IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FIBROUS MATERIALS OTHER A communication. --- THAN FLAX OR HEMP
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marcus Davis, of 5, Cloudesley Square,
Islington, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FIBROUS MATERIALS OTHER
A communication.
---
THAN FLAX OR HEMP."-A communication.
Sealed the 25th April 1854, and dated the 25th October 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marcus Davis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th October 1858.
I, MARCUS: DAVIS, of 5, Cloudesley Square; Islington, in the 'County.
5 of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FIBROUS MATERIALS OTHER THAN
FLAX AND: HEMP" to be as follows:
The employment of alum, borax, salts, nitre, sal ammonia in solution,
or a solution of sulphate of alumina, or of an equivalent of any of these.
substances, in which the, material to be operated upon is placed, after.
having been submitted to the action of steam in any proper steam-tight
vessel for several hours. About one pound of either of the above sub-
1

page_text: stances to every hundred pounds of fibrous material is dissolved in
sufficient quantity of water; the material is steeped in this solution for
purpose of being split into fibres without destroying the natural
strength of the fibre.
the
The bleaching may be operated in the usual manner, or by adding
a solution of chloride of lime, chloride of soda or potash, to the
aluminous solution. For one hundred pounds of material about five
pounds of chloride may be used. The fibre is then taken out &
washed in clean water & dried.
Should there be an excess of
glutinous matter it may be removed by steeping in hot or boiling water
containing about two per cent. (in weight of material) of salts of soda
& green soap, or their equivalents.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Marcus Davis in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th April 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
MARCUS DAVIS, of 5, Cloudesley Square, Islington, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth-day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
Seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said Marcus Davis, Her special
licence that I, the said Marcus Davis, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Marcus Davis, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and o
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 TREATMENT OF FIBROUS MATERIALS OTHER THAN FLAX OR HEMP," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Marcus Davis, by an
instrument in writing. under my hand and seal, should particularly

page_text: describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the saine 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 Marcus Davis; do hereby declare
the nature. of my said. Invention, and in what manuer the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and, ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):
My Invention consists in subjecting vegetable fibres to the following
process or processes, or any modification thereof. I employ solution
of the sulphate of alumina, alum, borax, common salt, Epsom salt,
Glauber's salt, nitre, sal ammonia, or an equivalent of any one of these,
in which the fibre is immersed, to be split and prepared for use. The
material to be operated on is subjected to, the action of steam for about
eight or ten hours, then dried and broken. A solution (of about one
pound of alum or any of the other substances named for every one
hundred pounds of vegetable substance) is made in water sufficient to
cover the matter to be reduced to fibre, which is kept in the solution
from five to twenty minutes, or longer if necessary. The fibre may be
bleached in the ordinary way, or in an aluminous borax or salt and
chlorine solution. For one hundred pounds of fibre a solution of about
five pounds of the chloride of lime may be made and allowed to settle,
then put into the vessel containing the fibre, which becomes saturated
thereby, and is then taken out and washed thoroughly in clean water.
and dried.
To remove an excess of gummy or resinous matter from the fibre,
put it into a vat with sufficient water to immerge it, heat it to a low
temperature, and keep it so for about ten or fifteen hours, according to
the nature of the material. The water is then drawn off, and replaced
by other water containing a solution of about two pounds, of salts of
soda and about two pounds of green soap for every two hundred pounds
of material. The temperature is then raised to about one hundred
degrees for four or five hours, or it may be allowed to boil about that
time. The fibre is then dried in the open air in the shade, or in a
stove at a low temperature, taking care to renew the air from time to

page_text: time. It is then passed between rollers finely grooved, or may be
softened by any other suitable process. The duration of the process
and the quantity of material employed are variable, according to cir-
cumstances, such as locality or quantity of material.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marcus Davis, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
year of
M. DAVIS. (L.S.)