COMPOUND, OR COMPOST, OR COMBINATION, PREPARED BY AN IMPROVED METHOD OF COMBINING VARIOUS MATERIALS IN A MANNER NOT HITHERTO IN USE FOR THE PURPOSE OF MANURE
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Sir JAMES
MURRAY, of Merion Square, Dublin, Knight, and Doctor of Medicine, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom called Eng-
land, bearing date at London, on the Twenty-third day of May, in the fifth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Sir James Murray, Her especial licence that I, the said Sir
James Murray, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Sir James Murray, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the United
Kingdom called England, my "COMPOUND, OR COMPOST, OR COMBINATION, PREPARED
BY AN IMPROVED METHOD OF COMBINING VARIOUS MATERIALS IN A MANNER NOT
HITHERTO IN USE FOR THE PURPOSE OF MANURE;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Sir James Murray, 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 enrolled in Her Majesty's High
Court of Chancery in England, within six calendar months from and imme-
diately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with tho said proviso, I, the said Sir
James Murray, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascertained
as follows, that is to say :-
The main object of my Invention or improvement is to produce a compound,
such that, when mixed in by ploughing, harrowing, raking, digging, or other-
wise, with soil, earth, mould, or any ordinary compost, it shall cause to be
generated or evolved within such soil, earth, mould, or-compost, carbonic acid
and useful salts, so as to augment the supply of nutriment for vegetables, and
improve the quality of crops generally. This object I purpose to effect by
drying up and solidifying the common mineral acids, which in their ordinary
state, as articles of sale, are not well adapted for purposes of manure; and
also phosphoric acid, by mixing them with dry, porous, and absorbent matters,
vegetable, animal, or mineral, such as bran, sawdust, dust of malt, husks of
seeds, brewers or distillers' grains, ground rags, pulverized rape or linseed
cakes, the refuse of flax leaves, bark, dry tan, siliceous sands, peat, or other
sandy mould, dry dust, earth or clay, fine sifted cinders, ashes, and the like, in
which forin they may be more conveniently and advantageously combined with
alcaline substances, and, so combined, may be worked into the ground in a dry
state; the chemical action by which the carbonic acid is evolved and the salts
generated taking place subsequently and in the most advantageous manner in
the soil itself, when excited by the moisture then present in it, or which may
afterwards fall upon it in rain or dew. And I claim, besides the ultimate com-
bination, as a separate and distinct part of my Invention, the powdery acid
mixture adapted for entering into combination with alkaline substances, the
manufacture of which compound is one process for effecting the general result.
For obtaining this powdery acid compound the acids which I find most
suitable äre, 1st, the phosphoric acid; 2nd, the nitric, or common aquafortis
of the shops; 3rd, the hydrochloric or nuuriatic; 4th, the sulphuric. And I
use the following processes, whereby, as will be seen, different compounds aro
produced; but all, with this common property, that they are acids fixed in a
solid state by mechanical mixture with or absorption into porous or powdery
matters. Thus :-
First. I mix any suitable quantity of the mineral called apatite, or asparagus
stone, or native phosphate or phosphorite of lime, or fossil bone earth, with an
equal weight of common or cheapest sulphuric acid, or any other of the above-
mentioned acids. This paste or mixture is well agitated in an earthen vessel
during two or three days, and is then intimately incorporated with one, two, or
more of the absobent substances above enumerated, in sufficient quantity to

