IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING CHARGES FOR FIRE-ARMS AND FOR BLASTING
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Constant Reichen, of No. 43, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Chymist, for the Invention of "IMPROVE.
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd September 1865.
I, CONSTANT REICHEN, of No. 43, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Chymist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING CHARGES FOR FIRE-ARMS AND FOR BLASTING." to be
as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in preparing charges for
fire-arms and for blasting. For this purpose I impregnate paper with a
composition, such as the following:-
Chlorate of potash
Nitrate
Prussiate
-
9 parts
4
31
"
Charcoal powder
Starch
Chromate of potash
Water
"
31
"
21
"
"
79
25
These materials I boil together for one hour, and I then pass the sheets of
paper through the mixture. The paper thus prepared is rolled up, and rolls
[Price 8d.]

page_text: corresponding with the diameter of the bore of the piece with which the
charges are to be used are thus made, or otherwise the rolls are made of con-
venient size. The rolls are cut to suitable lengths for the charges.
drying may be done at a temperature of 212° Fahrenheit.
The
To waterproof the charges for fire-arms or for blasting, I employ a solution
of xyloidin in acetic acid. I prefer the xyloidin by acting on paper, say with
nitric acid, and I dissolve one part thereof in three parts of acetic acid of
specific gravity 1'040.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Constant Reichen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd March 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CONSTANT
REICHEN, of No. 43, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Chymist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Constant Reichen, Her special licence that I, the said Constant
Reichen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Constant Reichen, my executors, administrators, and 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 PREPARING CHARGES FOR FIRE-ARMS AND FOR BLASTING,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Constant Reichen, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, 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 Constant Reichen, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in preparing charges for
fire-arms and for blasting. For this purpose I impregnate paper or vegetable
fibre in the form of sheets with a composition such as the following:-
Chlorate of potash
Nitrate
Prussiate
9 parts
41
"
31
3
"
"
Charcoal powder
Starch
Chromate of potash
Water
"
18
,,
79
"
I prefer to proceed as follows:-I dissolve the starch by boiling it in a
small quantity of the water, and to the remainder of the water I add the
charcoal and boil it; the charcoal may be ordinary wood charcoal reduced to
a very fine powder by grinding and washing. After boiling the water and char-
coal together for about one hour the dissolved starch and the potash salts are
added, and the boiling continued for a few minutes until the solution and
mixture is complete. Whilst the composition is still warm the paper is passed
through it. It is convenient to employ a vessel having two cylindrical brushes
mounted upon it, so as to stand a short distance above the surface of the com-
position in the vessel. The paper which is by preference in a long continuous
sheet and unsized is passed down into the mixture, and is then taken up
between the two rotating brushes, which brush back into the vessel any super-
fluous composition which may be taken up, and at the same time work it well
into the substance of the paper. Afterwards the paper is passed on over a
steam-heated surface and dried. The sheet is then rolled up into tight rolls,
corresponding in diameter with the bore of the barrel of the fire-arm from
which the charges are to be fired; or if the charges are to be used for blasting
then the diameter of the rolls should correspond with that of the blasting hole
in which the charges are to be fired. The paper may be thus rolled either by
hand or otherwise; it is then cut into separate charges of suitable length
varying with the explosive force required, which weight for weight will be
found to be somewhat in excess of that of gunpowder. In place of the paper
vegetable fibre made into sheets in other ways may be employed, as, for
example, a woven fabric of cotton; I prefer, however, to employ paper, as I
believe it to be the most suitable, and the cheapest material.
To waterproof the charges I saturate the paper with a solution of xyloidin in

page_text: acetic acid, the xyloidin may be prepared by acting on paper with nitric
acid, or in other ordinary manner, as is well understood, and one part of the
paper is dissolved in three parts of acetic acid of specific gravity 1'040. The
paper is saturated with this solution in a manner similar to that already
described in applying the composition, and from this paper envelopes are
made for the charges. All the joints of the envelopes are cemented and
carefully closed with the xyloidin in solution.
What I claim is the saturating paper or sheets of vegetable fibre with
composition, such as that described, to render it explosive, and the making of
the said paper or sheets of vegetable fibre into rolls suitable for charges.
I also claim the waterproofing such rolls or charges by means of a solution
of xyloidin.
In witness whereof, I, the said Constant Reichen, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
CONSTANT REICHEN. (L.S.)