A COMPOSITION WHICH I DENOMINATE AN INDELIBLE, SAFETY, AND DURABLE BLACK FLUID WRITING INK
Year: 1837

page_text: WHITFIELD'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
WHITFIELD, of Hercules Buildings, Westminster Road, in the County of
Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fourteenth day of November, in the first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert Whitfield, my exors, udiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Robert Whitfield, my exors, adññiors, 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, my
Invention of "A COMPOSITION WHICH I DENOMINATE AN INDELIBLE, SAFETY,
AND DURABLE BLACK FLUID WRITING INK;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso that I, the said Robert Whitfield, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the samo
is to be performed, 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
Robert Whitfield, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the

page_text: manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of a certain process for obtaining products which,
being combined with various matters hereafter stated, produces a fluid writing
ink, which I believe to be impossible to remove from paper or other material
on which it is used for writing or printing purposes by any chemical means
which will not injure or destroy the paper or other suitable surface on which
such ink is used.
The ingredients I employ for combining, to be submitted to the process, are,
four gallons of linseed oil, two gallons of cocoa-nut oil, and one pound of solu-
tion of indian-rubber, one gallon of the very best molasses or treacle, five
pounds of loaf sugar, one pound of parchment shavings, one pound of pow-
dered seed lac, two pounds of ground linseed, two pounds of ground oacre
seed, two pounds of ground cotton seed, two pounds of Venice turpentine, four
pounds of very fine pulverized charcoal, two pounds of ivory black, two pounds
of the best Antwerp black, four pounds of dried bullocks' blood, two pounds of
finely powdered burnt horns, two pounds of tartar, one pound of Indian borax,
one pound of cyanuret of potash, three pounds of Alleppo galls, finely powdered,
three pounds of powdered pomgranate peel, two pounds of finely powdered
gum kind, two pounds of anarcadian nuts, three pounds of the very best
powdered glue, three pounds of finely powdered walnut skins, and four pounds
of finely powdered gum arabic.
PROCESS FOR OBTAINING THE DESIRED PRODUCTS.
The mixture of the above ingredients is to be mixed in a large iron boiler,
and then to be made to boil, at which time the mixture is to be set on fire
with a red-hot bar of iron, and the smoke arising therefrom is to be received
into a large inverted cone made of the best sheet iron. As soon as the whole
of the oil is consumed the carbon that adheres to the inside of the cone is to
be collected, and put into jars. The residue in the iron pot is to be taken
out, and rubbed down to a very fine powder on a stone slub.
MODE OF COMPOUNDING THE BLACK FLUID WRITING INK.
Of the latter prepared carbon, and the prepared carbon obtained by the
smoke on the cone, take one pound, to which add one quart of the very best
French vinegar, and two gallons of hot water, one quarter of a pound of gum
arabic, one quarter of a pound of gum lac, and boil the same for ten minutes
in a large iron pot; then add one pound of Alleppo galls finely powdered,
and two pounds of logwood chips; stir the whole well together until cold, and

page_text: put the liquor into large flat pans, and expose it to the atmosphere for three
weeks.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I lay no claim to any of
the materials separately of which my black fluid writing ink is composed; nor
do I confine myself to the precise quantities here given, nor to the using all
the materials herein mentioned, though I believe the same to be the best
adapted to the purpose. But what I claim as my Invention is, the sub-
mitting a compound of the above ingredients, or the larger part or portion of
such ingredients, to the process of burning, and obtaining two products, as
above explained, and using the same in combination with the last-mentioned
materials, or the larger portion thereof, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Whitfield, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of May, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-eight.
ROBERT (L.s.) WHITFIELD.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of May, in
the year of our Lord 1888, the aforesaid Robert Whitfield 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