A SOLVENT NOT HITHERTO USED IN THE ARTS
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY BARNARD, of No. 26, New Broad Street, in the City of London,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twentieth day of August, in the fourth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and succèssors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Henry Barnard, His especial licence that I, the said William Henry
Barnard, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Henry Barnard, my exors, admors, and 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, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
also within all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention
of "A SOLVENT NOT HITHERTO USED IN THE ARTS;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Henry Barnard, by
an instrument under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said 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 Henry Barnard, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention consists in an essential oil or liquid, which I obtain by. the distil-

page_text: lation of a well known article of commerce imported into this country from
Para, Valparaiso, Sincapore, and other places, under the title of caoutchouc or
indian rubber, and in further compliance with the said proviso, I the said
William Henry Barnard, do hereby describe the manner in which my said
Invention is to be performed by the following description thereof, that is
to say:-
I take a mass of the said caoutchouc or indian rubber, as imported, and
having cut it into small lumps containing about two cubic inches each (which
I prefer), I throw these lumps into a cast-iron still (which I find adapted to
the purpose, and a diagram of which is annexed to and forms part of this my
Specification, with a worm attached. The following is the description of the
diagram: A is the still; B the cover ground to a metallic fit, and held down
with cramps and set screws. Through the cover there is a hole with a plug
ground to fit, to admit of a thermometer to take the temperature. C, the
fireplace; D, the ashpit; E, the worm tub and worm; F, the brickwork of
still; G, a roller and carriage, in conjunction with a crab or other means to
raise the cover, to take out the residue, and to charge the same; H, the chain,
I then apply heat to the still in the usual manner, which heat is encreased until
the thermometer ranges at six hundred degrees of Fahrenheit or thereabouts,
and as the thermometer ranges progressively upwards to six hundred degrees
of Fahrenheit, a dark colored oil or liquid is distilled over, which I claim as
my said Invention, such liquid being a solvent of caoutchouc and other resi-
nous, and oleaginous substances. When the thermometer reaches six hundred
degrees, or thereabouts, nothing is left in the still but dirt and charcoal.
I have found the operation of distillation to be facilitated by the addition of a
portion of this oil, either previous or subsequent to rectification, as herein-after
mentioned, in the proportion of one third oil to two thirds caoutchouc or
thereabouts; I afterwards subject the dark colored liquid thus distilled over
to the ordinary process of rectification, and thereby obtain fluids varying in
specific gravity, of which the lightest hitherto has not been under 670, taking
distilled water at 1000, which fluids I also claim as my said Invention. At
each rectification the color of the liquid becomes more bright and transparent
until at the specific gravity of 680, or thereabouts, it is colorless and highly
volatile. In the process of rectification (for the purpose of obtaining a larger
product of the oil colorless) I put about one third water into the still. In
each and every state the liquid is a solvent of caoutchouc and several resinous
and oleaginous substances, and also of other substances (such as copal) in
combination with very strong alcohol. Having experienced much difficulty
in removing the dirt which adheres to the bottom of the still, I throw into the

page_text: still lead and tin in a state of alloy (commonly called solder) to the depth of
about half an inch, and as this becomes fused the dirt which lies on the surface
of it is more easily removed. Objections having been made to the smell of
this liquid, I have found such smell removed by mixing and shaking up the
liquid with nitro-muriatic acid, or chlorine, in the proportion of a quarter of a
pint of the acid (of the usual commercial strength) to a gallon of the liquid.
And whereas I claim, as my Invention, the said solvent or liquid when first
distilled over, and in each and every stage of its rectification; and such my
Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and
never before used within that part of His Majesty's United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, His said Dominion of Wales, or
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, or His Majesty's Colonies or Plantations, I
do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily
believe this my said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without
reserve or disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent contained; wherefore I hereby claim to maintain exclusive
right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, the Thirty-
first day of January. One thousand eight hundred and thirty-four.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1834, the aforesaid William Henry Barnard came before
our said Lord the King in His 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.