IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING AND PRE- PARING CERTAIN OILS AND FATTY MATTERS
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
BETHELL, of Saint John's Hill, Wandsworth, in the County of Surrey,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-eighth day of March, in the third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Bethell, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said John Bethell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others, as I, the said John Bethell, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's. Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING AND PRE-
PARING CERTAIN OILS AND FATTY MATTERS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso, obliging me, the said John Bethell, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her 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 in and by the same;
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW IE, that in compliance with the sand proviso, 1, the said Jom
Bethell, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof (that is to say):-
The object of my Invention, so far as relates to improvements in the treat-
ing and preparing of oils, is to render certain oils, videlicit, whale, elephant
whale, Newfoundland whale, seal, rapeseed, teel, olive, palm, cocoa nut, or any
of the other common oils more useful, either for lubricating machinery or for
the purposes of illumination, and which object I effect in the first instance by
separating, clarifying, or precipitating a portion of the gelatinous, albuminous,
or other matters contained therein; and, secondly (when such oils are required
for burning in lamps or for illumination), by adding thereto a portion of either
of the hydrocarbons or essential oils herein-after named; and as regards the
treating and preparing of certain fatty matters, the object of my Invention is
the obtaining in the manner herein-after described from butter of palm, cocoa-
nut oil, or any other vegetable concrete oil, an oil which is more useful for
mixing with my purified oils, and which process also improves the fatty matter
or concrete oil so operated upon, and which improvements I propose to carry
into effect in the manner berein-after described (that is to say), as to that part
of the Invention which relates to oils.
First Process. I take any or either of the common oils above named, and
I purify them from the gelatinous, albuminous, and other matters contained
therein, by first thoroughly well mixing the oil with a solution of taunin, which
may be obtained from any of the vegetable matters yielding it; but I prefer
using a strong infusion of gall nuts in hot water, of which I take ten gallons, and
I thoroughly mix it with one hundred gallons of oil in any convenient manner.
This mixture must afterwards be allowed to rest for three or four days, until
all the tannin infusion and precipitate matter has settled down to the bottom.
The clear supernatant oil is then drawn off and again agitated, and mixed
with a solution of either acetate of lead, acetate of alumine, or sulphate of
zinc, which I prefer using in the following proportions, videlicit, one pound of
acetate of lead dissolved in six gallons of water, or one pound of acetate of
alumine dissolved in four gallons of water, or one pound of sulphate of ziné
dissolved in six gallons of water, and I mix ten gallons of either of such
solutions with one hundred gallons of oil; but I do not confine myself to these
proportions, as solutions of different strengths can be advantageously used for
different oils; the oil after three or four days rest is drawn off from the top.
and if not sufficiently clear must be filtered through oil bags in the usual
manner; during the period that the oil is undergoing the above operations, I

page_text: preter that it be kept at a temperature as near seventy degrees Fanrennent as
possible; should the oil be afterwards found to contain too much water, I cause.
it to be agitated with about ten per cent.. of fresh calcined sulphate of lime;
in fine powder, or well dried carbonate of soda; to abstract the greater part of
the water from it, the sulphate of lime or soda must be allowed to precipate
by rest, or the oil must be filtered through bags.
Second Process. I take the oil as purified by my first process, or I
take the more fluid parts of cocoa-nut or palm oil, and for the purpose
of making a good burning lamp oil I add thereto from five to ten per
cent. of either of the following essential oils or hydrocarbons, videlicit,
petroleum or rock oil, Persian naptha, fine oil of turpentine, or the best
essential oil obtained from the distillation of coal tar, on the oil obtained
as herein-after described, by distilling any of the above essential oils with
palm or cocoa-nut oil; the quantity to be added depends on the kind of oil
operated upon and its strength, and will vary between five and ten per
cent., but will be easily ascertained by trying a small sample of the oil
first. The essential oil or hydrocarbon must be intimately combined with the
oil, either by thorough agitation together, or by passing the vapour of the
essential oil or hydrocarbon into the oil, in an apparatus similar to a Wolfe's
apparatus, but the former method I prefer for general use. In some cases,
either from the oils operated upon being of a superior quality, or from so fine
an article not being required, it is not necessary to use both the above pro-
cesses, as either of them will be found sufficient for the purposes required; if
a superior burning lamp oil is required, I prefer using both of the above pro-
cesses, but for a commoner lamp oil the oil may be prepared by either one of
the above processes, without being submitted to the other, particularly
when it is prepared by the second process only, and for a lubricating oil the
first process only is used. As to the treating and preparing fatty matters, I
take the "butter of palm," or "rough palm oil," or "rough cocoa-nut oil," or
any other concrete vegetable oil, and add to either of these about twenty per
cent. of either of the essential oils above named, put..it into a common still,
and distill off the essential oil and the volatile matter which rises from the
palm or cocoa-nut oil; but I prefer distilling with steam, and for that purpose
I put the mixture into a close wood vat furnished with a steam pipe leading
from a steam.boiler, and branching out into several other pipes placed in the
bottom of the vat, and pierced with small holes; the charging hole of the vat
being shut steam is driven through the mass, and the volatile products are
conducted off through a pipe fixed in the top of the vat to a common distilling
worm placed in cold water; the volatile oil so condensed I mix with the oils

page_text: for burning in lamps, as above mentioned, and the concrete fatty matter
remaining in the vat is run out into casks, and will be found much improved,
and more useful for many purposes. In describing my improvements I have
stated the proportions of the different materials to be used which I prefer ;
but I do not confine myself to such proportions, as they may be advantageously
varied for different oils.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Bethell, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of our
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