CERTAIN IMPROVED MODES OF APPLYING ELECTRO-CHEMICAL ACTION TO MANUFACTURING" PURPOSES
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the Firm of J. C. Robertson and Company, of 166,
Fleet Street, Patent Agents, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eighth day of December,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fifteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and. grant unto me, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all
Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention of " CERTAIN
IMPROVED MODES OF APPLYING ELECTRO-CHEMICAL ACTION TO MANUFACTURING"
PURPOSES," communicated to me from abroad; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, shall

page_text: cause a particular description of the naturo of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's 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, I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
The nature of the Invention consists in the application of chemical, electro-
chemical, thermal, and galvanic forces, separately or combined, and under
circumstances already to some extent understood and recognized, as well as
under certain new and peculiar conditions. The improvements are applicable
to the manufacture and preparation of organic and inorganic substances
belonging to the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, and to the manu-
factured products thereof, and consist in subjecting them to an electric or
galvanic current, which may be produced by chemical combination or decom-
position, by sudden or gradual changes of temperature, by galvanic or electrical
apparatus, or by a combination of any of these agencies. I make use of a
battery or pile, which 1 construct in a peculiar and novel manner. The usual
apparatus now in use consists for the most part of plates or portions of two
different metals, arranged in pairs, so that at each end of the series two differ-
ent metals are found. Thus a battery or pile of six cells or six pairs of plates,
having zinc and copper for its metals, would consist of zinc and copper alter-
nately, commencing with one and terminating with the other. On the contrary,
arrange the metals of my battery or pile so that the same metal marks the
commencement and termination of the series. In each pile or battery I have
also an odd number, the central plate constituting one of the poles, or the two
central plates are of the same metal, and united together.
I
Figure 1. is a pile or battery of fourteen cells; the metals employed are zinc
and copper. By my peculiar arrangement the metal zinc commences and
terminates the series, while the two central cells are occupied by a pair of
copper plates instead of plates of zinc and copper; these two copper central
plates represent one of the poles of the battery or pile, and are in fact the
receptacle of the electric forces proceeding from the two extremities. The
form of my battery or pile may be varied, as well as the material of which it is
constructed. Thus, a battery or pile may be formed by the union of a

page_text: number of such batteries as Figure I., terminatinating in one common
central cell.
Figure II. will serve to illustrate my meaning; in this case four batteries
or piles are united in one common central cell, but a greater number might be
thus united. In Figures I. and II. the letters Z and C represent the metals
copper and zinc. The usual acid or saline solutions now employed in the
The same novelty
common batteries may be applied to mine as well.
of arrangement, as far as metals are concerned, which I have introduced into
my piles or batteries, I apply to the construction of wires intended for the
conduction of electricity, by which means I obtain a more perfect degree
of insulation. The same principle is also applicable to the preservation of
metals from oxidation or corrosion, or, in other words, to the galvanization
of metals.
I may mention that my battery may be constructed with cylinders, as well
as with plates and cells.
Having thus described the improvement in the construction of a pile or
battery, I now proceed to explain other portions of the Invention.
I
the
Electro-chemical force, accompanying combination and decomposition, may
be with great advantage employed in the treatment of vegetable bodies, as, for
example, in the fertilization of seeds. Thus, to produce rapid and healthy
germentation, I steep the seed in some compound, such as carbonate of potash,
or in some suitable alkali; I then transfer it to a bath of weak acid, by means
of which the carbonate of potash is decomposed and carbonic acid set free.
can use any acid, but I prefer such as phosphoric or nitric, because they unite
with the alkaline base to form fertilizing salts. On the contrary, to preserve
vegetable materials, such as seeds, tissues, or fibres, I endeavour to set up
law of simple combination within them, avoiding the slightest decomposi-
tion. Thus, by dipping seed, or any vegetable matter, in a weak acid,
and then in some basic hydrate for which that acid has an affinity, I
retard, or prevent entirely, germination, fermentation, or cremacausis.
setting up this electro-chemical action I generally choose such acids and
bases which, when united, form well-known antiseptic salts or compounds.
This process differs very materially from all others where antiseptics are
used, inasmuch as I form the compound within the materials sought to
be preserved; thus, for example, to preserve fishing-nets I dip them first
in some suitable acid, such as tannic acid, and then in some hydrate, such
as soda, lime, magnesia, or alumina. To preserve animal matter, such as
meat, I adopt the same principle, forming the antiseptic compound in the
meat itself. The same process, or one analagous to it, I employ for the
In

