AN IMPROVED MATERIAL OR MATERIALS FOR PURIFYING OR DECOLORIZING BODIES, WHICH MATERIAL OR MATERIALS MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED AS MANURE AND PIGMENTS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PUR- POSES
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, ROBERT
WILLIAM SIEVIER, of Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of
Middlesex, 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 Twelfth day of July, in the eleventh year of Her reign, did
give and grant unto me, the said Robert William Sievier, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Robert William Sievier, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said Robert William Sievier, my execu-
tors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England,
Her Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in
the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her
Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED MATERIAL OR
MATERIALS FOR PURIFYING OR DECOLORIZING BODIES, WHICH MATERIAL OR MATERIALS
MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED AS MANURE AND PIGMENTS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PUR-
POSES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso requiring
that I, the said Robert William Sievier, shall particularly describe and ascer-
tain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause
the same 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, 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 William Sievier, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention,
and the manner in which the same-is-to-be-performed, -are-particularly described
and ascertained in and by this present Instrument in writing, reference being
had to the several Drawings hereunto annexed, and in which said several
Drawings similar parts are marked and referred to by similar letters or figures
(that is to say).
My said Invention consists of improved filtering material or materials to be
used for the purpose of filtering oils, sugar in solution (dissolved sugar), cane
juice, and other liquids, for the purpose of purifying or decolorizing the same;
also of a mode or modes of applying materials which are to be used for the pur-
pose of purifying or decolorizing sugar in solution, cane juice, and other liquids,
by precipitating or separating therefrom coloring matters or other impuritics
with which they may be mixed, and the materials so, used as aforesaid, or some
of them, may be used as manure or as pigments, or for other similar purposes..
And my said Invention consists, firstly, of an improved filtering material,
being the carbonized matter produced by the-carbonization of sugar by the
action of sulphuric acid; sugar may be used for this purpose either in the
raw or refined state, but coarse unrefined sugar is, that which I prefer to use
on account of its being so much cheaper than other kinds of that material.
The sulphuric acid to be used to carbonize sugar for this purpose may be
the ordinary sulphuric acid of commerce or sulphuric acid of the specific
gravity of about 1.064. In order to prepare this carbonized material I take
about three parts, by weight, of sugar, to which I add, one part, by weight, of
sulphuric acid, and mix them intimately together in a leaden or earthenware
vessel. The sulphuric acid will speedily carbonize or char the sugar, and the
mass is to be left at rest in the vessel for about twenty-four hours, or until it
becomes sufficiently hard or crisp. The mass. of carbonized matter thus
obtained is then to be broken into grains or minute pieces of about the size of
hemp seed, and washed with water repeatedly upon a filter (frequently agitating
it) until the free sulphuric acid contained in it is washed out. It will be known
when this has been effected by applying the well known test of litmus paper,
and, the washings ought to be continued-until the washings hardly, if at all, indi-
cate any action of acid upon the color of the paper.

page_text: In Fig. 1.of the said Drawings hereunto, annexed I have shewn a view of
a filter which is,convenient, for the purpose of washing the carbonized sugar,
but. I do not intend to claim this filter as any part of my said Invention... This
filter is composed of a frame supported upon legs A, A, A, and having a piece
of cloth of fibrous material B nailed upon the top of the frame in such
manner as to allow the cloth or other material to hang down somewhat like a
bag, as shewn in the Figure. Upon this bag the carbonized material is to. be
placed, and. water thrown or poured over it for the purpose of washing.it,, as
herein-before described. When the carbonized material has thus been pre-
pared it is ready for, use, for it may be used in the moist state in which it
remains after being washed, as aforesaid, or, if preferred, it may be dried before
it is used. This carbonized material-may be placed in a vessel of any conve
nient size or shape, for the purpose. of forming a filter for any of the aforesaid
purposes, but I prefer to use my said improved filtering material in apparatus
of a description similar to that which I have shewn in Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, and
6, of the said Drawings hereunto annexed.......
Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the said filtering apparatus taken through the
centre, shewing a method of placing the filtering material within the filtering
vessel or vessels....C (Fig. 2) is a pillar or support, to which are fixed brackets
D, D, D, each of which supports a filtering vessel. The filtering, vessels are
(in Fig. 2) shewn to be three in number, but one only, or any other number,
may be used, provided the vessel or vessels contain the requisite depth of the
filtering material,; which it is intended that the liquid to be purified or decolo-
rized shall pass through. I prefer, however,, that the material should be placed
in two or more vessels,, because the upper, vessel will collect the greatest
portion of the coloring matters or other impurities, and it may be easily
removed for the purpose of being replenished, without interfering with the
contents of the lower vessel or vessels.
+14
..
The filtering vessels may be made of metal, wood, or any suitable material,
at the bottom of which there must be a support for a metal or other grating H,
upon which is to be placed a piece of wire gauze or fibrous material I (as seen
in Fig. 4), and in different views and on a larger scale in Figures 5 and 6.
Upon the gauze, which is uppermost, is to be placed some tow, hemp, cloth, or
other fibrous material, to prevent the smaller particles of the filtering substances
from being washed through; upon this is placed the carbonized material, then
layer of coarse sand, and then a layer of carbonized material, and so on, at
the will of the operator, until the filtering materials arrive within a short dis-
tance of the top of the vessel. A layer of coarse sand on small stones of the
size of gravel should then be placed upon the top to keep down, the carbonized
a
-3
*

