AN IMPROVED MANU- FACTURE OF STUFFING FOR BEDS, COUCHES, CUSHIONS, AND OTHER SEATS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Peter Booth, of Cork, in the Kingdom of
Ireland, Feather Purifier, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MANU-
FACTURE OF STUFFING FOR BEDS, COUCHES, CUSHIONS, AND OTHER SEATS."
Sealed tho 21st July 1857, and dated the 2nd May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Peter Booth at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on tho
2nd May 1857.
I, JOHN PETER BOOTH, of Cork, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Feather
Purifier, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IM-
PROVED MANUFACTURE OF STUFFING FOR BEDS, COUCHES, CUSHIONS, AND OTHER
SEATS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of treating short tan yard hair,
and of rendering the same applicable to the stuffing of mattresses and other
articles.
To this end, I first wash the hair clean and then mix it with diluted glue or
diluted liquor from the fleshings, which, combining with the natural oil of the
hair, will considerably increase the stiffness of the hair, and also add to its
bulk; secondly, to make the hair sweet, I purify it with lime and soda in boil-
ing water; thirdly, if it is required to be dyed, I impart the desired color
thereto in any usual manner. When thus prepared, the short tan yard. hair
may be applied with advantage to the stuffing of cushions, seats, and other

page_text: articles, either alone or in admixture with other suitable materials; of these
I prefer, for the sake of economy, to employ what is known in tho trade as
pig hair, varying the proportion according to circumstances.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Peter Booth in the, Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
PETER BOOTH, of Cork, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Feather Purifier, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Peter Booth, Her special license that I, the said John
Peter Booth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Peter Booth, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term thercin 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 "AN
IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF STUFFING FOR BEDS, COUCHES, CUSHIONS, AND OTHER
SEATS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Peter Booth,
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 John Peter Booth, do hereby declaro
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
-formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to an improved mode of treating short tan yard hair
or bide hair (by purifying, stiffening, and dyeing the same, as hereafter
described), and thereby rendering the same applicable as an elastic stuffing,
whether alone or in combination with other materials, for mattresses and other
articles.

page_text: In order to purify the hair, I prepare, say, for two hundredweight of hair,
a solution composed of soda of commerce fourteen pounds, quicklime twenty-
eight pounds, and water two hundred gallons. In this solution I boil the
hair until it becomes "sweet," adding water as it may be required. But
before applying the purifying process, for the purpose of imparting stiffness to
the hair, and also of adding to its bulk, I immerse the hair in a glutinous
solution, produced by boiling down "fleshing" in water, or dissolving glue
therein. When operating upon, say, two hundredweight of hair, I add about
three pounds of fleshing to two hundred gallons of water, and I boil the hair
in the glutinous mixture.
The hair is thus caused to absorb a portion of gluten, which will add con-
siderably to its clastic quality. If it be required to dye the hair and thereby
improve its appearance, I impart the desired color thereto in any usual and
well-known manner.
When thus prepared, the short tan yard or hide hair may be applied with
advantage to the stuffing of cushions, seats, and other articles, either alone or
in admixture with other suitable materials. Of these I prefer, when economy
is an object, to employ what is known in the trade as pig hair (having first
purified the same in the manner abovo described), varying the proportion of
the pig hair according to circumstances; or the prepared hide hair may be
mixed with the tail and mane hair of horses or the tail hair of cows, according
to the quality of stuffing desired to be produced.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of an improved
manufacture of stuffing for beds, couches, cushions, and other seats, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim treating
short tanyard or hide hair as herein described, and thereby rendering it appli-
cable to the purposes above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Peter Booth, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
J. P. BOOTH. (1.8.)