page_text: convert this acidulous phosphoric mixture into a compost, which I call. phos-
phoric compound or powder. In this process, although I specify the phos-
phoric acid and the superphosphate of lime thus produced from the mineral
of phosphate of lime or apatite, which phosphoric acid and phosphate are well
adapted for my compound, and are now first applied by mie- to such purpose,
yet I do not restrict the process to the use of this mineral phosphate," inasmuch
as any phosphoric acid and superphosphate of lime, however obtained, will
equally answer the purpose.
"
Secondly. I mix any suitable quantity of nitric acid or aquafortis with such
a quantity of one or more of the absorbent substances already mentioned.ás is
found sufficient to incorporate the entire müxture into a dry or powdery com-
post. This compound, when intended to be used for manure, I again mix
intimately with an equal weight of powdered alabaster or gypsum, or sulphate
of lime, whereby the acid fumes are more confined and held in, and the manuring
properties are aided when these various substances are well and thoroughly
incorporated by stirring and mixing them upon a suitable floor or in proper
vessels; the mixture so obtained is put into casks or earthen jars, from which
the air is carefully excluded. This compound, which I call "acidulous nitric
powder," is well adapted for producing carbonic acid, and the useful class of
nitrates within soils, when introduced together with alkaline or earthy carbonates,
in the manner hereafter shewn.
Thirdly. I mix or rake any suitable quantity of hydrochloric or muriatic
acid with such quantity of one or more of the already-mentioned porous sub-
stances as is found sufficient for incorporating into a dry or powdery compound
for agricultural purposes; I add to this an equal weight of powdered alabaster
or gypsum, and intimately mix the whole together; the resulting mixture is
then put into casks or stone vessels and secured from the air. And to this
compound I have given the name of "acidulous muriatic powder."
Fourthly. I mix any suitable quantity of sulphuric acid with such quantity
of one or more of the most appropriate of the absorbent substances already
mentioned as is sufficient to form a dry powdery compost as before. To
this, when intended for agricultural purposes, I add an equal weight of
dry and powdery acidulous sulphate of soda, and the same weight of dry
and pulverized acidulous sulphate of potass. These, when well mixed and
incorporated together, form another compound, which is put into casks or vessels
and called by me "acidulous vitriolated powder." Each of the acids above
mentioned I have found to require for mixture about half its weight of one or
more of the light absorbent porous substances above mentioned; more, however,
should be added when necessary to secure a perfectly dry and pulverisable.

page_text: combination. The nitric acid, or common aquafortis of the shops, being fre-
quently unequal in strength, I find it convenient to reduce to a uniform specific
gravity of about 1,200. When compounded with alabaster or gypsum, as
described in the second process, the compound should be kept separate. The
sulphuric acid which I use I find it convenient to dilute with water to a strength
of about 1,600. Any one or more of the above-mentioned acidulous powdery
compounds may be used, either together or separate.
In carrying out the principal object of my Invention, as explained in the com-
mencement, and in making the selection, regard must be had to the nature and
quality of the lands to which the compost is to be applied, and the kind of crops
proposed to be obtained. Thus phosphates, nitrates, muriates, or sulphates, all
or any, as may be desired or be found advantageous, may be generated within
the soils by the chemical union of the several acid powdery compounds respec-
tively, with a sufficient quantity of alkaline matter either already existing in tho
ground, or artificially introduced into it for the purpose. But, speaking generally,
I find it peculiarly advantageous to conjoin two or more of the before-men-
tioned acid compounds, or all of them together, taking equal quantities of each
into one general mixture, which I call my "consolidated acid compound," and
which combination, whether of all or of any two or more, constitutes a fifth
species of the acid compound which I claim as one part of my Invention.
Having thus enumerated and described the several acid compounds, I now
proceed to specify the alkaline substances with which, for the purpose of ma-
nure, these compounds are to be mixed. The substances which may bo bene-
ficially employed for this purpose are supercarbonates, carbonates, and even sub-
carbonates of soda, potass, and ommoniac, and also earthy carbonates of lime,
as limestone, marble, chalk, calcareous marl, coral, coraline, or shells, or the
carbonate of lime remaining after the purification of coal gas, and also magne-
sian carbonate, such as the mineral called dolomite, or any of them. In order to
secure abundance and variety of alkaline matter (for, as the saline constituents
of plants are numerous, a variety of alkalics, as well as of acids, is beneficial),
the method which I use is the following:-I take 1 cwt. powdered sesqui-
carbonate of ammonia, 1 cwt. sesquicarbonate or bicarbonate of soda, 1 cwt.
powdered dolomite, 1 cwt. carbonate of lime, coral, or coraline, and 1 cwt.
bicarbonate of potass. All these I mix well with one cwt. of silicate of potass
or soda. The powder so obtained I call my "alkaline mixture," but I do not
claim either the ingredients or the combination as any part of my Invention.
I only state and describe it as part of the process whereby the general result is
effected. (For obtaining the silicate I mix seven parts of powdered hornblende,
trap, or felspar with three parts of black soda ash obtained from salt, or with

