IMPROVEMENTS IN COFFINS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
LINDLEY, of Cranbourne Street, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Sixteenth day of January, in the seventh year of Her reign, did
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Lindley, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said James Lindley, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said James Lindley, my exors, admors, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,
my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN COFFINS;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso, that I, the said James Lindley, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said 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
James Lindley, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed; and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
45
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a plan; Figure 2 is a section; and Figure 3 is a plan, with the
lids removed, of my improved coffin, which may be made of elm, mahogany,
teak, or other woods, the parts of which are planed smooth, so that the bottom
edges of the sides and bottom fit as close as possible to each other as the
means of rendering them air-tight, or, in other words, all the joints are made
to fit as close as possible; the sides are not sawn or cut into saw gates to form
the bend of the sides where the shoulders are situate, but are solid throughout
and are bent by the agency of steam. The upper edges of the sides and ends
are rabbetted, to receive an inner lid a, Figure 1, exactly fitted into the rabbit ;
the innet lid has a hole cut in and a rabbit formed to receive a piece of glass
through which the head of the deceased may be viewed, or which may be
varied in size agreeable to the wish of the relatives interested. The outer lid
is a plain elm board cut in the usual form and covered in the customary
manner as may be agreed upon. All the joints and rabbits are put together
with any sort of compound' that will prevent the admission of air, such as
putty, white
hite lead, india-rubber, or any other tenacious matter. The bottom,
sides, ends, lid, and top, are fixed to each other by the means of screws
and nails; all the joints being previously filled with any one of the above
compositions. After completing the above process, the whole of the inside is
lined or covered over with india-rubber, or with a composition or cement made
of bee's-wax and resin or pitch or bee's-wax and pitch, and is laid on by means
of a hot iron, to fill up the pores of the wood, cracks, joints, &c, &c, as a
further means of making it air-tight. In the inside of the coffin, three straps
6, see Figures 2 and 3, are affixed by means of iron staples, screwed down to
the bottom or sides, to which is affixed a strap and buckle, placed in three
positions, one to strap down the head, one across the chest under the arms, and
one across the legs upon the knee joints; each with a buckle, to prevent the
body from being mutilated in removing it from place to place, so that it may
be viewed with complacency at any time. In the bottom of the coffin there
is fixed an air-tight stop-cock, or metal hollow screw plug c, turned rather
taper on the outside, with a thread or screw cut upon its surface for the
purpose of screwing it into the bottom of the coffin, and provided with a slot
cut across the top for the purpose of inserting the screw driver, with a small
valve à inserted in the aforesaid plug, also provided with a slot at the bottom,
for the purpose of screwing or unscrewing the said valve, which is provided

page_text: with two apertures to let out any fluid that may be formed. The aforesaid valve
has also a female screw provided for the purpose of connecting the flexible
pipe or tube e; this.metal plug or stop-cock is for the purpose of letting off the
accumulated secretions of the body into an air-tight can-f, by which means
the offensive matter can be removed without any inconvenience or annoyance;
and there is also another air-tight stop-cock fixed at the end of the coffin.. to
draw off and convey out of the house by means of an-india-rubber tube, the
accumulated mephetic gas, which frequently arises in such quantity as to cause
the body to burst, and also to force open the coffin itself. The whole of the
above improvements being to render the house of mourning comparatively
free from the disagreeable effluvia arising from decomposition and to prevent
epidemic disease from spreading its baneful influence; and it also gives an
opportunity of keeping the departed relative much longer without interment
in cases where friends have a long distance to travel or where it is necessary
to remove the deceased to a long distance.
The time having arrived for burial, the whole is made complete and secure
by a second or outer lid being screwed down from the top, outside over the
inner lid already described. In the event of the coffin being of lead or other
metal, the cement to close up the joints will be unnecessary as they will be
soldered as in the usual manner, except the glass in the inner lid which will
be put in with putty, made of whiting and linseed oil, as in the former case
with the wood coffin, as also, the stop-cocks in the bottom and foot of
the coffin; but the inner perforated lining round the inside bottom edge to
receive the chlorine or chlorate of lime to be soldered, but in all other respects
the description of the wood coffin may be applied to the metal coffin. And,
further, should it be desirous of preserving the body for a length of period, it
can be effected in the first instance by a chemical process, videlicet, by placing
chlorate of lime in a perforated case, which is fixed all round the inside of the
bottom of the coffin, or in perforated boxes placed at the head, foot, or sides;
or, secondly, by placing the body in vacuum by exhausting the air or gas by
means of an air-pump fixed to the stop-cock at the foot of the coffin. And,
lastly, in order to economy in covering the said coffin, instead of using velvet,
cloth, or other stuffs, that the said coffins shall be with covered with flock laid
on with glue, caoutchouc, gum, or other substances, and ornamented as usual.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Lindley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-four.
JAMES
(L.S.) LINDLEY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1844, the aforesaid James Lindley, came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,.
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Sixteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-four.