page_text: material when the liquid to be filtered is poured upon it. I have described this
apparatus because I conceive it to be useful in the application of this part of
my said Invention in manner aforesaid, but I do not claim the said apparatus,
or any part thereof, as of or as part of my said Invention comprised in the said
Letters Patent. When the liquor to be decolorized, purified, or deficated is
thin, such as watery or limpid solutions, spirit, &c., there is no need of inter-
mediate layers of sand or stones; it is only when the liquid to be filtered is thick
or viscid that they are required, and when used the sand or stones must of
course be washed or otherwise made clean. When the carbonised material
has by use been exhausted of its decolorizing or purifying properties it is to be
taken out of the filtering vessel and washed, after which it may again be used
in a similar manner; but filtering material so washed will not act so efficiently
as it did in the first instance, unless it be prepared according to the second part
of my said Invention herein-after described.
Secondly, my said Invention consists of a mode of preparing porous, fibrous,
or carbonized matters, so as to make them adapted or better adapted for being
used as filtering materials for purifying or decolorizing such liquid bodies as
herein-before mentioned. The porous or fibrous matters or substances which
may be prepared and adapted for being used in this manner are pieces of
sponge, pumice stone, cloth, tow, or other similar materials. The carbonized
matters which may be so prepared and thus adapted to be used as filtering
materials are wood charcoal and coke; and the carbonized matters which may
be so prepared and made better adapted to be used as filtering materials are
animal charcoal and carbonized sugar, such as berein-before described. I pre-
pare such porous, fibrous, or carbonized matters or substances as aforesaid,
according to this part of my Invention, by impregnating them with sulphurous
acid. For this purpose I first moisten the substance to be prepared with
water, and then subject it to the action of a stream of sulphurous acid gas,
which I continue until every part of the substance has been thoroughly
impregnated with the acid; but, if deemed more economical, the substance
may be immersed in an aqueous solution of sulphurous and until it has been
thoroughly impregnated. In this way such porous and fibrous matters as
aforesaid, as well as wood, charcoal, and coke, may be converted into filtering
matters applicable for the filtering of such liquids as aforesaid in manner
aforesaid; and animal charcoal and carbonized sugar may by this mode of
preparing them be much better adapted as filtering matters for purifying or
decolorizing such liquids as aforesaid. The filtering matters prepared
according to this part of my Invention may be used in like manner as herein-
before described with respect to the use of carbonized sugar, and when such

page_text: .
filtering matters cease to have the power of purifying or decolorizing such
liquids as aforesaid, that power may be restored or nearly so by thoroughly
washing the impurities out of such substances, and again impregnating them
with sulphurous acid by either of the modes herein-before described.
My said Invention consists, thirdly, of a mode of applying certain materials
for the purpose of purifying or decolorizing sugar in solution, cane juice, and
other liquids by precipitating or separating therefrom the coloring matters or
other impurities with which they may be mixed. The materials which I use for
this purpose are alumina, oxalate of alumina, and metalic salts, such as herein-
after mentioned. In using these materials for the purposes aforesaid I first apply
heat to the liquid to be purified or decolorized until the temperature of it arrives
at about eighty degrees of Farenheit's thermometer; I then mix the liquor with
the requisite quantity of the material. If a salt I dissolve it, or if alumina I
mix it with a small quantity of water, and raise the temperature of the liquid to
about 160 or 180 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, or until the albumi-
nous or other matters are coagulated or separated from the solution. The
liquid is then to be allowed to remain in a state of rest until the whole or
principal parts of the said matters are coagulated or separated from the solution
as aforesaid, and have fallen down to the bottom of the vessel in which the
liquid may be placed, or in some cases have risen to the top of the liquid;
the clear liquid is then to be drawn out of the vessel, and the residue filtered,
so as to obtain the whole or as much of the purified liquid as practicable.
Instead of drawing off any part of the clear liquid in manner aforesaid the
Some of the
whole may, if thought desirable, be obtained by means of filtration.
materials which I use in this way vary somewhat in their modes of action, or
in the modes in which they are to be applied, and therefore I will now proceed
to describe such peculiarities.
And, first, with respect to the salts of iron. If I intend to use a nitrate
of iron, I make a saturated solution of it, and if it is to be used for purify-
ing or decolorizing a solution of sugar, I mix equal parts by weight of
raw sugar and warm water, but this proportion may be varied at the will
of the operator; I then heat the same gradually to a temperature at about
80°, and add a quantity of the solution of nitrate of iron equal to about
a half per cent. of the quantity of the sugar in the solution; and if the
nitrate is used for purifying or decolorizing cane or beet root juice, or
any weaker solution of sugar, I add a quantity of the solution of nitrate of
iron, bearing the same proportion to the quantity of sugar in the solu-
tion according to the quantity of saccharine matter contained in the
solution of sugar; the whole is then to be heated by steam in the same

