CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Modeste Demait, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier,
Paris, in the Empire of France, and 4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRE-
Sealed the 1st April 1856, and dated the 4th October 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Modeste Demait
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 4th October 1855.
I, FRANÇOIS MODESTE DEMAIT, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the
Empire of France, and 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES" to be as follows,
that is to say:-
My Invention relates to the preservation of cooked & raw meats, & other
substances susceptible of spoiling by exposure to air, such as fish, vegetables,
cheese, skins, fruit, &c., and generally every thing useful as food.
I take meat at a butcher's shop, with or without bones, freed from muscle,
& about 6 hours after being slaughtered in summer, either beef, veal, mutton,
or pork, of the desired size, & pass a strong iron wire through to suspend
them to wood or iron rods placed at convenient distances apart in a hermeti-
cally closed chamber or stove. The meat thus prepared is suspended on rails

page_text: in a chamber or stove kept at a temperature of 77° Fahrenheit, by means of a
wood or coal fire introduced into an ordinary warming apparatus of a diameter
proportionate to the size of the stove & the quantity of meat to be cured. I
then throw upon the fire about 4, 8, or 16 ozs. of flowers of sulphur, according
to the quantity of meat & the size of the place in which the operation is
conducted. The chamber is then hermetically closed in order to concentrate
the fumigation, & at the end of twelve hours at least, or more, according to
the size of the pieces, I open the stove & withdraw the meat submitted to
fumigation. It is then again suspended in a well-aired apartment.
In lieu of flowers of sulphur, powdered chlorine alone in a similar propor-
tion may be employed, or the flower of sulphur & chlorine may be mixed in
the following proportions:-
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said François Modeste Demait in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th April 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
MODESTE DEMAIT, of 39, Rue de l'Echiquier, Paris, in the Empire of France,
and 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said François Modeste Demait, Her special license that I, the said François
Modeste Demait, my executors, administrators, and assigns; or such others as
1, the said François Modeste Demait, 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said François Modeste Demait,

page_text: by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 François Modeste Demait, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in an improved process of treating meat, fish, vege-
tables, and other animal and vegetable substances employed for human food,
for the purpose of preserving them from decay.
Taking meat, for instance, I cut it into pieces of suitable dimensions; I run
a string or hook through them and bang them to rods at suitable distances
apart in a stove or chamber hermetically closed; I light a fire at the bottom of
this stove or chamber in a suitable manner with wood, charcoal, coal, or other
fuel, giving preference, however, to wood or charcoal, and the fire being well
alight, the stove or chamber is heated to a temperature varying from sixty to
one hundred and four degrees Fahrenheit; I then throw upon the fire a prepara-
tion, consisting of about four ounces of flour of sulphur and about two ounces
and a half of chloride of lime, flowers or roots a handful, lemon leaves about
half a handful. The following plants and leaves may be employed, videlicet,
lavender, camomile, green mint, hyssop, angelica, fennel, rosemary, coriander,
aniseed, almond flowers, celery, capers, balm mint, cloves, jasmin, orange,
pimperael, rose, sandal wood, tamarinds, &c. The above proportions may be
varied according to circumstances. As soon as the above preparation is thrown
upon the fire, I close hermetically the stove or chamber in which the process
is being carried on during about eighteen hours, at the expiration of which I
open the door of the stove or chamber and withdraw from it the meat, which
I afterwards suspend in a well-dried room in summer, or in a room gently
heated in winter. The process above described for meat is also applicable to
other animal and to vegetable substances.
To insure the preservation of meat or other substances thus treated during
their transit from one place to another, it is necessary to pack it in barrels or
other recipients, in which I reproduce the same atmosphere as that of the
stove or chamber in which the curing process has been effected, and the barrels
are then closed air-tight. When they reach their destination, the contents
should be taken out and hung up, as before stated.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in

page_text: which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise proportions of ingredients or mode of operating
herein laid down; but what I claim is, the preparation of a mixture and
process for preserving from decay meat, fish, vegetables, and other animal and
vegetable substances, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Modeste Demait, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
F. M: DEMAIT. (L.S.)