IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Marie Antoine Serruys, of Bruxelles,
in the Kingdom of Belgium, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TANNING."-A communication from Herman de Bock, of
Bruges, in Belgium.
Sealed the 14th October 1853, and dated the 14th April 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Marie
Antoine Serruys at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 14th April 1858.
I, FRANCOIS MARIE ANTOINE SERRUYS, of Bruxelles, in the King-
dom of Belgium, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TANNING" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists of immersing the skins or hides, after the
hair is removed, in a solution of mimosa catechu, and subjecting them
to manipulation, then immersing them in a solution of vitriol, and finally
in water. In heavy skins, after immersing them in a solution of

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said François Marie Antoine Serruys, in the Great
Seal Patent Office, on the 14th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
FRANÇOIS MARIE ANTOINE SERRUYS, of Bruxelles, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the six-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said François Marie Antoine Serruys,
Her special licence that I, the said François Marie Antoine Serruys,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said François Marie Antoine Serruys, my 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 TANNING," (a
communication from Herman de Bock, of Bruges, in Belgium,) upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said François Marie
Antoine Serruys, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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 I, the said François Marie Antoine Ser-
ruys, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
This Invention consists of immersing the skins or hides, after the
hair is removed, in a solution of mimosa catechu, and subjecting them
to manipulation, then immersing them in a solution of vitriol, and
finally in water. In heavy skins, after immersing them in a solution
of mimosa catechu, and being manipulated, they are immersed in a
solution of mimosa catechu and sulphate of magnesia.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed
to describe the manner of performing the same.
The skins or hides are to be first unhaired, and then to be treated in
the following manner :-
A solution of mimosa catechu is first prepared by dissolving three
hundred pounds of mimosa catechu by boiling it in about fifty-seven
gallons of water. This solution, at about 90° of Fahrenheit, is to be
placed in a suitable vessel or pit. The quantity above mentioned is
proper for about one hundred calf or other skins, from 10 to 15 lbs.
each, which are to be placed in the liquor and kept extended, and they
are to be manipulated or handled, by removing them from the liquor
daily and returning them to the liquor, during five days, stirring the
liquor each time before returning the skins; they are then for the next
fifteen days to be taken out and returned each third day, stirring the
liquor each time. The skins are then removed from the liquor, and
placed on wood frames to drain; about two-thirds of the liquor are to
be removed and replaced with water, and also 40 lbs. of oil of vitriol
are to be stirred in. The skins are to be introduced into this liquor,
taking care to keep them well extended when in the liquor; the skins
are to be taken out next day and the liquor stirred; the skins are again
to be returned into the liquor, and remain for about forty-eight hours;
they are then placed on wood frames to drain, and afterwards placed in
water for three or four days, when the process is complete.
When treating hides, the liquor is prepared stronger, and the time
occupied is greater. In about four hundred and forty gallons of water
about two thousand lbs. weight of mimosa catechu is to be dissolved,

page_text: which solution is put into a suitable pit or vessel, and this quantity of
liquor is suitable for a hundred hides or heavy skins, each weighing
50 to 80 lbs.; the skins when in the liquor are to be kept extended,
and are to be taken out, handled, and returned daily for about ten or
twelve days, or till the color of the skins become equal, the liquor
in all cases being well stirred before returning the skins into it.
During the next thirty-two days the skins are to be taken out three
times, that is, at each eighth day, and then during the next forty-five
days the skins are to be taken out and returned each fifteenth day;
they are next to be taken out of the liquor and to be put on wood
frames to drain; a solution of four hundred and forty gallons of water
and ninety-two lbs. of white alum are to be added to the liquor in the
pit or vessel, and two hundred lbs. of oil of vitriol are to be stirred in.
The skins or hides are to be placed again into the pit or vessel, and
taken out and handled next day, the liquid is to be stirred, and the skins
or hides are to be returned into the pit or vessel, and are to remain for
about three weeks; the skins are then to be drained on wood frames,
and the liquid removed from the pit or vessel; the skins or hides are
to be laid again into the pit or vessel, and water is to be run in
sufficient to cover the hides or skins, and they are to remain for four or
five days, when the process will be complete. In place of alum, sulphate
of magnesia may be employed, but experiments have shewn that alum
makes the hides harder. In case, however, of sulphate of magnesia
being used in place of the liquor last mentioned being added to the
solution of mimosa catechu, the hides or skins are to be placed in a
liquor composed by dissolving six cwt. of mimosa catechu and eight
cwt. of sulphate of magnesia in six hundred quarts of water. The
skins are to remain therein from thirty to fifty days, according to the
weight of the skins or hides. The skins or hides are then to be placed
in water, as above described.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that
although I have been particular in describing the exact particulars of
the quantities of the materials used, and the manner of employing the

page_text: same, I do not confine myself thereto, as the same may be varied with-
out departing from the Invention. But what I claim is, the application
of solutions of mimosa catechu and oil of vitriol, or sulphate of
magnesia, in tanning skins and hides, as herein explained.
In witness whereof, I,. the said François Marie Antoine Serruys,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of
October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-three.
Witness, GEORGE PITT,
4, Old Square.
F. M. SERRUYS. (L.S.)