page_text: manner as usually adopted by the sugar refiners, or by any other convenient
method, to about 100 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer; "I then add
gradually a saturated solution of the yellow prussiate of potash, which will
immediately change the color of the mass of liquid, and I keep adding more
of the solution of the prussiate of potash until no more precipitate is formed;
I then augment the heat to about 150° or 180° of Fahrenheit, or until the
albuminous matters contained in the liquid coagulate, after which the heating
must be discontinued and the liquid be left in a state of rest until the
coagulated matters shall subside or fall to the bottom of the vessel, carrying
with them the impurities and a portion of the coloring matters with which
the liquid is mixed; the liquid may then be filtered, or the clarified or
purified portion of it may be decanted or drawn off, and the residue
filtered through bag filters, such as used in sugar houses, or in any
other convenient manner; the blue precipitate which will remain may be
afterwards washed and cleansed from all impurities, and, after being dried, it
may be used as a common pigment for paint: The common sulphate of
iron I use in the same manner as above described with respect to the
nitrate of iron. A small quantity of a saturated solution of oxalic acid may
be added to the liquid to be discolorized when it is at a temperature of about
120° of Fahrenheit's thermometer, for the purpose of assisting in the deco-
lorizing the liquid. If I intend to use muriate of iron I can use the
ordinary muriate, but I prefer to use that' salt when it has been prepared by
dissolving the carbonate of iron in common muriatic acid at a boiling heat.
This salt of iron may be used in the same way as those before described; but
if it is intended to be used for purifying or decolorizing cane juice, I prefer to
use it in the following manner :-I add about one ounce of a saturated solution
of this salt to two hundred gallons of cane juice, presüining the said cane juice
to contain seven per cent. of sugar, and in the same proportion to' all other
solutions of sugar according to the saccharine matter dissolved therein. ⚫ I
mix this solution of iron with the cane juice while hot, say at 100° Fahrenheit's
thermometer, and raise it gradually to 200°, or as near the boiling point as
possible without actual ebullition. I allow this degree of temperature to be
maintained about ten' minutes; I then add as much of a saturated solution of
the yellow prussiate of potash as will give the liquid a slight green tint or color,
only taking care in all cases to precipitate all the iron; it will then be advan-
tageous, though not absolutely necessary, to add about one and a half ounce of
carbonate of lime in powder; let the whole be elevated to the boiling point and
continué at this point or degree of temperature until a separation of the
feculent and other impure matters take place, which will be in a few minutes,
.

page_text: and is indicated by the transparency of the liquid. If the solution is limpid
and thin these matters will subside and fall to the bottom of the pan or vessel
in which the o
"operation is performed, but if 'the solution is very thick or viseid,
and circumstances will admit, I prefer to separate them by mixing a proper
dose or quantity of blood or albumen, and coagulating the same by actual
ebullition and passing the liquid through a filter. But if it should be incon-
venient to use blood or albumen, the common modes of filtering employed by
refiners will séparate the salts of iron and other impurities, and will render
the solution lighter in colour, transparent, and clear: "Any of the soluble
salts of iron will produce the same effect as the muriate of iron (more or
less perfectly) upon cane juice, or any solution of sugar, but I prefer to use
the
muriate of iron, in manner above described, on account of the economy of
the process.
ed. . . .
The following salts of iron (that is to say) potassa, tartrate of iron, and
acetate' of iron, and some of the other salts of iron, will act, and may be used,
in the same way, as those hercin-before described.
When I intend to use alumina for decolorizing, purifying, or defecating
such liquids as aforesaid, I prepare it as follows:-I take a saturated solution
of common alum, while hot (say 212°), and I add carbonate of ammonia to
the solution, so as to precipitate the alumina of the alum; and I go on adding
the 'ammonia until nó effervescence is produced, and a slight ainmoniacal odour
is" developed. I then filter the liquid, so as to obtain the a aluminous earth
deposited on a cloth or other filtering material; I then wash it with cold soft
water, and when it has been nearly drained of its water I place it in a vessel,
"and add to it dry crystallized oxalic acid in powder, in the proportion of about
twenty-five parts to one hundred of the wet alumina, by which the whole mass
will be made liquid. "I then heat the liquid until an opalescent or semi-trans-
parent solution is produced, adding more dry acid if any precipitate should
appear until it is dissolved, taking care not to add more of the dry acid than
necessary. To dissolve the alumina of this solution I add about a half a pound
to every one hundred pounds of the sugar contained in the solution of juice when
it is about 100° of Fahrenheit, and then gradually raise the temperature of the
liquid until it arrives at 200 Fahrenheit. The solution will then become much
whiter, and perfectly bright, and the aluminous earth, with the impurities,
will fall down, and may be separated in manner aforesaid.
1"
When I use diacetate of lead I proceed I as follows:- -I add about a quarter per
cent. or more of ordinary diacetate of lead to a liquid solution of sugar (formed
by mixing equal weights of sugar and warm water), and well-stirring to mix the
same; or a similar proportion of the diacetate of lead to cane or beet root

