IMPROVE- MENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN INFLAMMABLE MATTERS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, GEORGE
FERGUSSON WILSON, of Belmont, Vauxhall, in the County of Surrey, Gentle-
man, GEORGE GWYNNE, of Regent Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, and JAMES PILLANS WILSON, of Belmont, Vauxhall, aforesaid,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twentieth day of
December, in the ninth year of Her. reign, did, for Herself, Hor heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said George Fergusson Wilson,
George Gwynne, and James Pillans Wilson, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
we, the said George Fergusson Wilson, George Gwynne, and James Pillans
Wilson, our executors, administrators, and assigns, and every of them, by our-
selves, or by our deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such others as we,
the said George Fergusson Wilson, George Gwynne, and James Pillans Wilson,
our executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thercafter during the term of fourteen
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in
the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her
said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, our Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN INFLAMMABLE MATTERS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE

page_text: OF CANDLES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso requiring
us, the said George Fergusson Wilson, George Gwynne, and James Pillans
Wilson, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in
writing und erour hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, and
to cause the same to be enrolled in the 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, we, the said
George Fergusson Wilson, George Gwynne, and James Pillans Wilson, do, and
each and every of us doth, hereby declare. that the nature of our said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully and
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, that is to say:-
The first part of our Invention relates to a material known in commerce by
the name of "vegetable wax." This substance is extremely hard and highly
inflammable, and we have discovered that it can be advantageously treated by
a process of distillation, and used as an ingredient in the manufacture of
candles. And in order that the first part of our Invention may be clearly
understood and readily carried into effect, we will proceed to describe.the
means which we adopt for the purpose.
In the first place, we prepare the material by distilling it, and during the
process of distillation we keep the still filled with steam, admitted through a
pipe, and heated by being passed in pipes through a fire, in a manner similar
to that in use for heating air in order to produce a hot blast in the manu-
facture of iron. We prefer that the steam should be admitted in jets through
a perforated worm placed near the bottom of the still, and as far as our expe-
-rience has gone we prefer that the steam should be kept at a heat above six
hundred degrees of. Fahrenheit; and the still we use is adapted for working a
charge of about five tons; but we do not mean to confine ourselves to any of
these particulars. The product of the distillation may be used as an ingredient
in.the manufacture of candles; and we prefer to use the same in such manu-
facture in like manner to what is hereafter described in reference to the appli-
cation of undistilled vegetable wax in the.manufacture of candles; but we do
not. confine ourselves thereto.
The second part of our Invention relates to the manufacture of candles
where undistilled vegetable wax is used. In consequence of the very high
melting point of vegetable wax, we find that materials of a very low melting

page_text: point, such as oil foots or even liquid oils, such as southern oil, or oily acids,
such as the product called oleic acid, can be used in combination with vegetable
wax, so as to form a mixed body of sufficient consistence to be advantageously
used in cheap candles. The proportions in which such mixtures may be made
may be greatly varied according to the description of material which it is pro-
posed to make, and the price of the vegetable wax at the time. Oleic acid mixed
with a third part of its weight of vegetable wax will be found to form a mixture
of sufficient consistence to be made into candles, which would burn with a strong
light, but would smoke considerably, for which reason we prefer to use this
mixture only for combining with other known fatty substances as a cheap
ingredient in the manufacture of candles. We have also discovered that
cocoa-nut. oil and lard, especially the former, have a considerable effect in
removing the tendency of vegetable wax to smoke when burning; and we find
that a good material for candle making may be made by combining nine parts
of crude cocoa-nut oil or lard with one part of vegetable, wax. If we wish to
produce a harder material, we use two parts of vegetable wax to eight parts of
cocoa-nut oil or lard. Palm oil, or the oleine thereof, may also be used in
similar proportions for producing a cheap material for mixing in candle
making, but it will be found that the latter mixture smokes more than the above-
mentioned mixture with cocoa-nut oil or lard. We have also found that in
making candles from distilled fatty acids, the great whiteness of such distilled
acids enables us to use therewith a moderate proportion of vegetable wax without
rendering the candles unsightly. The proportions in which the vegetable wax
may be so used may be considerably varied, according to the consistence of the
acids, and with a highly pressed fatty acid we prefer to use about two and a
half per cent. of vegetable wax. We have also found that vegetable wax may
be beneficially mixed with stearine of cocoa-nut oil in candle making. We
prefer to use in this case about two per cent. of the vegetable wax to ninety-
eight per cent. of the stearine..
The third part of our Invention relates to a liquid matter obtained in the
process of converting palm oil into fatty acids by the direct agency of sulphuric
acid, and without the process of saponification with lime. In the Specification
of certain Letters Patent granted to us, and bearing date on or about the Thirty-
first day of October, in the eighth year of the reign of Her present Majesty, is
described a process for acidifying fatty matters with sulphuric acid; and by
treating palm oil in the manner there described, and pressing the product so
obtained, a hard material is produced suitable for the manufacture of candles.
Now we have discovered that the liquid product obtained by the pressure of
palm oil so treated may be advantageously subjected to a similar process of

page_text: acidification, and that the product of the last-mentioned process of acidification
(having been purified in the manner described in our said former Specification,
or by other suitable means) may be again pressed so as to yield further hard
matter suitable to the manufacture of candles. And this third part of our
Invention may be carried into effect in a manner similar to that described in
our said former Specification..
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the best means we
äre acquainted with for carrying it into effect, we would have it understood
that we do not claim the general principle of applying undistilled vegetable
wax in the manufacture of candles, having been informed that undistilled
vegetable wax has been already used to a small extent, and in small propor-
tions, in the manufacture of candles principally composed of pressed stearic acid,
but containing also some crude cocoa-nut oil. We would have it further
understood that we do not claim the-combination of crude. cocoa-nut oil with
undistilled vegetable wax in the manufacture of candles consisting, as to one
third part or upwards of their bulk, of pressed stearic acid or other pressed
fatty acid. But what we claim as our Invention consists in the following
particulars, that is to say:-.
.
...
First, we claim the distillation of vegetable wax, and the application of
distilled vegetable wax in the manufacture of candles. ...
.
Secondly, we claim the combination of oil foots or liquid oily matters with
vegetable wax in the manufacture of candles. And we claim the combination
of crude cocoa-nut oil with vegetable wax in such manufacture, except when
such crude cocoa-nut oil is used with undistilled vegetable wax, and within the
proportion of one third of pressed fatty acid herein-before referred to. And we
claim the combination of lard with vegetable wax in the manufacture of
candles. And we claim the combination of palm oil or oleine of palm oil with
vegetable wax in the manufacture of candles. And we claim the combination
of distilled fatty acid with vegetable wax in the manufacture of candles. And
we claim the combination of stearine of cocoa-nut oil with vegetable wax in
the manufacture of candles.
Thirdly, we claim the acidification without the process of saponification of
the liquid product obtained by the pressure of palm oil similarly heated.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Fergusson Wilson. for and on behalf
of myself and the said George Gwynne and James Pillans Wilson,
have hereunto set my hand and scal, the Twentieth day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
GEO. F. (L.S.) WILSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twentieth day of June,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid George Fergusson Wilson came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation 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 same Twentieth day of June, in the year above written.
Inrolled the same Twentieth day of June, in the year above written.