IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTILE MATERIALS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Brown, of Tarbet, in the County of
Dumbarton, North Britain, Engraver, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTILE
MATERIALS."
Sealed the 10th August 1855, and dated the 26th February 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Brown at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th February 1855.
I, ALEXANDER BROWN, of Tarbet, in the County of Dumbarton, North
Britain, Engraver, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF
TEXTILE MATERIALS," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the application or employment and use of the plant
commonly known in Scotland and elsewhere as the bracken, or of plants of
the fern or bracken species, in the manufacture or production of pulpy material
from which paper is to be made, as well as for the manufacture or production
of fibrous or textile materials. It is preferred to collect or gather the bracken
when in a ripe condition, and to proceed at once to the conversion of it into
the pulpy material for the paper manufacture, but the plant may also be dried
and stored prior to manufacture. The plant, in the condition in which it is
gathered, and either green or dry, is primarily submitted to the bleaching
process as ordinarily practised in treating textile materials or rags, and it is
then reduced to a pulp in a machine, such as is commonly employed for

page_text: reducing rags for the paper-maker, or in any other convenient and effectivo
macerating or reducing engine. The fibres are in this way well disintegrated,
and the mucilagnious, gummy, or aqueous matter is washed away. The fibrous
mass so produced is afterward manufactured into paper in the manner usually
followed by the paper-maker, or the routine of procedure may be varied as
the properties of the material may suggest. The bracken or fern pulp may
either be used alone as the raw material for paper, or it may be mixed with
rag pulp or other substances. The paper so made is strong, and it requires
little or no sizeing. The properties which render the material more or less
independent of sizeing are also of importance, in as far as they afford some
sizeing power to whatever other kinds of paper pulp the bracken fibre or pulp
may be mixed with.
The bracken or fern when broken up is also suitable for the manufacture of
fibrous materials to be treated according to the existing textile processes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alexander Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th August 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
BROWN, of Tarbet, in the County of Dumbarton, North Britain, Engraver,
send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Alexander Brown, Ier special license that I, the said Alexander Brown, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander
Brown, 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 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF PAPER, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTILE MATERIALS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Brown, 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

page_text: within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Brown, 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 in writing, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the application or employment and use of the
plant commonly in Scotland and elsewhere as the bracken, or of plants of
the fern or bracken species, that is to say, the species of plant which in the
botanical classification of Linnæus holds the highest grade of development
in the Cryptogamic series, being comprehended the order Acotyledonex of
Jussieu, in the manufacture or production of pulpy material from which paper
is to be made, as well as in the manufacture or production of fibrous materials
for textile purposes.
My said Invention as regards both these uses applies in a greater or loss
degree to all or nearly all the varieties of the Cryptogamic serics, or ferns, but
more obviously and particularly to the ordinary fern or bracken which grows
luxuriantly in the mountanious districts of Scotland, as well as in many other
parts of the British islands. The stems or stalks of such plants furnish large
quantities of long fibre of great tenacity, which fibre when duly prepared is
most excellently suited for the manufacture or production of a powerfully
cohering paper pulp, as well as for use in textile manufacturies. The roots are
also largely available for the production of strong fibro.
In this my adaptation of the stems of such plants to the manufacture or
production of pulp for the paper-maker's purposes I use the plant either in a
green or dried condition; I prefer, however, to operate upon the ripe fern or
bracken stems immediately or soon after the plants are cut or pulled in the
ordinary manner of gathering and removing such plants. When the stems are
removed from the earth, or from their store if previously dried, they are first of
all submitted to the bleaching process as ordinarily practised in the manu-
facturing treatment of textile materials or rags. When so prepared or
bleached, the mass of stems is broken up or reduced to a pulp by the agency
of any suitable mechanical arrangement, such, for example, as is commonly
used for reducing rags for the paper-maker, or by any other convenient and
effective disintegrating apparatus or macerating and reducing engine. The
strong fibres of the stems are in this way well and completely disintegrated,
and the mucilaginous, gummy, or aqueous matter is washed away. Whatever
ligneous, woody, or valueless matter may then be present in the treated mass
is now removed, and the comparatively pure fibrous pulpy mass is then

page_text: manufactured into paper in the manner usually pursued by the paper-maker
in operating upon rag pulp. The fern or bracken pulp is capable of being
used in the manufacture of paper either alone or unmixed, or it may be
commingled with other materials already in use in the paper manufacture, and
the routine of the final manufacture into paper may be varied, as the properties
of the fibre may suggest to the practical man. The paper made in this way
is strong, and from the nature of the raw material it requires little or no
sizeing. The properties which render the material more or less independent
of sizeing are also of importance, in as far as they afford some sizeing power
to whatever other kinds of pulpy material the fern or bracken fibre or pulp
may be mixed with.
In the application of the fern or bracken stems to the manufacture of
textile materials, the fibres prepared according to the manner which I have
herein-before described are subsequently treated and manufactured according
to the existing textile processes, such processes, for instance, as are adopted in
the flax manufacture. Being strong and of good staple, this fibre is particularly
well suited for being prepared, spun, and woven into cloth.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself to
the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe or
refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without deviating from
the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,—
First, the application and use of the fern or bracken plant, or plants
comprehended under or within the Cryptogainic series, for the obtainment of
fibrous materials to be used for the manufacture of paper.
Second, the application and use of the fern or bracken plant or plants
comprehended under or within the Cryptogamic series in the manufacture or
production of textile materials.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Brown, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five.
ALEXANDER BROWN.
(L.S.)