page_text: juice, according to the quantity of sugar it may contain. When the solution of
sugar or juice is about 80° of Fahrenheit's thermometer, I then heat the solution
gradually to 160°, or even to 180°; let the mixture stand for the impurities to
settle; I then filter the solution, or draw off the clear supernatent liquid and
filter the remainder; and when the solution is at.a temperature of about 80°,
I pass through the liquid a stream of sulphurous acid gas until the lead is
precipitated, which may be discovered by testing the liquid with sulphuretted
hydrogen gas. A small quantity of lime water or chalk may be added to
neutralize any free acid which may be formed; the sulphurous acid gas may
be passed through the liquid without previous filtering or drawing off the clear
portion, which operations may be afterwards performed. There are many
well-known ways of obtaining the sulphurous acid gas, one of which I give as
an economical process:-Heat, in an earthenware or iron retort, equal parts of
sulphur and the black oxide of manganese, and pass the gas over from the
retort into a metal or wood gasometer; the gas must then be passed through
the liquid in the manner shewn by the Diagram.
Fig. 7, letter A, shews a retort set in brickwork in the usual manner,
so that it may be acted upon by heat; B, a cover which can be removed
to charge or remove the sulphur and manganese; D, a pipe to convey
the gas as made to the gasometer E; this gasometer must fit into a
circular well, which will contain water as seen at F: this will offer a very
small surface of water for the absorption of the sulphurous acid gas; G, a.
continuation of the pipe D, which enters the bottom of the gasometer to
supply the gas to E; H, the vessel containing the liquid to be acted upon;
I, I, a pipe having a communication from the bottom of the inside of the
gasometer to the top of the inside of the vessel H; K, a force pump, which by
having pipes O and P connecting it with the interior of the vessel H, both at
the bottom and top, which on the pump being used, will allow the gas to pass
from the upper part of the vessel H by the pipe O into the lower part of the
pipe P, when it will pass through the liquid; by this means very little gas will
be wasted, as will only be furnished by the gasometer as it is taken up by the
liquid this operation must be continued until the lead is precipitated. The
solution is to be left to settle, and then drawn off at the cocks X, X, X, X,.
which may be placed as seen at the side of the vessel H; M, a rod and roller
guides to keep the gasometer upright; N, weights to weight the same. A
manhole or a suitable opening must be made near the bottom of the vessel H,
with a moveable cover through which the vessel may be cleaned when required.
The vessel H, having an opening R, must in the first instance be filled to
the top with the liquor to be acted upon by the sulphurous acid gas; the
. ..

page_text: opening R must then be closed. Then draw off a small portion of the
liquid from one of the cocks X, about one foot in depth, which will drawi
up the gas through the pipe I, I, to fill its place; this gas may be then
forced round and round by the force pump, and as it is absorbed by the
liquid fresh gas will be supplied from the gasometer. I do not claim
this apparatus as any part of my Invention. The diacetate of lead which I
have generally used is the liquor plumbi diacetatis of the London Pharmaco-
poeia, but I do not confine myself to this formula. I also take a decoction of
of sumac, or galls, and add such decoction in excess to a solution of tribasic
acetate of lead; this precipitates the lead, which precipitate I obtain by
filtering. I wash the precipitate by adding water to it while upon the filter.
I then take a small portion of this precipitate, and add it to a solution of
sugar and water, or cane, or beet root juice at a temperature of 80° Fah-
renheit, and heat it to 160° or 180° as before detailed in using the diacetate
of lead. When the liquor becomes cool, the feculencies and lead will be
found precipitated; I then filter or decant as before mentioned. I also use
crystallized nitrate of bismuth in the following manner :-I dissolve a quantity
of the chrystals equal to a quarter or more per cent. of the sugar held in
solution, which I add to cane or beet root juice, or to equal weights of sugar
and water; I heat the solution to 160°; I let the liquor rest till it is cooled to
80°; I then filter it or draw off the clear solution and filter the remainder as
in the manner aforesaid. In all cases where any free acid is left in the above
solutions of sugar a small quantity of lime, chalk, or soda may be used to
neutralize it before boiling for crystallization.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I hereby claim as of my said Invention,-
Firstly, the material or materials to be used for purifying or decolorizing liquids,
and which is made by carbonizing sugar in manner herein-before described.
Secondly, the preparation of such filtering materials as herein-before men-
tioned, by impregnating them with sulphurous acid, in manner herein-before
described.
Thirdly, the mode or modes of applying metallic salts and the oxalate of
alumina as materials for purifying or decolorizing liquids or substances in solu-
tion, and the application of sulphurous acid gas for the separation of the lead
when in solution, in manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert William Sievier, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty eight.
(L.S.) R. W. SIEVIER.

