IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING FLAX AND HEMP FOR SPINNING
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY GOSCHEN, of Crosby Square, in the City of London, Merchant, 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-
iminster, the Nineteenth day of July, in the first year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Henry Goschen, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Henry Goschen, my exors, adñors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Henry Goschen, my exors, adiñors, 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, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING FLAX
AND HEMP FOR SPINNING," communicated to me by a certain Foreigner residing
abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
William Henry Goschen, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
the 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
mouths next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters

page_text: 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
William Henry Goschen, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):-
Take flax in small bundles, comb it well upon the hackle (hereafter
described), tie it in three or four places. In this manner such a quantity of
flax may be prepared as is suitable to the extent of the establishment. It is
then put into a boiler filled with water, boiled for an hour, then rinced in cold
water, and hung up in the open air to dry. When the flax is well dried it is
boiled a second time for an hour, rinced in cold water, dried, and then sub-
mitted to friction, either by hands or by passing it through two wooden or
other suitable revolving cylinders. Then the lie described below under No. 1
is prepared in a boiler, and when it is boiling the flax is put into it, and boiled
for two or three hours. It is afterwards taken out and put into hot water for
an hour, then rinced in cold water, dried in the open air, and rubbed or rolled
as above described. After that the flax is boiled in the lie No. 2 for two or
three hours, put into hot water till it has become cold; it is then well rinced in
running water, dried, and rubbed or rolled as before. If, after this first treat
ment, the flax has not yet obtained the requisite white color and fineness, it is
boiled once more for two or three hours in the lie No. 2, and afterwards heated
as mentioned above. When this is done the bundles are untied, the stalks are
straightened and glazed with a wooden roller, which must not be too large,
the flax is bent in the middle, the two ends are firmly tied together, and it is
coinbed as softly as possible upon the hackle prepared for that purpose.
ths
The lie No. 1 is prepared by putting to 2 gallons of cold water two
pounds of ashes, and one quarter of a pound of white soap, which mixture
must boil up several times before the flax is put into it. The lie No. 2 is
made without ashes. In 27ths gallons of cold water one pound of soap is
entirely dissolved, so that no little particles of soap remain unmelted. The
boilers are to be made either of copper or cast iron, and their size must depend
upon the extent of the establishment. Care must be taken that the flax be
not too much pressed down in the boilers, because sufficient room must be left
to stir the flax bundles during boiling. The hackle for combing the flax in its
raw state must have round teeth made of steel put into a strong board at the
distance of one inch from each other. The length of this hackle to be about
10 inches, and the width four inches. The length of the teeth is to be five or

page_text: The teeth should be at no greater distance one from the other than a quarter
of an inch; they are also to be of steel one inch and an half long, and of such
a thickness that fifteen of them at their thick end do not exceed or circum.
ference of more than one inch..
+3
TREATMENT OF HEMP PREPARATORY to SPINNING.
The hemp is entirely cleared from tow and sheaves, tied in bundles not too
large in the centre and at both ends, but not too tight, and in this way a
sufficient quantity is prepared. It is then put into a. wooden tult, boiling
water is poured upon it, and there it remains till the water has become cold.
The hemp is then taken out and put into a boiler with water, where it is to be
boiled for three or four hours; it is then rinced in cold water, well dried in the
open air, again boiled, without, however, repeating the pouring of boiling water
over it. The boiling, rincing, and drying, is repeated four or five times; after
the last time of boiling, the hemp must be rinced and dried most carefully.
The bundles are then untied and softly combed on a usual hemp hackle; the
hemp is then arranged in moderate sized bundles tied in four or five places,
and boiled for five to six hours in the lie No. 1, as is done with the flax; this
is repeated four to six times according to circumstances, the hemp having pre-
viously been well rinced, in cold water and dried every time. When it has
acquired the requisite whiteness it is boiled once for four or five hours in the
lie No. 2, taken out of the boiler, put into a wooden tub or vat, and boiling
water poured over it, in which it remains for two or three hours; then it is
effectually rinced in clear cold water, and carefully dried. This done, the
bundles are untied and straightened, and glazed with a wooden roller, as is the
case with the flax; they are then cut in two or three parts according to the
length of the hemp, combed softly on such a hackle as that described above
for the bleached flax, with this difference, that the hackle for the prepared
hemp should have triangular teeth instead of the round ones on the hackle for
the bleached flax.
Having thus described the Invention, I would have it understood that what
I claim is the mode or process of preparing flax and hemp herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Goschen, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of August, in the year
of Our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.
WHY (L.S.) GOSCHEN.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourteenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord 1837, the aforesaid William Henry Goschen came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
'cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped 75
according to the-tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Nineteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One