IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING OPEN COCOONS OF SILK WORMS, AND IN CONVERTING THE WASTE RESULTING THEREFROM INTO PAPER "
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jeanne Louise Henriette Clemence, Comtesse de
Vernede de Corneillan, of Paris, in the French Empire, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING OPEN COCOONS OF SILK WORMS, AND IN
CONVERTING THE WASTE RESULTING THEREFROM INTO PAPER "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jeanne Louise Henriette
Clemence, Comtesse de Vernede de Corneillan, at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with her Petition, on the 27th March 1862.
I, JEANNE LOUISE HENRIETTE CLEMENCE, COMTESSE DE VERNEDE DE COR-
NEILLAN, of Paris, in the French Empire, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING OPEN COCOONS OF SILK WORMS,
AND IN CONVERTING THE WASTE RESULTING THEREPROM INTO PAPER," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in a particular treatment of cocoons, naturally
open, or with an orifice made by the chrysalis, and in the cottonizing and
transforming into paper the waste resulting therefrom.
The first part of the Invention relates to the decortication and the draw.
ing out of raw silk from the cocoons, naturally open, of the bombix, and of all
other species, with an orifice opened by the chrysalis passing into the moth
or butterfly state.

page_text: To decorticate the cocoons of the "cynthia de l'ailanthe" I use a small
instrument with movable spatulas; the cocoons are then plunged into a boiling
soapy solution, where they remain from 15 to 20 minutes, then into boiling
water to which a volatile alkali has been added; the water is stirred, the vessel
containing the liquid and other matters is closed, and after the expiration of a
few minutes disaggregation is perfect and the drawing off may be effected.
The cocoons are removed from the vessel and are placed in a shallow sieve
with large meshes immersed in a vessel full: of boiling water. The sieve is
raised completely out of the water and the cocoons are allowed to drain,and
I then wind off from the cocoons while damp and quite out of the water. To
draw easily several threads at one time the sieve may be divided into com-
partments to prevent the mixing of the threads.. I wind off with equal facility
from cocoons from which the chrysalis has escaped, the weight of the water
which fills them being equivalent to that of the chrysalis. The disaggregation
of the ricin cocoons (bombix arrindia du ricin) is effected in a few minutes;
they need only be decorticated after the boiling. One boiling water, or one
boiling water slightly soapy, is sufficient. The duration of the bath and the
doses placed therein.vary with the hardness of the tissue of every species of
open cocoon. In some cases I use a carbonate of soda ley. For the " Cynthia
de l'ailanthe," large brown specie, I apply two boilings for about ten minutes
each; and for "l'ailanthe," small species, one boiling for about 15 minutes is
sufficient. For the "ricin" cocoons and hybrids of the "ailanthe" and the
"ricin" one boiling for ten minutes-is-sufficient. These latter cocoons are
not previously decorticated. It will be observed I never use potash, as I find
it burns and corrodes the silk and makes it woolly and brittle.
The following process applies to opencocoons.and especially to the cocoons
d'ailanthe. It consists in submitting them to leys charged with sulphuric acid
and caustic soda in manner following:-The cocoons; freed from their first
envelope, are placed in a double-cased wooden vat capable of being closed
steam-tight. I introduce. steam into the vat;.close all.. issue, and suddenly
'condense the steam.... A partial vacuum is established, the effect of which is
to dilate the cocoons and to cause them to imbibe the ley composed of sul-
phuric acid diluted with 20 times its weight of water. This ley is boiled-for
about a quarter of an hour and is removed. Steam is admitted, a partial
vacuum is again formed, and the cocoons are made to imbibe a second ley-of
solution of caustic soda marking 50 Beaume. This second ley is removed at
the end of a quarter of an hour, a partial vacuum is made for the third time,
and the vat is filled with clean water, which is boiled from 15 to 20 minutes,
cleanse the cocoons. The leys are introduced into the vat hot: According to