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME,... I,. ROBERT
WILLIAM SIEVIER, late of Henrietta Street, Cavendish- Square, in the:County
of Middlesex, but now of Upper Holloway, in the said County, Gentleman,
send greeting.
...WHEREAS Her present Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent
under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the
Twelfth day of July, in the eleventh year of Her reign, did give and grant
unto me, the said Robert William Sievier, my exors, adinors,, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Robert William Sievier, my exors, adññiors; and assigns, and such others as
I, the said Robert William Sievier, my exors, adññiors, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, should and lawfully might make, use, exer-
cise, and vend my. Invention, therein intituled "AN. IMPROVED MATERIAL OR
MATERIALS FOR PURIFYING OR DECOLORIZING BODIES, WHICH MATERIAL OR MATERIALS
MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED AS MANURE AND PIGMENTS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES,"
within that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, Her Dominion of Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
and also in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in
all. Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, during the term of
fourteen years from the date of the said Letters Patent next ensuing : And
whereas I, the said 'Robert William Sievier, in pursuance of a proviso in the
said Letters Patent contained, did, by a Specification, being an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, bearing date the Twelfth day of January, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and did cause the said Specification to be duly inrolled in Chancery on the said
Twelfth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, and within
six calendar months next after the date of the said Letters Patent: And
whereas, since the date of the said Letters Patent and the inrolment of the
said Specification, I have been advised that it is doubtful whether it is correct,
as mentioned in the title of my said Invention, that the material or materials
therein mentioned may be employed as manure and pigments, and for other
like purposes; and I am therefore desirous, with the leave of Her said Majesty's
Solicitor General, to disclaim such part of the title of my said Invention con-
tained in the said Letters Patent as herein-after inentioned to be disclaimed,
and also to enter this my Disclaimer with 'the Clerk of the Patents in England.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, therefore, that I, the said Robert William Sievier, by and
with the leave of Sir John Romilly, Knight, Her said Majesty's Solicitor
General, do hereby, for the reasons aforesaid, disclaim so much of the title of
my said Invention contained in the said Letters Patent, as follows, (that is to
say,) the words "which Material or Materials may also be employed as Manure
and Pigments, and for other like Purposes." And I, the said Robert William
Sievier, do hereby declare that the above written Disclaimer is not, nor is any
part thereof, intended to extend the exclusive right granted by the said Letters
Patent, and that these Presents shall not extend the said exclusive right in any
way whatsoever.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert William Sievier, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of June, One thousand
eight hundred and forty-nine.
To the Clerk of the Patents of England.
This is to certify that the above-named Robert William Sievier, late of
Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of Middlesex, but now of
Upper Holloway, in the said County, Gentleman, has applied to me for leave
to enter with you the above-written Disclaimer of part of the title of a certain
Invention, for which Letters Patent were granted to him under the Great Seal
of Great Britain, dated at Westminster, the 12th day of July 1848, and to
which a Specification was duly enrolled. And having considered of the said
application, and no valid objection having been made to the same, I hereby
grant leave to the said Robert William Sievier to file his said Disclaimer
pursuant to the Statute passed in the fifth and sixth years of the reign of His
late Majesty King William the Fourth, entituled "An Act to amend the
Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions."
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of June, in
the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid Robert William Sievier came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Disclaimer
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Disclaimer aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor
of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-third day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
WILLIAM SIEVIER, late of Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square, in the County
of Middlesex, but now of Upper Holloway, in the said County, Gentleman,
and RICHARD DAVIS, of Saint Helen's Place, in the City of London, West
India Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of July, in the eleventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto the said Robert William Sievier, his exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that he, the said
Robert William Sievier, his exors, adñiors, and assigns, and every of them, by
himself and themselves, or by his and their deputy or deputies, servants or
agents, or such others as he, the said Robert William Sievier, his exors,
adors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend his, the said Robert William
Siever's therein mentioned Invention, therein intituled "AN IMPROVED MATERIAL
OR MATERIALS FOR PURIFYING OR DECOLORIZING BODIES, WHICH MATERIAL OR MATE-
RIALS MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED AS MANURE OR PIGMENTS, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES," within England and Wales and Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Islands
of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, during the term of fourteen years thence
next ensuing And whereas the said Robort William Sievier, in pursuance of
a proviso in the said Letters Patent contained, did, by Specification, being an
instrument in writing under his hand and seal, bearing date on or about the
Twelfth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of his said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and did cause the said Specification to
be duly enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery at West-
minster on the said last-mentioned day, and within six calendar months next
after the date of the said Letters Patent: And whereas by a Disclaimer in
writing under the hand and seal of the said Robert William Sievier, bearing
date the Twenty-second day of June, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-nine, by leave of Sir John Romilly, Knight, Her said Majesty's
Solicitor General, (certified by his fiat and signature, according to the form
of the Statute in such case made and provided, duly enrolled with and filed

page_text: by the Clerk of the Patents of England, and duly enrolled with the sai
Specification, the said Robert William Sievier, for the reasons therein men
tioned, did disclaim so much of the title of his said Invention as follows, tha
is to say, the words," which Material or Materials may also be employed a
Manure and Pigments, and for other like Purposes," and by virtue of which said
Disclaimer the Invention comprized in the privilege granted by the said Letter
Patent became and was and. now is an Invention entituled "An improved
Material or Materials for Purifying or Decolorizing Bodies:" And whereas, by
an Indenture bearing date on or about the Twentieth day of September, One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, and made between the said Robert
William Sievier of one part, and the said Richard Davis of the other part, for
the considerations therein expressed, the said Robert William Sievier did thereby
assign unto the said Richard Davis, his executors, administrators, and assigns, all
that the said licence, power, privilege, and authority, and the invention, profits,
and advantages by the said Letters Patent granted to the said Robert
William Sievier, together with the same Letters, to hold the same unto the said
Richard Davis, his executors, administrators, and assigns, in trust, as to one
moiety of the profits to arise from the exercising of the said Invention, as
therein mentioned, for the said Robert William Sievier, his executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and as to the other moiety of the same profits, for the use
and benefit of the said Richard Davis, his executors, administrators, and
assigns: And whereas John Scoffern, of Upper Holloway, in the County of
Middlesex, B, M., was in fact the true and first Inventor of so much of the
third part of the said Invention as relates to the use of diacetate of lead and
sulphurous acid. gas in the manner described in the said 'Specification; but
the said Robert William Sievier conceived himself entitled to insert in the
said Specification so much of the said third part thereof as relates to the use
of diacetate of lead and sulphurous acid gas in the manner therein described,
by reason of the said John Scoffern having made the discovery thereof while in
the service of and experimenting for them, the said Robert William Sievier
and the said Richard Davis: And whereas we, the said Robert William Sievier
and Richard Davis,,entertain considerable doubts respecting the utility of the
residue of the said third part of the said Invention; and for the reasons afore-
said we are desirous of disclaiming the said third part of the said Invention,
and so much of the said Specification as relates thereto, in manner herein-after
expressed.
t...
NOW KNOW YE, therefore, that by and with the leave and consent of
Sir John Romilly, Knight, Her Majesty's Solicitor General, and for the
reasons aforesaid, and as to and concerning the said Specification, and so much

