IMPROVEMENTS IN CIGARS AND CIGARETTES
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Johnson at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd November 1877. A. communication
from abroad by Theodore Hurlbut Babcock, of Brooklyn, Francis Carr Upton,
of New York City, both in the State of New York, and Samuel Babcock, of
Middletown, State of Connecticut, all in United States of America.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN CIGARS AND CIGARETTES." A communication
from abroad by Theodore Hurlbut Babcock, of Brooklyn, Francis Carr Upton, of
New York City, both in the State of New York, and Samuel Babcock, of Middle-
town, State of Connecticut, all in United States of America.
This Invention, relating to cigars and cigarettes, consists in providing the cigar
or cigarette itself with material which can be ignited by friction, and will, when so
ignited, communicate fire to the cigar or cigarette.
The ignitible material is applied to the end of the cigar (for example) while in a
liquid or soft state, in such a manner that the tobacco shall be impregnated with
the said material. One mode of so applying it consists in dipping the end of the
cigar to the desired depth into the composition until the tobacco at the end is
permeated by the same. Under these conditions the material becomes intimately
incorporated into the cigar, the end of which is in fact saturated with the compo-
sition. The composition, when dry, will harden, so that it can be ignited by
friction. It forms a cap which will protect the end of the cigar from breaking, and
which also will exclude the air, and so to a great extent preserve the flavor of the
cigar. The cost of the material and expense of its application to the cigar are but
trifling.
Any suitable composition ignitible by fricton can be employed; but, by pre-
ference, it is proposed to employ a composition analogous to that used in what are
termed "safety matches," that is to say, a composition which will ignite by
friction only when rubbed on a surface specially prepared for the purpose. In this
way all danger of the cigar becoming improvidently ignited, as, for instance, when
packed and in course of transportation, will be avoided.

page_text: One composition of the kind which may be used for the purpose is as follows :—
For the cigar, 6 to 8 parts of chlorate of potash.
bichromate of potash.
2
do.
"
2
5
do.
oxide of iron.
27
do.
23
pulverized charcoal.
These ingredients are mixed with hot glue to the proper consistency for appli-
cation to the cigar, and the end of the cigar is dipped into the composition to the
proper depth and then allowed to dry.
In lieu of glue, gelatin, gum arabic, or other adhesive substance may be used.
For the friction surface, 12 parts of amorphous phosphorus.
8 do. sulphide of antimony.
"
To the above may be added, if desired, 6 parts of powdered glass, powdered
quartz, or emery. These ingredients are mixed with glue dissolved in cold water to
a thin consistency, and the cardboard or other article on which the friction surface
is to be formed is coated with the composition. The cigar thus prepared can be
ignited with ease and absolute certainty in wind or rain. Not only can it be
ignited by friction, but also by touching it with an ember or lighted match.
The composition, saturating more or less, as it does, the end of the cigar, and being
in fact incorporated therewith, unfailingly ignites the cigar, and, burning slowly,
keeps the cigar lighted for some time without rendering it necessary for the smoker
to take the cigar into his mouth. The cigar, however, can be smoked the moment
it is lighted, since the composition is innoxious, and has no offensive taste or
odour.