page_text: to the species of cocoons the duration of the boilings must be varied, as also
the strength of the leys.
I proceed to describe another process:-The cocoons decorticated are
soaked, if of the "ailanthe" species, in water from 160° to 170° Fahrenheit.
The soaking lasts from 10 to 20 minutes, according to the species; the water
is removed and steam admitted to cleanse the cocoons; then a partial vacuum
is created for from 20 to 25 minutes. The winding off takes place while the
cocoons are damp, but out of the water.
By the following process I am enabled to obtain from the cocoons of mul-
berry eggs a silk as continuous, and nearly as beautiful, after the chrysalis has
passed into the butterfly or moth state as before:-After disaggregating the
mulberry cocoons by boiling water, opened by hatching, exactly as if they had
remained closed, I place them upon my draining sieve and wind off from them
while damp, bt out of the water. The elasticity of the sieve assists the
turning of the cocoons.
Another part of my Invention consists in cutting up the waste, in sub-
mitting it to a solution of caustic acid, then to steam and to a vacuum,
whereby it is converted into a kind of brilliant cottony material, which I bleach
and form into paper by the means usually followed for converting pulp into
paper. I effect the bleaching by sulphur.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jeanne Louise Henriette Clémence, Comtesse de Vernede
de Corneillan, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th September
1862
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEANNE
LOUISE HENRIETTE CLEMENCE, COMTESSE DE VERNEDE DE CORNEILLAN, of Paris
in the French Empire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh dayof March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her.
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,.
the said Jeanne Louise Henriette Clémence, Comtesse de Vernede de Cor-
neillan, Her special licence that I, the said Jeanue Louise Henriette Clémence
Comtesse de Vernede de Corneillan,myexecutors.administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Jeanué Louise Henriette Clémence, Comtesse de
Vernede de Corneillau, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at

page_text: "
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 TREATING OPEN CocoONS OF SILK WORMS, AND IN CONVERTING THE WASTE
RESULTING THEREPROM INTO PAPER," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Jeanne Jouise Henriette Clémence, Comtesse de Vernede de
Corneillan, 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 Jeanne Louise Henriette Clemence,
Comtesse de Vernede de Corneillan, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularlydescribed and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
that is to say :-
My Invention consists, first, in particular treatment of the cocoons naturally
open, ailanthus, bombyx, cynthia, and all other cocoons formed by the silk-
worm with an orifice or opening therein for the purpose of winding or draw-
ing off therefrom silk in continuous_threads.
Second, in the application of my treatment for the drawing off of silk in
continuous threads from the cocoons of the bombyx mori and other silkworms,
in which an orifice or opening is made only by the chrysalis in escaping into
the butterfly state.
or
Third, in the employment of the waste resulting from my treatment which
I utilise by carding, or by cottonizing, by transforming into paper.
Treatment of the cocoons having a natural orifice, (bombyx, cynthia,
arrindia, Cecropia hesperes, aurota, promethius, &c., &c.) -To decorticate
the cynthia cocoons I begin by removing their outer envelope, for which
purpose I use a bent blade, I then plunge the cocoons in a boiling soapy
solution and leave them to boil for from twenty minutes to one hour according
to the adhesion of the tissue to the species treated; I then place them in a
suitable vessel containing boiling water, to which a volatile alkali has been
added, the strength of which must be dictated by experience, and which will
vary according to the species, the contents of the vessel are stirred up and
to prevent the evaporation of the alkali the vessel is closed. After the lapse
of twenty to twenty-five minutes disaggregation is perfectly effected and

page_text: winding off becomes practicable. The cocoons are removed and placed upon
a shallow sieve with large meshes immersed in a vessel full of boiling water,.,
The sieve may be raised at pleasure above the level of the water by means
of a crank to allow the cocoons to drain. I call this a suspensory draining!
apparatus. As soon as the cocoons retain only sufficient moisture I b gin;
winding off, which operation it will be perceived takes place upon the cocoons.
while damp, but out of the water. The evaporation of the boiling water;
under the sieve maintains the cocoons sufficiently damp. To draw off from.
several cocoous at a time, the sieve may be separated into several compart-
ments to prevent entanglement of the threads. I operate with oqual ease
upon the cocoons from which the chrysalis has escaped; the weight of
water entering therein takes the place of that of the chrysalis. The dis-
aggregation of the cocoons of the arrindia is effected more quickly than
that of the cynthia. If desired they may be decorticated after the first
boiling, and one boiling in clear or slightly soapy water is sufficient for their
disaggregation. The duration of the baths, the quantity of soap and alkali
vary with the tissue of the different species of open cocoons. In some cases
I use a solution of carbonate of soda, then for cocoons of the ailanthus cynthia
(large brown species) I subject them to two boilings of about fifteen minutes
each. For the small species of cynthia one boiling of twenty minutes suffices..
Less time is needed for the cocoons of the arrindia and for hybrids between
cynthia and arrindia; these latter cocoons need not be previously decorticated..
The quantity of carbonate of soda varies according to the species, from.
twenty to thirty grammes to one quart of water. I may remark that I never
use potash as I find it burns and corrodes the silk which then becomes crisp
and breaks. If desired the various cocoons may be treated by jets of steam.
saturated with the substances herein-before named for placing in the baths.
The cocoons would thus be softened without being filled with water. The
steam used may be taken from the engine for driving the winding off machine.
If immersion in the boiling liquids be preferred waste steam from the engine
may be used and may be passed from vessel to vessel. Instead of the sus-
pensory draining sieve, herein-before mentioned, vessels with perforated
bottoms may be used.
The following is another treatment I apply to cocoons having a natural
orifice especially to cocoons of the cynthia. It consists in subjecting them
to baths charged with sulphuric acid or with caustic soda. The cocoons
after being decorticated are placed in a thick wooden vessel with a perforated
false bottom hermetically closed to keep in steam. I introduce steam into
the vessel and suddenly condeuse it; a vacuum is produced which causes the

