IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STARCH
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS. PATENT to William Watt, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim,
in, Ireland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
STARCH."
Sealed the 14th January 1857, and dated the 15th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Watt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th July 1856.
I, WILLIAM WATT, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STARCH," to be as follows:-
I take maize or Indian corn and steep it in fresh water, or in the steep
water which has already been used for this purpose, at a high temperature, by
which means not only is the husk separated, but the fibrous or extraneous
matter of the corn is so decomposed as to admit of the particles of starch being
easily separated. I grind it in millstones, with a current of water, which
I prefer to use hot. I then separate the husks and the different qualities of
starch by sieves, and I afterwards proceed in any of the usual modes for
producing the article ready for the market.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Watt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th
January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
WATT, of Belfast, in the County of Antrim, in Ireland, 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 fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Watt, Her special licence that I, the said William Watt, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Watt, 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 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 MANU-
FACTURE OF STARCH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Watt, 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 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 William Watt, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to o say:-
I take maize or Indian corn, in the whole state, and I steep it in water
at a temperature of about one. hundred and twenty degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, or at any temperature between seventy and one hundred and
forty degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. The water may be fresh water, or
water which has previously been used for the same purpose. The whole or
unground corn is thus steeped for about a week, or more or less, and the water
is changed several times, or continuous or intermittent streams of water are
applied, and the high temperature is maintained during the steeping. The
grains of corn are thus swollen by the combined action of the water and the
heat, and a certain amount of acid fermentation takes place, and the extraneous
matter of the corn is thus so decomposed and dissolved or acted upon by the

page_text: steep water as to admit of the particles of starch and the husks being easily
separated. The swollen corn is then ground in millstones or otherwise, with a
current of water at a temperature of from seventy to one hundred and forty
degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, or cold water may be employed in the
grinding, although with a less beneficial effect. The watery pulp or mixture
thus produced, is diluted, if necessary, with more hot or cold water, and it is
passed through a sievė or sieves, or strainers, such as are commonly used by
starch manufacturers, by which means the husks and fibrous or extraneous
matters are arrested while the starch and water pass through the sieves. The
starch is separated from the water by allowing it to subside by the ordinary
processes and apparatus used by manufacturers of wheat starch or other starch.
A convenient apparatus for this purpose is that which is sometimes called
a "run;" it consists of an inclined plane or trough, which may be about
eighteen inches wide and seventy feet long, and about five inches deep, and
having an inclination or fall of about four or five inches in the seventy feet.
These dimensions may, however, be varied. Several of these runs are em-
ployed. The starchy water is allowed to flow gently in a thin sheet down this
inclined plane or trough. The starch settles upon the plane, while the water
and the gluten and fibrous matters pass away at the lower end. When a
considerable quantity of starch has collected, the flow is stopped, and the starch
is then removed by a shovel and thrown into a cistern, where it is stirred up
with water and allowed to subside, and it is then placed in boxes and dried,
and packed in paper and stoved in the usual manner. The steeping operation
is performed most rapidly and effectively when the water is used at a high
temperature, but the temperature must not be so high as to cause the starch
granules to burst and dissolve in the water. It is, therefore, advisable to keep
the temperature somewhat below one hundred and forty degrees; and I find
that a temperature of one hundred and twenty degrees of Fahrenheit's ther-
mometer, as herein-before mentioned, is a convenient and suitable temperature
for the purpose. The water employed in grinding or levigating the steeped
corn may be used cold, but I prefer to heat it, as herein-before mentioned.
By treating the maize in the whole state at a high temperature, as herein-
before described, I am enabled to act upon and dissolve the requisite portion of
the extraneous matter, and to remove and change the steep water without
washing away the starch from the corn; whereas, if the ground or crushed grain
were placed in water, a portion of it would be washed away if the water were
changed; and on the other hand, if the whole corn were placed in cold water,
there would-be-comparatively but little effect produced, owing to the hard or
flinty nature of the maize. The soft-condition into which the corn is brought-

page_text: by the use of the hot water in steeping and grinding causes it to yield a larger
quantity of a superior quality of starch to that obtained by the ordinary
processes. By this process it is unnecessary to employ alkalies or other
chemical agents, and the ordinary process of fermenting the grain after crush-
ing or grinding it is dispensed with. The husks and fibrous matters may be
employed at once in their moist state for feeding pigs and other animals, and
are brought by the aforesaid process into a favourable state for assimilation.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I claim is;
the manufacture of starch from maize or Indian corn in the manner herein-
beforo described, by steeping the whole or uncrushed corn in water heated to a
temperature of from seventy to one hundred and forty degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, and then grinding or levigating it with water, either cold, or, by
preference, heated to a temperature of from seventy to one hundred and forty
degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, and then separating the starch, as herein
before described.
Also the manufacture of starch from maize or Indian corn in the manner
herein-before described, by steeping the whole or uncrushed corn in water
heated to a temperature of from seventy to one hundred and forty degrees of
Fahrenheit's thermometer, such water being changed several times during the
steeping, or applied in continuous or intermittent streams, and then grinding or
levigating the swollen corn with water, either cold, or, by preference, heated to
a temperature of from seventy to one hundred and forty degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, and then separating the starch, as herein-before described.
: In witness whereof, I, the said William Watt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness;
CHARLES COWPER,
20, Southampton Buildings,
☐ Chancery Lane, London.
WILLIAM WATT. (L.S.)