IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING CERTAIN LIQUID OR SOLID ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES FROM THE HUSK OF A CERTAIN FRUIT
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Louis Lucas and Albert de Briges, Chemists
of Paris, in the French Empire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PREPARING CERTAIN LIQUID OR SOLID ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES FROM THE
HUSK OF A CERTAIN FRUIT."
Sealed the 28th November 1856, and dated the 15th July 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Louis Lucas and
Albert de Briges at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 15th July 1856.
We, JEAN LOUIS LUCAS and ALBERT DE BRIGES, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING CERTAIN LIQUID
OR SOLID ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES FROM THE HUSK OF A CERTAIN FRUIT," to be as
follows:-
The object of our Invention is the preparation of alimentary substances from
the outer shell or husk of the walnut, an operation which is rendered some-
what difficult by the tendency of the shell or husk to ferment to too great a
degree, or to become oxidized and injured. We tear the husk from the
walnut and press it immediately, and place it in contact with a syrup or solution.
of saccharine matter of a proper strength, which may afterwards be diluted:
A certain degree of fermentation now takes place, either spontaneously or
with the aid of yeast or other ferment. The husk is thus converted into a
substance adapted for food, in lieu of being a bitter nauseous substance. One
mode of proceeding is to place the husks in heaps, when they undergo a certain

page_text: amount of spontaneous fermentation, and are converted into a sweet pulp
somewhat resembling baked apples in taste and smell. This pulp being
baked in an oven, with the addition of sugar, furnishes a solid or pasty
aliment, which may be employed for food both for men and animals. By
pressing the pulp a juice is obtained, which being immediately placed in close
vessels, and protected from air and water and oxidizing agents, may be pre-
served for a long time. A liquid aliment or beverage is prepared by dissolving
some sugar in water and adding a portion of this juice, and placing it in a
cask or close vessel. Fermentation commences and proceeds as with wine or
cider. A cask of this beverage may be in use for some time without becoming
sour, as although the fermentation goes on until the liquid ultimately beconies
acid, as with wine or cider, yet the progress of the fermentation is less rapid.
By continuing the fermentation we obtain vinegar, or by distilling the liquid
we obtain spirit or alcohol. By adding various aromatic substances and
various sorts of saccharine substances to the juice, during its fermentation, we
obtain beverages of various different flavours. We also introduce the un-
fermented juice into aerated and other liquors, and we employ the juice or the
solid material in lieu of or together with hops in the manufacture of beer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jean Louis Lucas and Albert de Briges in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 22nd December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JEAN
LOUIS LUCAS and ALBERT DE BRIGES, Chemists, of Paris, in the French
Empire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year, of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said Jean
Louis Lucas and Albert de Briges, Her special licence that we, the said Jean
Louis Lucas and Albert de Briges, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said Jean Louis Lucas and Albert de Briges, our
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,

page_text: and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING CERTAIN
LIQUID OR SOLID ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES FROM THE HUSK OF A CERTAIN FRUIT,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Jean Louis Lucas
and Albert de Briges, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our or their bands and seals, or under the hand and
seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 we, the said Jean Louis Lucas and Albert de
Briges, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
The object of our Invention is the preparation of liquid and solid alimen-
tary substances from the pericarp or outer shell or husk of the walnut, for
which purpose we have made a variety of experiments on the fermentation of
the walnut husk mixed with sugar, and in its treatment, so as to produce from
it a drink or beverage, or a concentrated juice or preserve, or a solid article
of food. It was found necessary to avoid as much as possible the incon÷
veniences arising from the use of yeast or other artificial ferments, which often
communicate an unpleasant flavour to the beverages prepared with them,
when such flavour is not overpowered or covered by the addition of a large
proportion of aromatic substances. An insufficient alcoholic fermentation was
also to be feared, as well as the production of putrefiable mucilage, and it was
necessary to guard against the excessive oxidation of the walnut husk, which
is acted on very rapidly by the oxygen of the atmosphere. We have succeeded
in overcoming these difficulties by rapidly tearing up the husk, pressing it
immediately, and placing the juice in contact with a syrop or solution of sugar
of variable strength, according to the purpose for which it is required, and
which may be subsequently diluted with water if required. Fermentation
soon takes place, or may be accelerated if required by the addition of. yeast or
other ferment. By proceeding in this manner we are enabled to convert the
husk of the walnut into liquid and solid alimentary substances adapted for
the food of men and animals.
By proceeding in the following manner we prepare a juice which is easily
transportable, and which may be preserved for a long time, and is adapted for.
the preparation of a beverage which may be employed in lieu of wine, or.
cider or-beer-We take the husk or pericarp of the walnut, at any period of
:

