, the said Richard
Harmer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Richard Harmer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times. there-
after 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
CIGARETTES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard
Harmer, 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 Richard Harmer, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My improvements in cigarettes consist in the application of glass, porcelain,
or pipeclay mouthpieces thereto. For this purpose I form the glass, .por-
celain, or pipeclay mouthpiece in the form of a short tube of the size of the
cigarette, the opening at one of which is contracted, while the other end is
of the full size, and receives a portion of the material forming the cigarette.
The paper case of the cigarette is cemented to the exterior of the tube, and
extends the length required for the cigarette. When filled, a little cotton
occupies part of the space in the glass porcelain, or pipeclay tube, and the
remainder of the case is filled with tobacco or material to be smoked as in

page_text: ordinary. I prefer to use glass for the purpose of the mouthpiece, as it is
readily formed, and is a nice clean article to introduce into the mouth, besides
being of a very inexpensive character. In manufacturing them I take a thin
glass tube of the size required for the cigarette, and cut it in lengths suitable
for the mouthpieces. I then by the blowpipe or otherwise fuse the one end,
and cause it to contract and form the small opening at one end.
If the mouthpieces are to be of porcelain or pipeclay, those materials are
moulded and baked or burnt in the usual manner of treating those materials
in the manufacture of other articles; other ceramic materials may also be
used for these mouthpieces, but I prefer those mentioned. And I must also
observe, that of all materials I prefer glass, as it can be rendered light and
otherwise well adapted for the purpose.
Figure 1 represents an external view of the cigarette complete according to
my Invention; Figure 2, a longitudinal section, and Figure 3 an end view of
the same; while Figure 4 represents a separate longitudinal section of the
mouthpiece or tube.
Figure 5 represents a former or mould on which the cigarette is formed.
The mouthpiece or tube having been made as described and represented in
Figures 2 and 3, I wrap a small piece of cotton wadding a around the pin b of
the former c, which I then insert within the tube d, as seen dotted in Figure 5,
a shoulder being formed on c to keep it central, the part c being of the same
size as the outside of the tube or mouthpiece d, I then take a piece of paper e
suitable for the case of the cigarette, and wrap it round the tube d and former c,
at the same time securing it to the glass tube or other mouthpiece d by means
of paste, starch, or other suitable adhesive material; the lapping edges of the
paper throughout the length of the cigarette are also cemented together. The
former c is now withdrawn from the case e, leaving the cotton a in the glass
tube d, but which is hidden from view or nearly so by the paper case lapping
on the tube d, the case is afterwards filled with the tobacco or other material
to be smoked, and the end enclosed by turning in the paper in the ordinary
manner. The cotton being placed between the mouth of the smoker and the
tobacco, the smoke is constrained to pass through the cotton, which absorbs
the essential oil, as well understood. The glass tubes or mouthpieces may be
used again and again for the same purpose, although the cost thereof is so
trifling as to render such repeated use hardly worth while.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I wish it to be understood that I do not claim the
introduction of cotton in cigarettes, as cotton has been used for a like purpose
heretofore; but that what I claim as my Invention to be secured by the

page_text: herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the application of tubes or
mouthpieces to cigarettes of glass, porcelain, pipeclay, or ceramic material, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Harmer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
WILLIAM CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane, London.
R. HARMER. (L.s.