page_text: and such part or parts of the said Specification as is or are in the words
following (that is to say.),
"
My my,said Invention consists of, an improved filtering material, or
materials to be used for the purpose of, filtering oils, sugar in solution,, dis-
solved sugar, cane juice, and other liquids, for the purpose of purifying or
decolorizing the same; also of a mode or modes of applying materials which
are to be used for the purpose of purifying or decolorizing sugar in solution,
cane, juice, and other liquids, ..by..precipitating or separating therefrom
coloring matters or other impurities with which they may be mixed, and the
"materials so used as aforesaid, or some of them, may; be used as manure or as
pigments, or for other similar purposes," we, the said Robert William Sievier
and Richard Davis; do.. and each of us doth, hereby disclaim all..and so much
of such part or parts of the said Specification herein-before set forth as, is or, are
in the words following (that is to say), the word "oils," and the words,.." also
for a; mode or modes of applying materials, which are to be used for, the
purpose of purifying or decolorizing sugar in solution, cane juice, and other
liquids, by precipitating or separating. therefrom coloring matters or other
"impurities with which they may be mixed,. and the. materials 'so..used: as
aforesaid, or some of them, may be used as manure or as pigments; or.for
other similar purposes;" and by and with. the leave and consent aforesaid,
we, the said Robert William Sievier. and Richard. Davis, do, and each of us
doth,,hereby further disclaim all, so much, and such part or parts of the said
Specification as is or are in the words, letters, and figures following (that is
to say)
"My said Invention consists, thirdly, of a mode of applying certain
"materials for the purpose of purifying or decolorizing sugar in solution, cane
66
juice, and other liquids, by precipitating or separating therefrom the coloring
"matters or other impurities with which they may be mixed. The materials
"which I use for this purpose are alumina, oxalate of alumina, and metallic salts,
"such as are herein-after mentioned. In using these materials for the purposes
"aforesaid, I first apply heat to the liquid to be purified or decolorized, until
"the temperature of it arrives at about 80 degrees of Fahrenheit's ther-
"mometer; I then mix the liquid with the requisite quantity of the material:
"If a. salt, I dissolve it; if alumina, I mix it with a small quantity of water, and
"raise the temperature of the liquid to about 160 or 180 degrees of Fahren-
"heit's thermometer, or until aluminous or other matters are coagulated. or
66 separated from the solution. The liquid is then to be allowed to remain in
"a state of rest until the whole or principal parts of the said matters are
"coagulated or separated from the solution as aforesaid, and have fallen down'

page_text: 66
"to the bottom of the vessel in which the liquid may be placed, or in some
cases have risen to the top of the liquid; the clear liquid is then to be
"drawn out of the vessel, and the residue filtered, so as to obtain the whole
"or as much of the purified liquid as practicable. Instead of drawing off any
part of the clear liquid in manner aforesaid, the whole may, if thought
"desirable, be obtained by means of filtration. Some of the materials which
"I use in this way vary somewhat in their modes of action, or in the modes in
"which they are to be applied, and therefore I will now proceed to describe
"such puculiarities.
"
"
"And, first, with respect to the salts of iron. If I intend to use a nitrate
." of iron, I make a saturated solution of it, and if it is to be used for purifying
or decolorizing a solution of sugar, I mix equal parts by weight of raw sugar
" and warm water, but this proportion may be varied at the will of the operator.
"I then heat the the same gradually to a temperature of about 80 degrees,
"and add a quantity of the solution of nitrate of iron, equal to about a half
per cent. of the quantity of the sugar in the solution, and if the nitrate is
"used for purifying or decolorizing cane or beet root juice, or any weaker
"solution of sugar, I add a quantity of the solution of nitrate of iron, bearing
"the same proportion to the quantity of sugar in the solution, according to
"the quantity of saccharine matter contained in the solution of sugar. The
"whole is then to be heated by steam in the same manner as usually adopted
by the sugar refiners, or by any other convenient method, to about 100
degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer; I then add gradually a saturated
"solution of the yellow prussiate of potash, which will immediately change the
"color of the mass of liquid, and I keep adding more of the solution of the
"prussiate of potash until no more precipitate is formed; I then augment the
"heat to about 150 or 180 degrees Farenheit, or until the aluminous matters
"contained in the liquid coagulate, after which the heating must be dis-
"continued, and the liquid be left in a state of rest until the coagulated
66
66
66
matters shall subside or fall to the bottom of the vessel, carrying with them
"the impurities and a portion of the coloring matters with which the liquid is
"mixed. The liquid may then be filtered, or the clarified or purified portion of
"it may be decanted or drawn off, and the residue filtered through bag filters,
"such as used in sugar houses, or in any other convenient manner. The
"blue precipitate which will remain may be afterwards washed and cleansed
"from all impurities, and after being dried it may be used as a common
pigment for paint. The common sulphate of iron I use in the same manner
as above described with respect to the nitrate of iron. A small quantity of
.a saturated solution of oxalic acid may be added to the liquid to be decolorized
"
"
66

