CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBONATE OF SODA
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BOWER, of Hunslet, near Leeds, in the County of York, Soda Ash Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present 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 Fourth day of March now last past, did
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Bower, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Joseph Bower, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Bower, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
CARBONATE OF SODA;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso obliging me, the said Joseph Bower, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of

page_text: my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and
to cause the same 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
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Joseph Bower, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained as follows, that is to say:-
The nature of my Invention consists in the use of the bi-carbonate of
ammonia, or the sesqui-carbonate of ammonia, to decompose sulphate of soda
in order to obtain carbonate of soda. I conduct the process in the following
manner: First, into an iron cylinder containing an agitator, I introduce
about two hundred parts of water, eighty-six parts of bi-carbonate of ammonia,
and one hundred parts of anhydrous sulphate of soda. These I agitate
from eighteen to thirty-six hours. From the reaction which takes place,
bi-carbonate of soda and sulphate of ammonia are produced. I then drain
and filter the bi-carbonate of soda, and in order to separate as much as
possible the solution of sulphate of ammonia, I subject the mass to con-
siderable pressure. I next convert the bi-carbonate of soda into the common
carbonate, by exposing it to a low red heat in a retort or close furnace in
connection with a cool receiver, and thus recover any ammonia which may
have remained with the bi-carbonate of soda. When I use the sesqui-car-
bonate of ammonia instead of the bi-carbonate of ammonia, I introduce into
the cylinder a current of carbonic acid gas while the mixture is being
agitated; this serves to convert any free ammonia which may be present into
the bi-carbonate of ammonia.
I do not claim as my Invention any particular form of the apparatus
in which the above processes may be conducted, nor any of the chemical
substances employed merely as such; nor do I claim certain proportions
in which the substances used for the process may be applied; but I claim
the use of the bi-carbonate of ammonia, or the sesqui-carbonate of ammonia,
in producing carbonate of soda from the decomposition of sulphate of soda.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Bower, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.
JOSEPH (L.S.) BOWER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Third day of September, in
the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Joseph Bower came before our Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And also
the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute
in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Fourth day of September, in the year above written.