IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OR PREPARATION OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN ALGE, AND THE APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO VARIOUS BRANCHES OF THE ARTS AND MANU- FACTURES.
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Goulston Ghislin, of Hatton Garden, in
the City of London, Importer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE TREATMENT OR PREPARATION OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN ALGE, AND THE
APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO VARIOUS BRANCHES OF THE ARTS AND MANU-
FACTURES.'
Sealed the 6th January 1863, and dated the 15th July 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Goulston Ghislin
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th July 1862.
I, THOMAS GOULSTON GHISLIN, of Hatton Garden, in the City of London,
Importer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OR PREPARATION OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN ALGE, AND
THE APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO VARIOUS BRANCHES OF THE ARTS AND MANU-
FACTURES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in treating or preparing British and foreign sea-
weeds of the order algae so that they may be used for various useful purposes
in the arts and manufactures. In carrying out my Invention the sea-weed is
to be ground up into powder, and in that state is to be mixed in any con-
venient proportions with a glutinous solution, with the addition of india-rubber,
gutta percha, or other analogous substances, and a portion of alum and
powdered rosin, to which may be added pulverized sulphur. When the
ingredients have been well incorporated the mass may be submitted to

page_text: heat in a suitable oven; it will then be brought into a plastic state,
and may be moulded or embossed in the same way that gutta percha is
now done for various purposes. In order to bleach the material or pro-
duce an appearance resembling ivory I boil the substance in a solution
composed of caustic lime and water, after which it is steeped in dilute
sulphurous acid for several hours or even days. The material may then
be submitted to chlorine gas or chloride of lime until it becomes bleached,
to effect which object perfectly it may sometimes be necessary to repeat
the process more than once. If flat sheets with a surface resembling ivory
be required they may be produced from any of the tubular algæ or sea-
weeds by splitting up the tubes, and then cleaning and preparing their
surfaces so that they may be used for the intended purpose when pro-
perly bleached. If desired, the surface of the prepared material may be
coated with metal by the well-known electro-galvanic process, or it may be
colored or otherwise ornamented by any of the processes now in use for
analogous purposes.
The
The surfaces of some of the substances prepared in the manner above
stated may be hardened by boiling them in a solution of sulphuric acid.
substances produced by means of my Invention I propose to call laminite
stag or vegetable horn, as it may be used for most of the purposes for which
horn of various kinds have heretofore been used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Goulston Ghislin in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th January 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
GOULSTON GHISLIN, of Hatton Garden, in the City of London, Importer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Goulston Ghislin, Her special license that I, the said Thomas
Goulston Ghislin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Thomas Goulston Ghislin, my executors; administrators, and 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-

page_text: 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 THE TREATMENT OR PREPARATION OF BRITISH AND FOREIGN
ALGE, AND THE APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO VARIOUS BRANCHES OF THE ARTS
AND MANUFACTURES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas Goulston Ghislin, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Thomas Goulston Ghislin, 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 (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists in treating or preparing British and foreign sea-
weeds of the order algo so that they may be used for various useful purposes
in the arts and manufactures. In carrying out my Invention the sea-weed
should be first steeped in dilute sulphuric acid for about three hours, and then
well dried so as to become hard, after which it is to be ground up or reduced
to an almost impalpable powder. The dry powder is then to be mixed in any
convenient proportions with the ingredients herein-after named. I first
prepare a strong glutinous solution composed of common glue dissolved in
water, to which must be added a solution of india-rubber, gutta percha, or
other analogous substances.
In practice, I find the following proportions are convenient, viz., ten per
cent. of glue dissolved in water, five per cent. of gutta percha, and two-and-
a-balf per cent. of india-rubber dissolved in naptha or other suitable solvent
of these gums; to these I add ten per cent. of coal tar. These substances
are all well mixed and boiled together. I then add thereto in a dry state
five per cent. of sulphur, five per cent. of rosin, and two-and-a-half per cent.
of alum, and, say, sixty per cent. of the pulverized sea-weed. I carefully
and intimately mix the pulverized ingredients in the boiling compound, and
when the ingredients have been well incorporated the mass must be sub-
mitted to heat in a suitable oven, taking care that the mixture be not
heated above three hundred degrees Fahrenheit. The mass will then be
brought into a plastic state, and may be moulded or embossed in the same
way that gutta percha is now done, or rolled, pressed, stamped, or otherwise
formed into any desired shape, and thereby adapted, when it becomes hard,
for various useful or ornamental purposes.

page_text: As a modification of the above process, and to produce a cheaper article, I
make a liquid compound composed of fifteen per cent. of glue dissolved in
water and fifteen per cent. of heated coal tar; these ingredients are mixed
together, and seventy per cent. of the pulverized sea-weed added, and inti-
mately incorporated therewith. The compound is then baked, as before
mentioned, taking care that the heat does not exceed three hundred degrees.
This substance, when cold and dry, will become hard, and will form a good and
cheap substitute for ebony; it is also susceptible of receiving a bigh polish by
simple friction, and may be ornamented by embossing or stamping.
The substances above mentioned may, if desired, be bleached so as to
produce a surface with an appearance resembling ivory. To this end I boil
the substance in a solution composed of caustic lime and water, after which it
is to be steeped in dilute sulphurous acid for several hours or even days. The
material may then be submitted to chlorine gas or chloride of lime until
it becomes bleached, to effect which object perfectly it may sometimes be
necessary to repeat the process more than once. If thin flat sheets with a
surface resembling ivory be required, they may also be produced from any of
the tubular algue or sca-weeds by splitting up the tubes, and then cleaning and
preparing their surfaces so that they may be used for the intended purpose
when properly bleached. If desired, the surface of the prepared material may
be coated with metal by the well-known electro-galvanic process, or it may be
colored or otherwise ornamented by any of the processes now in use for
analogous purposes. In order to cause the film of metal deposited by the
agency of electro-galvanism to adhere to the surface of the substance coated,
the latter, being a non-conductor of electricity, must be prepared by being
coated with plumbago or other material which will render the surface a con-
ductor of electricity.
The surfaces and bodies of some of the substances or compounds manufac-
tured in the manners or by the processes above stated may be hardened by
boiling them in a solution of sulphuric acid, or steeped in a dilute solution of
chloride of zinc, and then washed in a dilute cold solution of sulphuric acid.
These substances I propose to call laminite or laminarian stag horn, and they
may be cut, shaped, pressed, carved, or bent into various shapes so that they
may be used for most of the purposes for which horn of various kinds has
heretofore been used in the arts, and also for many purposes for which hard
woods and substances, such as ebony and ivory, have been employed.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Treatment
or Preparation of British and Foreign Algae, and the Application of the same
to various Branches of the Arts and Manufactures," and having explained

page_text: the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured
to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the modes of and processes berein
described for treating or preparing British or foreign algae or sea-weed so
that such substances may be applied to various useful purposes in the arts and
manufactures, as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Goulston Ghislin, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
0 Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
THOMAS GOULSTON GHISLIN. (L.S:)
66, Chancery Lane,