page_text: ·
its growth, but by preference; when it is green and before the fruit has ripened.
'It is fermented as herein after: mentioned; and the fermented pulp is pressed
by means of a hydraulic or other press, so as to extract the juice as quickly
as possible, and to protect it: from being oxidized by the air, which would
produce an acid identical, with or similar to butyric acid, the presence of
which in the drink or beverage is to be avoided by all means. By extracting
the juice as rapidly as possible, and receiving it in vessels' which are imme
diately closed, the saccharine fermentation is prevented from passing into the
putrid fermentation. The strong juice thus obtained being kept out of contact
with water or air, or other oxidizing agents, may be preserved for years with
all its aromatic properties, and may be carried on long voyages for the use of
sailors and others. We prepare a solid alimentary substance in the following
manner The husks of. the walnut are placed in heaps, and allowed to
undergo a spontaneous fermentation, by which they are converted from a bitter
disagreable substance into a soft sweet pulp, somewhat similar to baked apples
in taste and smell. This pulp (with or without the addition of sugar) is then
baked in an oven, which may be heated by hot, air, or by steam, in such a
manner that the temperature may be easily regulated.. A solid or pasty
aliment or jam is thus obtained, which may be used for the food of men or
animals. In preparing both the solid and liquid substances,. we avoid as much
as possible.oxidation or the addition of water. This is effected with the liquid
preparation by adding sugar, or by placing it in vessel's carefully closed, and
with the solid preparation by, baking it immediately, with or without the
addition of sugar. These liquid and solid products may be used in various
ways. The liquid products may be evaporated. or concentrated to a thick or
pasty consistence, as may be required. To produce a beverage or fermented
liquor, we mix from ten to twenty pounds of the juice with twenty gallons of
water, and we add immediately from ten to forty pounds of sugar. It is
preferable to dissolve the sugar first in the water, and then to add the juice to
it,. the better to avoid any oxilation. The mixture is placed in close vessels,
and immediately. begins to ferment, and the fermentation proceeds in a similar
manner to that of wine or cider, but it lasts a longer time. A cask of this
beverage may be gradually consumed, and may remain in use for a long time.
without becoming sour or spoiled, as the tendency to oxidation, which is so
great in the first stage of the preparation, has now disappeared. The sub-
stance, after being combined with sugar and water, proceeds gradually through
the alcoholic and acetous fermentations in the ordinary course, but less rapidly
than wine or cider. We have also found that this substance, being obtained.
without the aid of heat, and free from, any empyreumatic flavour, produces

page_text: spirit and vinegar of good flavour.
Moreover, the mixture of the juice
during its fermentation with various saccharine substances, more or less
charged with aroma, modifies advantageously their aroma, and destroys in
many saccharine substances certain disagreable or objectionable flavours,
which interfere with their use. We also introduce the unfermented juice of
the walnut husk mixed with sugar in aerated liquors, and we employ the
walnut husk or its juice in lieu of or mixed with hops in the preparation of
beer. We also dry or desiccate the walnut husk when it is required to pre-
serve it for some time before treating it as herein-before described.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that we do not confine
ourselves to the proportions herein-before mentioned, as the same may be
varied; but what we claim is,-
First, the new application of the walnut husk to the preparation of liquid
and solid alimentary substances, by combining it with sugar or saccharine
substances, as herein-before described.
Second, the mode or modes herein-before described of treating the walnut
Lusk, so as to obtain a juice capable of being preserved, or a beverage similar
to sweet wine or cider, or a spirit or vinegar, or an unfermented syrop suitable
for mixing with aerated liquors, as herein-before described.
Third, the mode or modes of treating the walnut husk by spontaneous
fermentation and the action of heat, so as to produce a solid or pasty alimen-
tary substance, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the application of the walnut husk or its juice, in lieu of or together
with hops in the manufacture of beer, as herein-before described
In witness whereof, we, the said Jean Louis Lucas and Albert de Briges,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD, Ing' Civil,
Boulevard de Strasbourg, No. 23,
à Paris.
J. L. LUCAS.
(L.S.)
A. DE BRIGES. (L.S.)