page_text: cocoons to expand and at the same time a tap is opened communicating
with a supply of liquid composed of one part by weight of sulphuric acid
to twenty parts by weight of water which is drawn in by the vacuum. This
liquid is boiled for about one quarter of an hour and the liquid is run off.
I again introduce steam, establish a vacuum, and cause the cocoons to imbibe
a second liquid being a solution of caustic soda marking five degrees Baumê.
This second solution is run off after the expiration of a quarter of an hour.
A vacuum is established for the third time, the vessel is filled with plain
.water. which I boil for fifteen to twenty minutes to clear and rince the
cocoons. The liquids are introduced hot into the vessel and their strength as
also the duration of the boilings vary according to the species of the cocoons.
Sometimes I apply another treatment.-The cocoons, if of the ailanthus
species decorticated, if of the riciu or hybrid kind without being decorti-
cated, are steeped for from fifteen to twenty-five minutes in water heated
to from 160° to 180° degrees Fahrenheit. The water is run off and steam
is introduced to purge the cocoons; I then establish a partial vacuum for
from 25 to 30 minutes; I next draw off the silk while the cocoons are damp
but out of the water.
Treatment of the cocoons of the mori and other species of silk worms,
in which the orifice is opened by the butterfly in escaping. I desire here
to record that I have discovered and proved that the silk on the cocoon
of the ordinary mori silk worm, in which an opening is made by the chrysalis
in escaping, is not cut as has hitherto been believed, but that it is simply
pressed aside,and that no solution of continuity takes place in the silk covering
of the cocoon. By my treatment the silk is drawn off in continuous threads
nearly as beautiful after the chrysalis has escaped as it was when the
chrysalis was killed inside the cocoon. I effect the disaggregation of the
cocoons open by the chrysalis by pure boiling water precisely as if they
had remained closed; I raise them upon my draining sieve, and I draw off
the silk while they are damp but out of the water, and I cause the sieve
to be slightly shaken to empty the cocoons of the water which had entered
them. The elasticity of the sieve assists the turning of the cocoons while
the drawing off is being effected.
Employment of the waste and cottonization (every species).-The first
envelopes removed by decortication, the waste remaining in the vessels in
which the cocoons have been treated as before described may be carded
and yield floss silk, and may be used in the manufacture of violin strings
and cordage.
.
But another part of my Invention consists in deriving from the waste a

page_text: new substance analogous to good cotton and fitted to be used where cotton
is now employed. I first cut and card the waste as cotton is carded and
bleached, by successive immersions in boiling alkaline and soapy lees in oxyge-
nated muriatic acid or in sulphuric acid. I subject the waste to the vapor
of sulphur for from 12 to 15 hours, sometimes I. repeat the exposure to
sulphur vapours several times. I thus obtain a species of brilliant cotton
silver grey from ailanthus waste or white according to the energy of the
bleaching processes. I sometimes also use solutions of caustic soda and lime
to expedite the bleaching.
In addition to the ordinary uses for cotton my cotton may be used for
making gun cotton or paper. For paper it is made into a pulp in an ordinary
pulping engine bleached with sulphur and treated in the ordinary manner
for converting pulp into paper. This paper among other uses is excellent
for the manufacture of cartridges.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jeanne Louise Henriette Clémence
Comtesse de Vernede de Corneillan, have hereunto set my hand and
seal this Twenty-seventh day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-two.
EILLAN.
COMTESSE CLEMENCE DE VERNEDE DE CORNEILL
Dame du Chapitre Royal de Prusse.
(L.8.)