IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OP SOAP
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, GEORGE
FERGUSSON WILSON, of Belmont, Vauxhall, in the County of Surrey, Gentle-
man, GEORGE GWYNNE, of Putney, in the said County of Surrey, Gentleman,
and JAMES PILLANS WILSON, of Belmont, aforesaid, Gentleman, send greeting...
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Tenth day of October, in the
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and.
grant unto us, the said George Fergusson Wilson, George Gwynne, and.
James Pillans Wilson, our exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the said George Fergusson
Wilson, George Gwynne, and James Pillans Wilson, our exors, admors, and.
assigns, and every of them, by ourselves, or by deputy or deputies, servants or
agents, or such others as we, the said George Fergusson Wilson, George.
Gwynne, and James Pillans Wilson, our exors, adñors, or assigns, should at.
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times.
thereafter during the term of fourteen years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the Dominion of Wales,,
and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and.
Plantations abroad, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OP
SOAP;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, requiring us, the

page_text: said George Fergusson Wilson, George Gwynne, and James Pillans Wilson,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, and to..
cause the same to be enrolled in the High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
George Fergusson Wilson, George Gwynne, and James Pillans Wilson, do,
and each and every of us doth, hereby declare that the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
and particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-.
Our Invention consists in manufacturing soap from fatty or oily matters
previously hardened with sulphuric acid. And in order that our Invention may
be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, we will describe the
means which we have found the best for performing the same.
We put ten. tons of palm oil, whale oil, or other fatty or oily matter into a
wrought-iron-vessel, provided with a perforated steam worm, through which we
pass heated steam into the matter under process, till the temperature.of such
matter is raised to three hundred and fifty degrees of Fahrenheit. The matter
under process is then run into another tank, which is formed of brick, lined
with stout sheet lead, and sunk in the ground, and provided with a steam, pipe,
through which heated steam is admitted, but this pipe does not terminate in
a worm, as we find that a sediment from the fat is apt to choke a worm.
This latter tank is closed with a wooden cover, lined with sheet lead. The
cover has two man-holes, closed by an oil joint of about eight inches deep, and
the cover has through it a pipe, connected with a.high shaft, to allow offensive
vapours to escape; or the mixed vapours of steam and gas are allowed to
escape into a large pipe, where they are subjected to a jet of water, in order
to condense them. We pour into this last-mentioned tank two thousand
pounds of concentrated sulphuric acid of 18 specific gravity, watching the
temperature of the mass with care, by means of a thermometer immersed in
the mass, and taking care that the temperature does not exceed three hundred
and fifty degrees of Fahrenheit. We regulate the heat partly by regulating
the speed with which. the acid is poured in, and partly by regulating the heat-
ing of the steam admitted. The admission of steam is continued throughout
the operation, but as soon.as the whole of the acid has been poured in we put

page_text: out the fire by which the steam is heated, and then continue the further
admission of the steam for about four hours.
We may here observe that the steam is heated after it leaves the boiler by
passing through pipes over a furnace or fire, in a manner similar to that in
use for heating air to produce a hot blast in the manufacture of iron. The
proportion of acid above mentioned may be increased, but with a greater loss
of fatty matter, and therefore, we believe, not with proportionate advantage,
and we have also found that about half the said proportion of acid gives a
good product for soap-making. The steam having been kept on, as above
mentioned, for four hours after the whole of the acid has been poured in, the
steam is shut off, and a large pump is introduced through a pipe in the cover
of the tank, and as soon as the vapours given off will allow the pump to work,
the product is pumped over into a wooden vessel lined with lead, provided
with a steam worm, and in this it is washed by means of free steam with
about half its bulk of water for about two hours; it is then allowed to
repose for twelve hours. The washed product of the above processes can be
made into soap either alone or in combination with softer and cheaper
materials, but we greatly prefer to distil it before applying it to soap-
making.
The distillation may be effected in the manner described in the Specification
of a Patent granted to the said George Gwynne and George Fergusson
Wilson, and bearing date on or about the Sixteenth day of November, One
thousand, eight hundred and forty-three, or by other suitable means. The
products obtained, as above explained, are in respect of their acidity similar
in character to tallow oil, which has heretofore been used in the manufacture
of soap; but the products above mentioned being hard, will enable the manu-
facturer to use soft or cheap materials with them in the manufacture of
soap.
Our Invention relating only to the application of the materials prepared by
sulphuric acid, as herein described, and not to the details of the manufacture
of soap, and the making of soap being well.understood, it will not be necessary
to enter into a description thereof in this our Specification.
· Another cheap soap may be made by subjecting the distilled product to
pressure, and using for soap-making the liquid product that runs from the
press, combined with about a quarter of its weight of the substance known
as vegetable wax, the harder product being applicable to the manufacture of
candles; or such liquid product may be used in soap-making as tallow oil is
now used. In the vessel in which the acid and fat are combined, as above
invented, a black sediment heavier than water is formed; this we prefer to

page_text: distil in a cast-iron still, into which heated steam is admitted, and to redistil
the product, in the manner herein-before mentioned in reference to the dis-
tillation of the bulk of the acidified matter, and the redistilled product may
be applied in the making of soap.
Having described our Invention, and the best means we are acquainted
with of carrying into effect, we would observe that we are aware that in the
Specification of a Patent granted to William Coley Jones and the said George
Fergusson. Wilson, and bearing date on or about the Eighth day of December,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-two, it is mentioned that certain pro-
ducts obtained by a process of treating fatty and oily matters with about
one-third of their weight of concentrated sulphuric acid of 1.8 specific gravity,
or by a process of distilling a combination of fatty or oily matters with about
ten per cent. of such sulphuric acid, may be used in the manufacture of soap;
and we mention this in order to observe that we lay no claim to the manu-
facture of soap from fatty or oily matters previously treated with one-third or
as much as one-fourth of their weight of such sulphuric acid, or in that
proportion, or treated with sulphuric acid by being distilled in combination
therewith; but what we claim as our Invention is, the application, in the
manufacture of soap, of fatty and oily matters treated with less than one-
fourth of their weight of sulphuric acid, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Fergusson Wilson, for and on
behalf of myself and the said George Gwynne and James Pillans
Wilson, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.