CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS, MODE, OR METHOD OF MAKING OR MANUFACTURING LIME, CEMENT, ARTIFICIAL STONE, AND SUCH OTHER COMPOSITIONS MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE FOR WORKING UNDER WATER, AND IN CONSTRUCTING BUILDINGS AND OTHER WORKS WHICH ARE EXPOSED TO DAMP
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON; of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 Third day of April, in the fourth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Edward Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 also in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man; an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROCESS, MODE, OR METHOD OF MAKING OR MANUFACTURING LIME, CEMENT,
ARTIFICIAL STONE, AND SUCH OTHER COMPOSITIONS MORE PARTICULARLY APPLICABLE
FOR WORKING UNDER WATER, AND IN CONSTRUCTING BUILDINGS AND OTHER WORKS
WHICH ARE EXPOSED TO DAMP," being. a communication from a Foreigner
.

page_text: residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said William Edward Newton, by an 'instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of the 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.
•
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edward Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the 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 :-
This Invention, communicated to me by a Foreigner residing abroad,
consists,―
Firstly, in the formation by certain new processes of an hydraulic lime and
cement, which has the property of becoming hard and solid when under water
or 'exposed in damp 'situations.
Secondly, 'in the application of 'the 'same principles to 'the hardening of soft
stones for the purpose of making hard artificial 'stones.
Thirdly, in the employment of 'the 'same process for hardening wood and
preserving iron from the effects of damp, &c.
The following is the principle upon which the Invention is founded, and
the methods employed for carrying it 'into effect":
The property which certain sorts of lime possess of being hydraulic, 'or
hardening uiider water, is caused by 'a certain combination of the 'lime with
silica, alumina, and sometimes also with oxide of manganese and oxide of iron.
The object, then, 'of this 'Invention is to facilitate the 'combination of 'the 'lime
with those oxides'by means of agents 'not hitherto employed. This 'in'operating
by the dry inethöd, 'as is generally the case, instead of calcining 'the limestone
or 'lime with shrid 'and clay, 'the Inventor, in order to facilitate the combination
of the silica arid alumina 'with the 'lime, introduces 'a 'small quantity of potash
or'soda in the state of carbonate, sulphate, or 'chloride, or of 'any other "salt of
tliese 'bases susceptible of decomposition, or becoming a silicate when such
calcination takes place. The salt of potash or soda, the quantity of which
varies from three to six per cent. 'to the 'quantity of 'line, 'is employed in the
state of solution'so as to penetrate and mix better with 'the alkaline salt in 'the
chalk or slaked lime; calcination effects the rest in the ordinary manner. In
order to combine or incorporate more equally by the dry method the alumina

page_text: and the oxides of manganese, and of iron with the lime, the sulphates of these
bases are first decomposed by the slaked lime, by making a paste with a solution
of the sulphates mixed with the lime. This paste, into which the sulphates in
question enter in the proportion of from six to ten per cent. of the lime, is then
5 calcined in order to produce an hydraulic lime. All sorts of lime are made
hydraulic by the humid method by mixing slack lime with solutions of alum or
sulphates of alumina; but the best method consists in employing a solution
of the silicates of potash or of soda called liquor of flints, or soluble glass. An
hydraulic cement may also be made which will serve for the manufacture of
architectural ornaments by making a paste of pulverized chalk and a solution
of the silicate of potash or of soda. In working with this plaster it becomes
much harder than ordinary plaster. These same silicates of potash or soda
dissolved in water will also harden chalk or soft and porous stones, and trans-
form them artificially into hard stones. In order to do this these soft stones,
either rough or cut into their proper forms, must be soaked in a solution of the
silicate, either warm or cold, and allowed to remain there a longer or shorter
time, according to the degree of hardness which it may be necessary to give
them, after which they must be taken out and left exposed to the air. At the
end of a few days stones thus prepared will have acquired a hardness equal to
that of marble; and this quality in a little time pervades the whole mass; for
if for the purpose of polishing the outer coat or surface is removed, the inner
one, which at first is not so hard, will harden in its turn by exposure to the air.
This takes place as far as the silicate has been able to penetrate. A moro
superficial hardness is obtained by applying the solution of the silicate of potash
or soda by means of a brush. It is in this manner that walls constructed of chalk
and mortar may be hardened. Sculpture and various other objects, which
may be made or prepared in chalk, may be hardened and afterwards serve
for decorating buildings and other purposes without the fear of their becoming
injured by frost or damp. Chalk hardened in this manner may also be used as
a substitute for the stones now employed by lithographers. Plaster models
may also be hardened by placing them for some time in a solution of the
silicate, but it would be still better to add a portion of the solution to the paste
at the time of making the model or using the plaster. The silicate of potash
or soda is prepared by fusing one part of white siliceous matter with from one
and a half to two parts of potash or soda in the ordinary reverboratory
furnaces or in a glass-maker's or iron crucible. The solutions may be used of
any density for plaster, but they should be weaker for chalk. In the last place
the Inventor has found that the silicates of potash or soda, when dissolved in
water, decompose spontaneously in the air and cover the objects to which their

page_text: solution has been applied with a strong covering or layer; therefore, in
applying the solution of silicate of potash or of soda to polished iron, and
allowing it to dry in the air, the metal is preserved from oxidation. By soaking
wood many times in this same solution, and allowing it to dry in the open air
every time after it has been placed therein, it becomes so much penetrated with
silica that it acquires a considerable density and degree of indestructibility.
The solution of the silicate of potash is not the only substance which, by
being injected into. porous bodies, tends to harden them. A mixture made
from a solution of bicarbonate of animonia and of chloride of magnesium may
be successfully employed, or a mixture of the solutions of ammonia and
chloride of calcium may be used. In these latter cases, instead of having
siliceous injections, they are either magnesian or calcareous. Soft and porous
stones may also be considerably hardened and defended from the action of
damp by first well drying them and then dipping or steeping them in sulphur,
or some natural or artificial resinous or bituminous substance rendered liquid
by heat.
In conclusion I wish it to be understood that I claim as the Invention
communicated to me, and the object of the above in part recited Letters
Patent,―
First, the application of certain new means to change or convert all
descriptions of lime into hydraulic limes and cements, or such as become hard
under water or when exposed in damp situations, by combining these limes and
cements with silica, alumina, the oxide of manganese, or the oxide of iron,
either by the dry or humid method.
Secondly, the manufacture of hard artificial stones from chalk, plaster, and
all porous stones in general, by injecting into them or imbring them with
silica or the carbonates of magnesia or lime by any of the above-described
processes, or by causing them, by virtue of their porosity, to absorb either
melted sulphur or bituminous, resinous, or fatty matters properly liquified by
means of heat.
Thirdly, in the employment of the silicates of potash or soda for making or
forming a stony plaster or coating upon a variety of substances, thereby
preventing iron from becoming rusty or oxidized, and. rendering wood and
other organic matters harder and not liable to decay.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
WN EP (L.S.) NEWTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-seventh day of
September, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid William Edward
Newton came before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the Second day of October, in the year above written.