page_text: twenty parts of kelp, and fuse them together for four hours, or until the silicate
is formed in a furnace or kiln.) The alkaline mixture so obtained I mix in
equal quantities with either or any of the four acidulous powders, or with the con-
solidated acid compound severally above described. This resulting mixture I call
my "fertilizing compost or powder," and I claim it as another and distinct part
of my Invention. The fertilizing compost is to be put up in casks and kept
dry till used. It is to be plowed, harrowed, or raked into mould or soils, and
it may be introduced into subsoils to improve their quality, or may be mingled
with clay, carth, or other compost heaps or pits for manure. For wet lands 1
find it useful to dry the various materials above mentioned in such manner and
at such temperature as are used for drying grain for grinding; and in such
lands, in order to retard the too-sudden escape of the fixed air through rain
or floods, and to retard and prolong the chemical action, I mix separately the
acid or acids, and the alkali or alkalies above mentioned with one third their
bulk of cohesive or gelatinous substances, such as coal or gas tar, liquid pitch,
and animal size or jelly, in order to retard and prolong the action of the above
manures. On the contrary, for parched lands I find it beneficial to make up
and use the series of acids or alkalies, or any of them, in a less dried state, and
in that state to keep them separate until wanted, and then to mix them toge-
ther at the time of introducing them into soils and composts, so that their action
may sooner commence by being combined in a moist state within the mould or
carth. Another highly beneficial mode of using them is, the following:-By
being briskly agitated or rolled in strong casks with twenty times their bulk of
water or stable liquids they will impregnate such fluids with fixed air, which
may then be applied by irrigation or sprinkling to the fertilizing of lands, pas-
tures, meadows, or gardens, and the attracting or fixing of ammonia, such as
that of gas liquors.
Having now described the several processes and compounds of which my
Invention consists, I would have it understood that I do not claim to have
discovered any of the above-named mineral acids or alkaline ingredients. But
I claim as one part of my Invention the acid powdery compound (five several
kinds of which I have above enumerated and described) whereby the hitherto
liquid acids are rendered solid and portable, and thereby capable of being
brought advantageously and conveniently into combination with alkalics and
alkaline carths. And I also claim as a further part of my Invention the com-
bination of the acid powdery compound with an alkaline mixture, and the
compost and manure thence resulting. And as I am aware that other combi-
nations of acids and alkalies may be used differing in some degree both as to the
ingredients and the proportions from those herein described but capable of

page_text: producing similar effects, I do not restrict my Invention, or any part of it, to
the particular mineral acids or the particular alkaline substances before enu-
merated, or the exact number or proportion of the specified ingredients. But I
claim as my Invention the compound resulting from the mixture of a mineral
acid or acids with a porous powdery substance, so as to mechanically solidify
the acid or acids, or absorb, it or them into the powder; and also the combination
of such compound with alkaline or carthy carbonates for the evolving of car-
bonic acid within the soil and about the roots of vegetables, and for generating
salts upon and. within the ground itself, instead of spreading such salts in
chrystals a powder over the surface of land as heretofore.
In witness whoreof, I, the said Sir James Murray, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand cight hundred and forty-two.

page_text: by Sir James Murray, of the Specification marked A. produced to deponent
at the time of swearing this his affidavit, and on which deponent has endorsed
his name, is the proper handwriting of the said Thomas Goold, Master in
Chancery as aforesaid, as he, this deponent, verily believes.