IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PRESERVING CERTAIN KINDS OF FOOD,
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Filippo Artimini, of Florence, but at present residing at
No. 10, Jermyn Street, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PRESERVING CERTAIN KINDS OF FOOD,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Filippo Artimini at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st July 1880.
FILIPPO ARTIMINI, of Florence, but at present residing at No. 10, Jermyn Street,
in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PRESERVING
CERTAIN KINDS OF FOOD, AND THE PREPARATION OF AN ANTISEPTIC FOR THAT
PURPOSE."
In the Specification to a Patent granted to John Imray on the 26th June 1879,
No. 2577, for an Invention communicated to him by me from abroad, was described
the preparation of an antiseptic and its application to the preservation of raw meat.
Since the filing of the said Specification I have discovered that the qualities of the
antiseptic therein described are improved by alteration of the proportions of the
ingredients of which it consists, and I have also ascertained that the antiseptic thus
modified, while its value when applied to meat, as described in the said Specification,
is enhanced, is also applicable for the preservation of other articles of food, such as
poultry and game, also for fish and for butter. I prepare the boric tartrate which
I employ as an antiseptic in the following manner-I add from 1 to 1 parts by
weight of tartaric acid to from 12 to 15 parts of boric acid, and dissolving these in
water I subject the solution to heat, which may exceed 80° Fahr., but should not
exceed 190° Fahr. When the solution is hot I add about one half its volume of
alcohol, whereupon a scum forms on the top of the liquid, and this being removed
and dried constitutes the improved antiseptic. I apply this antiseptic to articles of
food, such as poultry, game, or fish, in a manner similar to that described in the
Specification above referred to, that is to say, by immersing them in an aqueous
solution of the antiseptic for several hours, the time of immersion being longer the
larger the pieces immersed. For the preservation of butter I mix from 5 to 10 per
cent. of the antiseptic (which is in the form of a crystalline powder) intimately
with the butter in a manner similar to that in which salt is usually applied to
butter. The antiseptic may to a great extent be washed out of the butter before
use. When the antiseptic is used in solution the water in which it is dissolved
may be aromatised, as described in the Specification above referred to. When large
pieces are treated the antiseptic solution may be caused to permeate their pores
more thoroughly by treating them in vacuo, as for the preservation of timber, the
vacuum vessel being lined with glass, porcelain, or other substance not acted on by
the antiseptic.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Filippo Artimini in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 19th January
1881.
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FILIPPO ARTIMINI, of Florence, but at present residing at No. 10, Jermyn Street,
in the County of Middlesex. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF PRESERVING
CERTAIN KINDS OF FOOD, AND THE PREPARATION OF AN ANTISEPTIC FOR THAT
PURPOSE."
In the Specification to a Patent granted to John Imray on the 26th June 1879,
No. 2577, for an Invention communicated to him by me from abroad, was described
the preparation of an antiseptic and its application to the preservation of raw meat,
Since the filing of the said Specification I have discovered that the qualities of the
antiseptic therein described are improved by alteration of the proportions of the
ingredients of which it consists, and I have also ascertained that the antiseptic thus
modified, while its value when applied to meat, as described in the said Specification,
is enhanced, is also applicable for the preservation of other articles of food, such as
poultry and game, also for fish and for butter. I prepare the boric-tartrate, which
I employ as an antiseptic, in the following manner:-I add from 1 to 1/2 parts by
weight of tartaric acid to from 12 to 15 parts of boric acid, and dissolving these in
water I subject the solution to heat, which may exceed 80° Fahr., but should not
exceed 190° Fahr. When the solution is hot I add about one half its volume of
alcohol, whereupon a scum forms on the top of the liquid, and this being removed
and dried constitutes the improved antiseptic. I apply this antiseptic to articles of
food, such as poultry, game, or fish, in a manner similar to that described in the
Specification above referred to, that is to say, by immersing them in an aqueous
solution of the antiseptic for several hours, the time of immersion being longer the
larger the pieces immersed. For the preservation of butter I mix from 5 to 10 per
cent. of the antiseptic (which is in the form of a crystalline powder) intimately
with the butter in a manner similar to that in which salt is usually applied to
butter. The antiseptic may to a great extent be washed out of the butter before
use.
When the antiseptic is used in solution the water in which it is dissolved
may be aromatised, as described in the Specification above referred to. When large
pieces are treated the antiseptic solution may be caused to permeate their pores more
thoroughly by treating them in vacuo, as for the preservation of timber, the
vacuum vessel being lined with glass, porcelain, or other substance not acted on by
the antiseptic.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I make no general claim to the use
of boric tartrate for preserving meat, nor to the application of this antiseptic in
the manner described in the Specification above referred to, No. 2577 of 1879, but
I claim,
First. The herein described process for preparing boric tartrate.
Second. The use of boric tartrate prepared as herein described for preserving
poultry, game, fish, and other articles of animal food, as well as meat, substantially
as herein described.
Third. The use of boric tartrate for preserving butter, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Filippo Artimini, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight bundred and eighty one.