page_text: 66
66
"when it is at a temperature of about 120 degrees of Fahrenheit's ther-
"mometer, for the purpose of assisting in the decolorizing of the liquid. If I
"intend to use muriate of iron I can use the ordinary muriate, but I prefer to
66 use that salt when it has been prepared by dissolving the carbonate of iron in
common muriatic acid, and at a boiling heat. This salt of iron may be used
"in the same way as those before described; but if it is intended to be used
"for purifying or decolorizing cane juice, I prefer to use it in the following
"manner-I add about one ounce of a saturated solution of this salt to 200
"gallons of cane juice, presuming the said cane juice to contain 7 per cent. of
sugar,
and in the same proportion to all other solutions of sugar, according
"to the saccharine matter dissolved therein. I mix this solution of iron with
"the cane juice while hot, say at 100 degrees Fahrenheit's thermometer,
"and raise it gradually to 200 degrees, or as near the boiling point as possible,
"without actual ebullition. I allow this degree of temperature to be maintained
"about ten minutes; I then add as much of a saturated solution of the yellow
"prussiate of potass as will give the liquid a slight green tint or color, only
"taking care in all cases to precipitate all the iron; it will then be advantageous
"though not absolutely necessary to add about one and a half ounce of
"carbonate of lime in powder; let the whole be elevated to the boiling point,
"and continue at this point or degree of temperature until a separation of the
" feculent and other' impure matters takes place, which will be in a few
"minutes, and is indicated by the transparency of the liquid. If the solution
"is limpid, then these matters will subside and fall to the bottom of the
pan or vessel in which the operation is performed; but if the solution is
very thick or viscid, and circumstances will admit, I prefer to separate
"them by mixing a proper dose or quantity of blood or albumen, and coagulat-
"ing the same by actual ebullition, and passing the liquid through a filter.
"But if it should be inconvenient to use blood or albumen, the common
"modes of filtering used by refiners will separate the salts of iron and other
impurities, and will render the solution lighter in color, transparent and
Any of the soluble salts of iron will produce the same effect as the
"muriate of iron, more or less perfectly, upon cane juice, or any solution of
sugar; but I prefer to use the muriate of iron in manner above described,
on account of the économy of the process.
clear.
"The following salts of iron (that is to say) potassa, tartaraté of iron, and
acetate of iron, and some of the other salts of iron, will act and may be used
"in the same way as those herein-before described.
"When I intend to use alumina for decolorizing, purifying, or defecating
"such liquids as aforesaid, I prepare it as follows:-I take a saturated solu-

page_text: 66
"tion of common alum when hot (say 212°), and I add carbonate of
"ammonia to the solution, so as to precipitate the alumina of the alum,
" and I go on adding the ammonia until no effervescence is produced, and.a
slight ammoniacal odour is developed. I then filter the liquid so as to obtain
"the aluminous earth deposited on a cloth or other filtering material; I then
"wash it with cold soft water, and when it has been nearly drained of its water
"I place it in a vessel, and add to it dry crystallized oxalic acid in powder, in
"the proportion of about 25 parts to: 100 the wet alumina, by which the
"whole mass will be made liquid. I then heat this liquid until an opalescent
or semi-transparent solution is produced, adding more. dry acid, if any
precipitate should appear, until it is dissolved, taking care not to add more
"of the dry acid than necessary. To dissolve the alumina of. this solution, I
"add about half a pound to every one hundred pounds of the sugar contained
" in the solution or juice when it is about 100° Fahrenheit, and then gradually
"raise the temperature of the liquid until it arrives at about 200° Fahrenheit;
"the solution will then become much whiter and perfectly bright, and the
"aluminous earth with the impurities will fall down, and may be separated
"in manner aforesaid.
66
66
"
"When I use diacetate of lead I proceed as follows:-I add about a
quarter per cent. or more of ordinary diacetate of lead to a liquid solu-
"tion of sugar (formed by mixing equal weights of sugar and warm
water), and well stirring to mix the same, or a similar proportion of the
"diacetate of lead to cane or beet root juice, according to the quantity of
" sugar it may contain. When the solution of sugar or juice is about 80° of
"Fahrenheit's thermometer, I then. heat the solution gradually to 160°, or s
"even to 180°; let the mixture stand for the impurities to settle; I then filter
"the solution,, or draw off the clear or supernatant liquid, and filter the
"remainder; and when the solution is at a temperature of about 80° I pass
ແ through the liquid a stream of sulphurous acid gas until the lead is pre-
cipitated, which may be discovered: by testing the liquid with sulphurated
hydrogen gas. A small quantity of lime water or chalk may be added to
neutralize any free acid which may be formed. The sulphurous acid gas
may be passe, through the liquid without previous filtering or drawing off
"the clear portions, which operations may be afterwards performed. There
are many well known ways of obtaining the sulphurous acid gas, one of
"which I give as an economical, process: Heat in an earthenware or iron
"retort equal parts of sulphur and the black oxide of manganese, and pass
"the gas over from the retort into a metal or wood gasometer; the gas must
"then be passed through the liquid in the manner shewn by the diagram.
"
"

