THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF LUBRICATING OIL FROM A NEW MATERIAL"
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Young Simpson, of Edinburgh, in the
County of Mid-Lothian, Doctor of Medicine, and Wyville Thomson, of
Belfast, in the County of Antrim, Professor of Geology, for the Inven-
tion of "THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF LUBRICATING OIL FROM A NEW
MATERIAL"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Young Simpson
and Wyville Thomson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, ou the 15th May 1856.
We, JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid-Lothian,
Doctor of Medicine, and WYVILLE THOMSON, of Belfast, in the County of
Antrim, Professor of Geology, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF LUBRICATING OIL FROM A NEW
MATERIAL," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the application and use of asphaltum, especially
the asphalte of Trinidad, for the manufacture or production of an oil well
suited for lubricating purposes. The asphaltum is first of all distilled, and
re-distilled, and the product of such distillation is treated with acids and

page_text: alkalis for the purpose of purification; after this procedure the treated product
is subjected to another process of distillation, the latter portion only of the
product of this process being employed as the actual lubricating oil.
SPECIFICATION in- pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Young Simpson and Wyville Thomson in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 15th November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JAMES
YOUNG SIMPSON, of Edinburgh, in the County of Mid-Lothian, Doctor of
Medicine, and WYVILLE THOMSON,. of Belfast, in the County of Antrim,
Professor of Geology, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs, and successors, give and grant unto us, the said James
Young Simpson and Wyville Thomson, Her.special license that we, the said
James Young Simpson and Wyville Thomson, our executors, administrators,
and assigns; or such others as we, the said James. Young. Simpson and
Wyville Thomson, our 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 "THE
MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF LUBRICATING OIL FROM A NEW MATERIAL," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said James Young Simpson and
Wyville Thomson, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or
under the hand and seal of one of us, should 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 immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said James Young Simpson and Wyville
Thomson, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement in writing, that is to say:-
Our said Invention relates to the application and use of asphaltum, especially

page_text: the asphalte of Trinidad, for the manufacture or production of an oil well suited
for lubricating purposes, and in: carrying out our said Invention in practice wè
prefer to adopt the following processes, that' is to say: We first distil, the
asphalte at a température; a little.below what produces: redness: This operation
produces a thick pitchy. liquid distillate, which we re distill at the same
temperature. The secondidistillate is a liquid of a slightly more limpid
character, and less darkly coloured than that resulting from the first: operation;
whilst a residuum of fine charcoal is left in the retort. The distillate, partially
purified in this way, is next subjected to agitation, with about one-tenth of its
bulk of sulphuric acid,. when many of the impurities contained in it unite with
the acid and fall to the bottom. The clearer liquid is poured off and agitated
with a caustic alkali, or with a mixture of quick-lime and chalk. The liquid
is subjected to washing in this way with acid and alkali alternately, until it
becomes pale in colour; care being taken to remove the sulphurous acid at the
termination of the washing operation. The liquid is then put into an iron
retort and distilled at a moderate heat, until about one-third of the quantity
comes over. The first portion of the distillate is principally naphtha and is
set aside, and the distillation continued at a higher temperature until the
remained comes over, leaving a very small residuum of charcoal in the retort.
The liquid resulting from this third distillation is nearly limpid containing but
little paraffine, and it is this liquid which is adapted for lubricating purposes.
It is not, however, suitable for such purposes alone or in an unmixed state,
but is mixed with animal or vegetable oils, and the mixtures so formed possess
properties rendering them very suitable for lubricating. Thus, for example,
we mix the liquid resulting from the processes we have herein-before described,
with rape or sperm oil, in the proportion of about one-tenth part of the oil to
nine-tenth parts of the liquid produced in the manner herein-before described,
but we do not confine ourselves to such proportions, neither do we confine
ourselves to the adoption of any precise temperature at which to carry on the
distilling operations herein-before described, as the proper temperature will in
each case be best determined by actual trial.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we may observe in conclusion, that we do not confine or restrict
ourselves to the precise details or arrangements which we have had occasion
to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of our Invention, but what we
consider to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to us by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-

page_text: First, the application and use of Trinidad and other asphaltum or asphalte,
in the manufacture or production of an oil or liquid suitable for lubricating
purposes, as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of manufacturing or producing an oil or liquid
suitable for lubricating purposes; by mixing or combining with an animal or
vegetable oil, a liquid obtained by distillation from Trinidad or other asphaltum,
or asphalte, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Young Simpson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, on behalf of myself and the said Wyville
Thomson, this Fourteenth day of November One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
JAMES YOUNG SIMPSON. (L.B.)