IMPROVEMENTS IN BOTTLES OR VESSELS FOR CONTAINING POISONS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Bilby Merrikin, of Bath, in the County of
Somerset, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOTTLES OR VESSELS
FOR CONTAINING POISONS."
Sealed the 15th November 1864, and dated the 18th May 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Bilby Merrikin,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th May 1864.
I, JOHN BILBY MERRIKIN, of Bath, in the County of Somerset, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BOTTLES OR
VESSELS FOR CONTAINING POISONS," to be as follows:-
The object and purport of this Invention is to give such a character to
bottles or vessels for containing poisons that such bottles or vessels cannot be
used or handled without perceiving the difference between these improved.
bottles or vessels and the ordinary plain bottles, which improved bottles shall
also indicate their distinctive difference from those of the ordinary kind to the.
eye of the user. To this end I form bottles or vessels with protruberances
or excrescences on the surface to be handled of triangular form, such as
this
, or diamond shaped as thus
or of any other shape, and I

page_text: can have the name of the drug or chemical embossed, together with the word
'poison," if desired. And I should prefer that the protruberances should be
somewhat sharp, as causing the true character of the bottle or vessel to be
decidedly felt. If thought advisable the protruberances or excrescences, or the
spaces between them, could be colored of a dark or other color.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Bilby Merrikin in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHк
BILBY MERRIKIN, of Bath, in the County of Somerset, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and graat unto me,
the said John Bilby Merrikin, Her special licence that I, the said John
Bilby Merrikin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said John Bilby Merrikin, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should in 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BOTTLES OR VESSELS FOR CONTAINING POISONS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Bilby Merrikin, 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 saine 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 John Bilby Merrikin, 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 fol-
lowing statement :-
The object and purport of my said Invention is to give permanently and
practically such a character to bottles or vessels for containing poisons that
although the same may be handled without injury to the hands, yet when,
touched or used the difference between these improved bottles or vessels and

page_text: other bottles or vessels will be immediately felt, such improved bottles also
indicating to the eye of the user their distinctive difference from those of the
ordinary kind, and retaining these peculiarities and advantages so long as the
bottles last.
To effect all this I form such bottles or vessels by casting or moulding the
same with protuberances, excrescences, or projecting portions of the character
hereafter described and illustrated by the Drawing bereto annexed, such
protuberances, excrescences, or projecting portions being integral parts of the
structure of the bottle or vessel. But although the processes of moulding or
casting are those which I have hitherto resorted to, and prefer to use for the
sake of economy of construction, and also by reason that the protuberances,
or excrescenses, or projecting portions will not thereby be produced with very
sharp points or angles (which might damage the fingers), and in case the
points got broken off (which would be very likely), might be productive of
serious injury to the hands; all which would probably result if I adopted the
processes of blowing and cutting, yet my bottles or vessels could be produced by
such last-mentioned processes. For furthering the prevention of accidents, I
can have embossed on or indented in front of the bottle or vessel the word
'poison," or a letter or symbol denoting "poison," and this should be placed
beneath the "label."
Bottles or vessels constructed according to my Invention I prefer should
have a considerable portion of their surface constituting the front thereof
perfectly plain or smooth, but care must be taken that so much of the surface
shall not be left plain or smooth as that the bottle or vessel can be grasped or
held by the plain portion only, the extent of surface which I have found may
be left plain or smooth being two-fifths or thereabouts. Although the general
form or contour of the bottle or vessel may be the ordinary cylindrical form or
any other deemed convenient, yet I claim a decided advantage from the
adoption of the pentagonal form shewn by the Drawing, and from the adaption
of bottles with many sides presenting protuberances as aforesaid.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1, front view of the said bottle or vessel, with plain or smooth surface
shewing the label and poison symbol; Fig. 2, back view of bottle shewing
ho protuberances, excrescences, or projecting portions herein-before referred
o; Fig. 3. is a sectional view on the line A, B, at Figs. 1 and 2, of a
bottle or vessel of the character herein-before described.
Having now particularly describe and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be

page_text: understood that I do not claim as my Invention, bottles or vessels for con-
taining poisons with any kind of uneven or roughened surfaces, what I do
claim being the particular improvements in bottles or vessels for containing
poisons herein-before set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bilby Merrikin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness to signature,
CHARLES S. BAKER.
JOHN B. MERRIKIN. (L.S.)