IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE " PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gamgee, of 28, Queen's Road, Bayswater, in
the County of Middlesex, Veterinary Surgeon, and Arthur Gamgee, of
27, Alva Street, in the City of Edinburgh, Doctor of Medicine, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gamgee and Arthur
Gamgee at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 28rd March 1867.
We, JOHN GAMGEE, of 28, Queen's Road, Bayswater, in the County of
Middlesex, Veterinary Surgeon, and ARTHUR GAMGEE, of 27, Alva Street, in
the City of Edinburgh, Doctor of Medicine, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL AND
VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in the saturation of charcoal and other porous sub-
stances which have the property of condensing gases and vapours with anti-
septic gases and vapours, such as sulphurous acid gas, hydrochloric acid gas,
aldehyde and acetic acid, so as to secure such antiseptic gases and vapours in
a readily ponderable and manageable form and in a state of great chemical
activity, and to obtain their gradual action on meat and any air enclosed with
them in vessels, with a view to future preservation of such meat.

page_text: We also propose to use in combination with charcoal and other porous
substances, treated as aforesaid, carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, nitrogen, or other
gases, which may be used for their specific action on meat, or for the simple
exclusion of air from vessels in which animal and vegetable substances may be
necked for preservation
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said John Gamgee and
Arthur Gamgee in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 23rd October
1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
GAMGEE, of 28, Queen's Road, Bayswater, in the County of Middlesex,
Veterinary Surgeon, and ARTHUR GAMGEE, of 27, Alva Street, Edinburgh, in
the County of Mid Lothian, Doctor of Medicine, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said John
Gamgee and Arthur Gamgee, Her special licence that we, the said John
Gamgee and Arthur Gamgee, our executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as we, the said John Gamgee and Arthur Gamgee, 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, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL
AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said John Gamgee and Arthur Gamgee, our executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under our, 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 we, the said John Gamgee and Arthur Gamgee,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what mauner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
Our Invention relates to improved means of preserving animal and

page_text: vegetable substances in a fresh condition, and consists in, firstly, the satura-
tion of charcoal and other porous substances which have the property of
condensing gases and vapours with antiseptic gases and vapours, such as.
sulphurous acid gas and hydrochloric acid gas, so as to secure such antiseptic
gases and vapours in a readily ponderable and manageable form, and in a
state of great chemical activity, and to obtain their general action on meat
and any air enclosed with them in vessels, with a view to future preservation
of such meat; secondly, the use in combination with charcoal and other porous
substances treated as aforesaid, carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, nitrogen, or
other gases, which may be used for their specific action on meat, or for the
simple exclusion of air from vessels in which animal and vegetable substances
may be packed for preservation.
The means which we propose to adopt to carry the said Invention into
practical operation may be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-We take charcoal or other
porous substances having the property of condensing gases and vapours, and
heat the same so as to dispel moisture and air; the said materials are then
placed in an air-tight receiver, which is exhausted by means of an air pump;
the said receiver is then placed in communication with a gas generating
apparatus, such as an ordinary Florence flask charged with charcoal and
sulphuric acid, to which heat is applied, so as to obtain the evolution of sul-
phurous acid gas; the said gas is condensed rapidly by the charcoal, which
after exposure of four or five hours to the action of the gas or vapour is fully
charged and fit for use. Furthermore, the said charcoal is transferred either
free or in cases or bags to an air-tight vessel in which the animal or vegetable
substances to be preserved are suspended. When such air-tight vessel has
been effectually closed it is exhausted through a tube by means of an air
pump, and then a stream of carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, or other gas or
vapour may be permitted to occupy the vacuum produced in the process of
exhaustion.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we would have it understood that we
do not confine ourselves to the details referred to so long as the peculiar
character of the Invention be retained, substantially as described; but what
we claim as our Invention and desire to be secured to us by the herein in part
recited Letters Patent are,-
Firstly, the use of charcoal or other porous substances charged with antiseptic
gases and vapours to be enclosed in suitable cases or vessels with the animal
and vegetable substances to be preserved.

page_text: Secondly, the use of charcoal and other porous substances, treated as
aforesaid, in combination with carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, nitrogen, or
other gases, which may be used for their specific action on meat, or for the
simple exclusion of air from cases or vessels in which animal and vegetable
substances may be packed for préservation.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gamgee, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the
above-named John Gamgee, in
the presence of
CHAS. AUGUSTUS WRIGHT, Sol.,
8, Delahay Street,
Westminster,
S.W.
JOHN GAMGEE. (L.B.)