page_text: prevention of disease in potatoes. Also, to deodorize materials, such as sewage
matter, &c., I produce in them certain antiseptic compounds, such as before
mentioned. To preserve membranous substances, such as skins and hides, I
likewise cause the tannic acid, or other suitable acid, to combine with a suitable
base within the tissues of the skin. In preserving skins by means of tannates
I prefer the employment of some base like magnesia, which, when combined
with tannic or catechuic acid, does not discolour the material. By forming
within the tissues and fibres of paper, cloth, &c. certain salts, such as sulphate
of alumina, chloride, and borate of zinc, I not only preserve them, but render
them less combustible. I produce two very opposite effects by the peculiar
method in which I set up the electro-chemical action, to which reference has
been made, or, in other words, according to the direction in which I cause the
electric force to pass. Thus, if I merely produce chemical combination within
the substance by the simple union of two bodies, such as an acid and a by-
drate, and especially if that hydrate be potash or soda, 1 produce an effect
similar to milling or fulling; but, on the contrary, if I establish decomposi-
tion within the fibre or fabric, whether by the usual method of decom-
posing a carbonate by an acid or by fermentation, I cause an expansive
effect to occur. By forming within the fibres or fabrics certain salts
insoluble in water, and then exposing them afterwards to decomposition by
some suitable agent, I produce a singular cleansing and bleaching effect,
dependant, I believe, upon the establishment of electrical currents during the
solidification or crystallization of the insoluble salt and, its after solution. For
example, if I saturate flax in a solution of sulphate of magnesia, and then dip
it into a liquid holding dissolved in it an amount of carbonate of soda, an
insoluble carbonate of magnesia is formed within the fibre itself. On
immersing this in weak sulphuric acid the carbonate of magnesia is decom-
posed, sulphate of magnesia is again formed, and at the same time colouring
matter is removed to a considerable extent. For the purpose also of cleaning
and purifying saccharine syrups, oils, and fats, I use, for example, a solution
of sulphate of magnesia, and then add lime water.
In this way two insoluble
bodies are formed, and in addition to the electrical action set up the mechanical
effect of the insoluble matter will be to carry down to the bottom of the vessel
certain impurities. In some cases I prefer the use of acetate of magnesia,"
precipitating the magnesia afterwards by the use (for example) of free carbonic
acid passed into the syrup or oily matter. I also employ the acetates of such
metals (lead excepted) the bases of which can be precipitated and removed by
filtration, such, for example, as the acetates of lime, baryta, strontia, &c. I
also employ, for the purification of saccharine matters and of fatty hydrocarbons,

page_text: certain insoluble compounds of boracic acid, with a metallic base combining
them in the material to be purified. Metals may be rendered harder or
softer also by means similar to those which have already been described.
Remarkable changes are produced in iron by the formation in contact with it
of the carburet of magnesia for example, as well as by the production or
decomposition of water and of other compounds in a like situation of contact.
The conversion of iron into steel is much promoted by the action of carburet
of magnesium. I apply also the same principle in the preparation of hydraulic
cements, and for the purpose of hardening certain minerals and soft porous
stones. Thus, in preparing an bydraulic cement I add to the usual materials
certain portions of alum, lime, and soda ash, by which means I obtain alumina
and a mixture of carbonate and sulphate of lime and of soda. The soda is
easily removed by the action of water. To harden soft porous minerals I use
(for example) chloride of calcium and sulphate of magnesia, by which means I
impregnate the stone with sulphate of lime, from which the chloride of magne-
sium is easily removed by water; but I can use any materials which will form
within the stone or mineral an insoluble compound. For this purpose I
sometimes employ soluble silicates, from which within the stone I precipitate
the insoluble silica. I also throw down in the materials to be operated on
certain insoluble borates, such as the protoborate of iron, &c. To obtain
basic zine for painting purposes I propose to obtain carbonate, borate, or
chloride of zinc by the process of double decomposition. Thus, to obtain the
carbonate I react on sulphate of zinc by means of carbonate of soda, or some
similar carbonate. After the insoluble carbonate has been precipitated I wash
out and collect the sulphate of soda. If it is necessary I now expose the
carbonate of zinc to heat. In preparing certain animal fibres, such as silk for
spinning and dyeing, I find it of great importance to boil or steep first in some
carbonate, such as carbonate of soda, potash, or ammonia, and then to steep it
in some weak acid, and for this purpose sour rice water or starch water is
useful; boiling or steeping silk also in a solution of biborate of soda, and the
treating with a weak acid, as before, will be found efficient.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim the improve-
ments in the application of electro-chemical action to the purposes herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
R. A. (L.s.) BROOMAN.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of June, in the year
of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Richard Archibald Brooman came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-two.