page_text: "
"wh
66
"
Fig. 7, letter A shews a retort set in brickwork in the usual manner, so
"that it may be acted upon by heat; B, a cover, which can be removed to
"charge or remove the sulphur and manganese; D, a pipe, to convey the gas
as made to the gasometer E; this gasometer must fit into a circular well,
which will contain water, as seen at F, this will offer a very small surface of
water for the absorption of the sulphurous acid gas; G, a continuation of
"the pipe D, which enters the bottom of the gasometer to supply the gas to
"E; H, the vessel containing the liquid to be acted upon; I, I, a pipe having
a coinmunication.from the bottom of the inside of the gasometer to the top
of the inside of the vessel H; K, a force pump, which by having pipes O
"and P connecting it with the interior. of the vessel H, both at the bottom
"and top, which, on the pump being used, will allow the gas to pass from the
upper part of the vessel H by the. pipe O into the lower part of the pipe P,
when it will pass through the liquid; by.this means very little gas will be
wasted, as it will only be furnised by the gasometer as it is taken up by
"the liquid: this operation must be continued until the lead is precipitated.
"The solution is to be left to settle, and then drawn off at the cocks X, X, X, X,
"which may be placed as seen at the side of the vessel H. M, a rod and roller
guides to keep the gasometer upright; N, weights to weigh the same.
"manhole or a suitable opening must be made near the bottom of the vessel
"H, with a moveable cover, through which the vessel may be cleaned when
"required. The vessel H, having an opening R, must in the first instance be
"filled to the top with the liquor to be acted upon by the sulphurous acid gas;
"6
**
«
66
A
the opening Rmust. then be closed; then draw off a small portion of the
"liquid from one of the cocks X, about one foot in depth, which will draw
up.thelgas through the pipe H to fill its place; this gas may be then forced
"round and round by the force pump, and as it is absorbed by the liquid
"fresh gas will be supplied from the gasometer. I do not claim this appa-
"ratus as any part of my Invention. The diacetate of lead which I have
"generally used is the liquor, plumbi diacetate of the London Pharmacopia,
"but I do not confine myself to this formula. I also take a decoction of
66. sumac or galls, and such decoction in excess to a solution of tribasic acetate
of lead; this precipitates the lead, which precitate I obtain by filtering. I
"wash,the, precipitate by adding water to it while upon the filter. I then take
a. small portion of this precipitate, and add it to a solution of sugar and
water, or cane.or beet, root juice,; at a temperature, of 80° Fahrenheit, and
heatsit. to. 160° or 180°,
,, as before detailed in using the, diacetate. of lead.
When the liquor becomes cool the feculences, and lead will be found pre-
"cipitated; I then filter or decant as before mentioned. I also use crys-
66

page_text: "tallized nitrate of bismuth in the following manner :-I dissolve a quantity of
"the crystals equal to a quarter or more per cent. of the sugar held in solu-
"tion, which I add to cane or beet root juice, or to equal weights of sugar
"and water; I heat this solution to 160°; I let the liquor rest till it is cooled
" to 80°; I then filter it or draw off the clear solution, and filter the remainder,
"as in the manner aforesaid. In all cases where any free acid is left in the
"above solution of sugar, a small quantity of lime, chalk, or soda may be
"used to neutralize it before boiling for crystallization."
And by and with the leave and consent aforesaid, and for the reasons
aforesaid, we, the said Robert William Sievier and Richard Davis, do,
and each of us doth, hereby further disclaim all, so much, and such part
or parts of the said Specification as is or are in the words following (that is
to say)-
"
Thirdly, the mode or modes of applying metallic salts and the oxalate
"of alumina as materials for purifying or decolorizing liquids or substances
"in solution, and the application of sulphurous acid gas for the separation
"of the lead when in solution in manner herein-before described."
And we, the said Robert William Sievier and Richard Davis, do, and each
of us doth, hereby further declare that the above-written Disclaimer is not, nor
is any part thereof, intended to extend the exclusive right granted by the said
Letters Patent, and that these Presents shall not extend the said exclusive right
in any way whatever.
In witness whereof, the said parties to these Presents have hereunto set
their hands and seals, this First day of March, One thousand eight
10 the Clerk the latents of England.
This is to certify that the above-named William Sievier, and Richard Davis,
assignee of William Sievier's Patent, have applied to me for leave to enter
with you the above-written Disclaimer of some parts of the Specification of a
certain Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to the said William
Sievier under the Great Seal of Great Britain, dated at Westminster, the
12th day of July, in the eleventh year of the reign of Her present Majesty
Queen Victoria, and to which a Specification was duly enrolled. And having
considered of the said application, and no objection having been made to the
same, I hereby grant leave to the said William Sievier and Richard Davis to

page_text: file their said Disclaimer, pursuant to the Statute passed in the fifth and sixth
years of the reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth, entituled
"An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent for Inventions."
Lincoln's Inn
JOHN ROMILLY
10
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of March, in the
year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid Robert William Sievier and Richard
Davis came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the Disclaimer aforesaid, and all and everything therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Disclaimer aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the First day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand