IMPROVE. MENTS IN THE TREATMENT. APPLICATION, AND USE OF WHEAT AND OTHER GRAINS AND AMYLACEOUS VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Elijah Slack, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN THE TREATMENT. APPLICATION, AND USE OF WHEAT AND OTHER
GRAINS AND AMYLACEOUS VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES."
Sealed the 25th May 1858, and dated the 3rd December 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Elijah Slack at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd
December 1857.
I, ELIJAH SLACK, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT, APPLICATION, AND USE OF WHEAT AND
OTHER GRAINS AND AMYLACEOUS VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES," to be as follows, that is
to say-
This Invention relates to the treatment or preperation and use of wheat,
maize, or Indian corn and other grains of various kinds, and various
amylaccous vegetable substances, for the purpose of making or producing
"thickenings," "finishes," sizeing, and dressing materials for use in various
manufactures and articles of food. According to this Invention the unground
grain or other substance to be treated for these several purposes is primarily
subjected to the chemical action of acids and alkalis, as well as to that of
ונס..מז

page_text: dextrine in solution and other saccharine matters. After this primary treat-
ment, the grain or other substance is washed and dried, and is then ground
and otherwise treated and prepared as may be necessary for the production of
the thickening or other matters desired to be made.
This system of treatment or preparation also answers for the manufacture
of British gums and substitutes for foreign gums. Should it be necessary that
the matters should be decolorised, they can be bleached in the course of the
treatment herein-before described. Grain and other vegetable matters treated
in this way may be economically and judiciously used as an article of food, and
in particular as a substitute for arrowroot.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Elijah Slack in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd June 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME. I, ELAJAH
SLACK, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Manufacturing
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, er heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Elijah Slack, Her special license that I, the said Elijah Slack,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Elijah Slack, my executors, administrators, or 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 THE
TREATMENT. APPLICATION, AND USE OF WHEAT AND OTHER GRAINS AND AMYLACEOUS
VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Elijah Slack, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should a
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Elijah Slack, do hereby declare the a
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-

page_text: formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the treatment or preparation and use of
wheat, maize, or Indian corn and other grains of various kinds, and various
amylaceous vegetable substances for the purpose of making or producing
"thickenings," "finishers," sizeing, and dressing materials for use in various
manufactures and articles of food. According to this Invention the unground
grain or other substance to be treated for these several purposes is primarily
subjected to the chemical action of acids and alkalies, as well as to that of
dextrine in solution and other saccharine matters. After this primary treat-
ment, the grain or other substance is washed and dried, and is then ground
and otherwise treated and prepared as may be necessary for the production of
the thickening or other matters desired to be made.
This system of treatment or preparation also answers for the manufacture
of British gums and substitutes for foreign gums. Should it be necessary
that the matters should be decolorised they can be bleached in the course of
the treatment herein-before described. Grain and other vegetable matters
treated in this way may be economically and judiciously used as an article of
food, and in particular as a substitute for arrowroot.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall now
proceed to describe the same in detail, and explain certain modifications under
which my improvements may be judiciously carried out in practice. Underone
modification of my improvements, in the treatment, application, and use of
wheat and other grains and amylaceous vegetable substances, I take wheat,
Indian corn, barley, buckwheat, rye, corn, rice, or other grains in the whole,
or unground state, and subject the said grain or grains to the action of a
solution of the caustic soda of commerce, that is to say, soda ash rendered
caustic by the addition of lime. The strength of the solution of caustic soda
is regulated according to the drynessand quality of the grain, which is steeped
in the alkaline solution either in a hot or cold state, until it is properly saturated
and softened. The length of time which this operation of steeping occupies is
from four to twenty-one days, according to the hardness of the grain. The
process is, however, greatly facilitated if the grain be primarily subjected to a
pressure of from fifty to three hundred pounds upon the square inch for a period
varying from six to twenty-four hours. After undergoing this preparatory
pressure, the grain is placed in thealkaline solution as before described, and now
requires much less time to effect the softening or disintegration of its particles.
Instead of using a solution of caustic soda as a menstruum or steeping liquor,
a solution of any of the following salts or alkalies may be made use of for the

page_text: purpose, namely, chloride of soda, carbonate of soda, pearlash, carbonate of
potash, amnionia, carbonate of ammonia, bisulphate of soda, sal enixen,
caustic potash, caustic barytes, and lime. The solution of these salts or
alkalies may vary in strength from two to eight degrees of Twaddell's hydro-
meter. Whether a saline or an alkaline solution be made use of as a
menstruum or steeping liquor, its strength must be regulated by the state of
the grain, as the newer it is the more quickly is it acted upon by the
solvent. Another mode of treating the different kinds of grain herein-before
enumerated, consists in using an acidulated liquor asa menstruum in lieu of a
saline or alkaline solution. These acidulated solutions may be prepared
by mixing water with any of the following acids until reduced ton strength of
from two to eight degrees of Twaddell's hydrometer: sulphuric acid, muriatic
acid, nitric acid, phosphoric acid, lactic acid, oxalic acid, or other acids of a
similar nature. In some cases the grain may be steeped in warm solutions,
but generally I prefer to us a cold menstruum. Under another modification
of my Invention, I mix with the whole or unground grains herein-before
described a certain proportion of malt, and the proportion I prefer to use is
from four to ten pounds weight of malt to each hundredweight of grain. This
mixture may be subjected to either a hot or cold menstruum; if, however, a
heated solvent is made use of, the heat employed should not exceed one hun-
dred and seventy degrees of Fahrenheit's scale; and a saline, alkaline, or
acidulated solution may be used in the preparation of the steeping liquor. In
treating other vegetable substances for the purpose of obtaining amylaceous
products therefrom, 1 make use of potatoes, yams, maranta arundinacea,
cassava, or the janipha manihot, manioc, M. indica, trussac, carcumas plants,
bulbous roots, and other vegetablesubstances rich in starchy matters. These
several vegetable bodies may be used either in the natural or unbroken state,
or they may be cut or divided by means of suitable machinery; but I prefer
to use them whole, because in this state a smaller quantity of chemical matters
or drugs is consumed in the subsequent processes. The roots or other vegetable
substances are firstly thoroughly cleansed by washing in pure water and
agitating the roots therein. The next operation is to steep the cleansed roots
in a solution of any of the alkalies herein-before named. The strength of the
alkaline solution may vary from two to sixteen degrees, as indicated by
Twaddell's hydrometer; the requisite strength of the alkaline solution is,
however, influenced to some extent by the season of the year and the par-
ticular kind of root or vegetable substance subjected to its action. If potatoes
are under operation they will require steeping from two to fourteen days, or
until they become semi-transparent, with some of the drugs, and with others

page_text: they become quite soft. Thetime required for steeping the roots may, however,
be greatly shortened, and the process be facilitated by placing the roots or
vegetable substances in a closed vessel, and subjecting them to a pressure of
from fifty to three hundred pounds upon the square inch. After the potatoes
have been rendered semi-transparent or soft by the steeping process, they are
taken out of solution and are then cut into small pieces by means of a
cutting or dividing machine, such as is ordinarily used for cutting turnips and
other agricultural produce. The divided vegetable substance is then drained
and dried, and is ready for grinding. After grinding they are then sieved
through a fine silk, wire, or hair sieve, which completes the operation, unless it
be desired to improve the color of the amylaceous material thus obtained by
bleaching. This operation of bleaching the divided vegetable substance may
be readily effected by means of a solution of chloride of lime or chlorine water;
the cut vegetable matter is put into a suitable vessel, and a sufficient quantity
of the bleaching agent is poured or allowed to flow from a reservoir over the
substance to be bleached. The cut roots, after remaining in the chlorine liquor
until all or part of the colouring matter is removed, are well washed in cold water
and soured if they require it to take out the chlorine gas, are removed from the
bleaching vessel, and are dried either by exposure to the air or by subjecting
them to artificial heat in a heated room or drying stove; finally, the dried pieces
are ground in a mill and sieved through silk, hair, or wire, which completes
the preparation. When it is desired to clear out and remove the alkaline
matters from the vegetables under treatment, the latter are well washed; and
to remove the alkaline matter fully, the vegetables are subsequently treated
with an acidulous solution, and finally washed. The starchy material, gum, or
dextrine obtained in this manner is well adapted as a stiffening or finishing
material for paper, woollen cloths, fustians, and other textile fabrics. The
amylaceous substance obtained from yams may likewise be prepared by means
of alkaline or acidulated steeping liquors, as herein-before described in reference
to grain and roots. By the judicious application of one or other of the herein-
before described modes of treating amylaceous substances, a variety of stiffening
materials may be obtained which are suitable for various purposes, but
applicable more particularly in the manufacture of textile fabrics for giving
body and rigidity to the fibres. In preparing lime water for the purposes of
this Invention, one pound of lime is added to each gallon of water.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict myself
to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe

page_text: or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom, without deviating from
the principles or main features of my Invention; but what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the system or mode or treating and preparing grain in order to
obtain the starch, gum, or dextrine or amylaceous substance therefrom, in
which system or mode the grain is treated in a whole or undivided state, the
operations of steeping, washing, bleaching, and drying being performed prior
to its being ground in the mill, as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of treating and preparing bulbous roots and
other generally similar vegetable substances in a whole or unbroken or broken
state, for the purpose of obtaining the starch, gum, or dextrine therefrom, and
thereby avoiding the waste ordinarily incurred in using these substances,
according to the present process and use.
Third, the system or mode of operating upon vegetable substances con-
taining starch or starchy matters by menus of alkaline, acidulated, or saline
solutions, and in the manner herein-before described, or any mere modification
thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Elijah Slack have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this First day of June, One thousandeight hundred and fifty-
ELIJAH SLACK. (L.S.)