THE APPLICA- TION OF CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER PULP, AND THE MODE OF TREATING THE SAME FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1861

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "THE APPLICA-
TION OF CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES TO THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER PULP,
AND THE MODE OF TREATING THE SAME FOR THAT PURPOSE."-A communica-
tion from abroad by Charles Marie Gagnage, of Paris, in the Empire
of France.
Sealed the 30th July 1861, and dated the 21st February 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 21st February 1861.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"THE APPLICATION OF CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES TO THE MANUFACTURE OF
PAPER PULP, AND THE MODE OF TREATING THE SAME FOR THAT PURPOSE," (a com-
munication from abroad by Charles Marie Gagnage, of Paris, in the Empire
of France) to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the application and use to and in the manufacture
of paper pulp of certain vegetable productions not hitherto used for that
purpose, and to a peculiar mode of treating such vegetable substances with a

page_text: view to their reduction into pulp for the manufacture of paper therefrom in
lieu of from rags. The substances which it is proposed to employ for the
preparation of paper pulp are common and well known plants which can
always be had in great abundance, the ligneous or woody portions thereof
being separated from the resinous, gummy, and starchy matters which surround
or impregnate them.
The following are some of the vegetable productions which it is proposed to
make use of in the preparation of pulp for paper-making, namely, the fir tree,
maritime pine, larch, and in fact all coniferæ; junipers, willows, and osiers,
tamarinds, the genus spartium or broom, and scoparia; also the genus juncus
or rush, and genista. Amongst herbaceous plants, those of the mallow tribe
and the bursaria, as for example, the bursa pastoris, and its varieties, will be
found particularly serviceable, also those of the genus hedysarium, the poly-
goneæ, and cyclamen, the panicum germanicum, and tall panicum, lupinus,
the sorghum or millet; also those plants of the genus lepidium or pepperwort
under the order of cruciferæ ; also the dead leaves of the haricot and pea, and
of the thistle. The bursa pastoris is specially suitable for the object in view,
as it is easily cultivated, and affords a plenteous yield, and the same remark
applies to the hedysarium. As regards the coniferæ, the collection of the
fallen leaves or needles may be effected at any time. Of willows and osiers
the bark alone is used, but the young green shoots of all kinds of trees and
shrubs may be used entire, the shoots being cut up into short lengths by means
of a machine similar to a chaff cutter, as are also the brooms, rushes, and young
underwood. These fragments of plants are then submitted to the action of a
bruising and tearing or disintegrating machine. The leaves of the fir and
pine are treated with alcaline baths for the purpose of softening them before
they are subjected to the action of the disintegrating machine, after which the
mass is washed and pressed and submitted to the alternate action of an
alcaline and a mineral acid bath, the strength of which is regulated according
to the season or nature of the leaves or matter under treatment; after a time
the leaves lose their resinous matter, and retain only the woody portions mixed
with a yellowish colouring matter, which is removed by mineral acid, when
after being again washed and pressed, the mass is ready for bleaching by any
good process, but the special mode preferred is by causing the chloride to pass
into an oxidised soda bath.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st August 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN HENRY
JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and of
166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year .of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said John Henry. Johnson, my executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at 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 Inven-
tion for "THE APPLICATION OF CERTAIN VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES TO THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF PAPER PULP, AND THE MODE OF TREATING THE SAME FOR THAT PURPOSE," a
communication from abroad by Charles Marie Gagnage, of Paris, in the Empire
of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them, should. par-
ticularly 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and; by
the following statement, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to the application and use to and in the manu-
facture of paper pulp of certain vegetable productions, and to a peculiar.mode
of treating such vegetable substances, with a view to their reduction into pulp
for the manufacture of paper therefrom in lieu of from rags. The substances
which it is proposed to employ for the preparation of paper pulp are. cominon
and well-known plants which can always be had in great abundance, the

page_text: ligneous or woody portions thereof being separated from the resinous, gummy,
and starchy matters which surround or impregnate them.
The following are the vegetable productions which it is proposed to make
use of in the preparation of pulp for paper-making, namely, the fir tree,
maritime pine, larch, and in fact all coniferæ; junipers, willows, and osiers,
tamarinds, plants of the genus spartium or broom, and scoparia;
also the genus
juncus or rush, and genista. Amongst herbaceous plants, those of the mallow
tribe, and the bursaria, as for example, the bursa pastoris, and its varieties,
will be found particularly serviceable; also those of the genus hedysarium, the
polygoneæ and cyclamen; the panicum germanicum and tall panicum, lupinus,
the sorghum or millet; also those plants of the genus lepidium or pepperwort,
comprised under the order of cruciferæ, also the dead leaves of the haricot and
pea, and of the thistle. The bursa pastoris is specially suited for the object in
view, as it is easily cultivated, and affords a plenteous yield, and the same
remark applies to the genus hedysarium. As regards the coniferæ, the
collection of the fallen leaves or needles may be effected at any time. Of
willows and osiers, the bark alone is used, but the young green shoots of all
kinds of trees and shrubs may be used entire, the shoots being cut up into
short lengths by means of a machine similar to a chaff cutter, as are also the
brooms, rushes, and young underwood. These fragments of plants are then
submitted to the action of a bruising and tearing, or disintegrating machine.
The leaves or needles of the fire and pine are treated with alkaline baths for
the purpose of softening them before they are subjected to the action of the
disintegrating machine, after which the mass is washed and pressed and sub-
mitted to the alternate action of an alkaline, and a mineral acid bath, the
strength of which is regulated according to the season of the year or nature of
the leaves or matter under treatment; after a time the leaves lose their
resinous matter, and retain only the woody portions mixed with a yellowish
coloring matter, which is removed by mineral acid, when after being again
washed and pressed the mass is ready for bleaching by any good process, but
the special mode preferred is by causing the chloride employed to pass into an
oxidized soda bath.
None of the alkaline baths are wasted after use, but are filtered through
suitably prepared charcoal, and may be used again repeatedly.
The following is a summary of the various processes or operations to which
the several vegetable substances herein-before mentioned are subjected in their
manufacture into paper pulp, namely:-First, boiling in an alkaline liquor;
second, draining off the alkaline liquor from the vegetable substances; third,
breaking or bruising in any suitable machine for the purpose of disintegrating

page_text: the fibres; fourth, carding in any suitable machine for that purpose; fifth,
immersion in alkaline and acidulated baths alternately; this alternate use of
the baths, the object of which is to permit of the recommencing of the alkaline
treatment, may, however, be dispensed with, but the operation will require a
much longer time to complete; sixth, bleaching by any well known or other
suitable process, such as the chloride of lime process for example, but I prefer
the process herein-before described; seventh, pressure obtained in any con-
venient manner, preference being given to the hydrostatic press, so as to
reduce the pulp to cakes or masses of small compass easy of transport.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-one.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.s.)