THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



345 



" bestial dung', road-scrapings, or street-sweepings, 

 marl, foecal substances, the residuum from the manu- 

 facture of schistus, or of peat, or wood-charcoal ground 

 to powder, or of soot, marine salt, saltpetre, alumina, 

 sulphate of zinc, and water," intimately mixed together, 

 moulded into bricks, and dried; after which it is re- 

 duced to powder, and spread upon the ground when it 

 rains. [1 2,809, 4s. 8d.] 



A patent i'or "deodorizing every species of excre- 

 tive foecal matter or urine, at the moment when it falls 

 from the body," was granted, June 4, 1850, to Paul 

 D'Angely. The deodorizing substance employed was 

 composed of fresh bark, rue, or wild mint, sulphate of 

 iron, and pyrolignitc of iron. The foecal matter of the 

 deodorization was converted into manure by being dried 

 in a chamber peculiarly constructed, and reduced to 

 powder, and finally mixed with " dried or burnt peat 

 in powder, or with dried beasts' blood also in powder." 

 [13,097, iid.] 



To Thomas Wicksteed, on Feb. 24, 1851, a patent 

 was granted for manufacturing " manure from sewage 

 water." This he effected by mixing it with milk of 

 lime, and drying the precipitated matter by centrifugal 

 drying machinery ; by which the whole, or nearly the 

 whole of the moisture was driven off, and the manure 

 remained in a state fit i.'ur transport." [13,52G, 9d.] 



Oct. 16, 1851, is the date of the patent granted to 

 Richard Dover for deodorizing sewage with an acid or 

 acids, and for obtaining certain products therefrom. 

 Amongst other substances, hydrochloiic or some other 

 mineral acid, iron filings, and chloride of sodium, are 

 employed. After deodorization the sewage is filtered 

 through charcoal, clay, gypsum, or peat, and is alone, or 

 together with the following material, mixed with refuse 

 animal matters, shale, marl, &c., to form '•' otner 

 useful manures for fertilizing land." [13,755, 5d.] 



Henry Stothert, in April 17, 1852, obtained a patent 

 for applying a combination of materials to precipitate 

 the solid parts of sewage to obtain a manure; and also 

 for converting night-soil into charcoal, to be used as 

 one of the precipitatory agents. The materials pro- 

 posed were "fresh-made caustic lime, sulphate of 

 alumina, sulpliate or protoxide of zinc, compound ani- 

 mal and vegetable charcoal, obtained by distilling the 

 jirecipitated matters of sewage waters, or by distilling 

 night-soil, creosote oil of peat, peat-mould, tanner's 

 spent bark, burnt clay, old mortar, or mixtures of 

 such matters or other matters." [14,073, 3d.] 



Wo conclude the subject by giving some mention 

 of the peculiarities of those granted under the Pa- 

 tent Law Amendment Act of 1852. Under this act the 

 first patent, relating to town sewage, is under date Oct. 

 Gth, 1852, the patentee being William Armand Gilvee, 

 the object of the patent a deodorizing powder, and the 

 machinery or apparatus employed in manufacturing 

 the same. The deodorizitig powder is stated by the 

 patentee to be prepared by the "combustion of the 

 detritus of forests, lignites, vegetables, marine plants, or 

 any liiineous substance, rags, and refuse of wool." The 

 carbonized matters thus prepared are reduced to pow- 

 der, and mixed with wool shearings in certain propor- 

 tions. The fcecal matter is converted into manure by 

 treating them with "decomposing powder, composed 

 of the following substances, mixed together in certain 

 l)roportions : molasses of sugar or the residuum thereof, 

 slacked lime reduced to powder, sulphate of iron or 

 zinc, and clayish magnesian earth" [No. 250, price 

 9id.] 



January 5th, 1853, is the date of the patent 

 granted to William Bardwell, for constructing build- 

 ings, in a close chamber, on the basement of which 

 a filter-bed is to bo placed ; in this chamber 

 trays or shelves are suspended, containing sawdust or 



other matter moistened with dilute sulphuric acid. 

 The sewage-matter, suspended by this agency from the 

 sewage-water, is to be mixed with other matters, suitable 

 for making manures [29, S.^d.] 



Jacques Francisque Pinel obtained a patent, dated 

 March 8, 1853, for deodorizing sewage-water by adding, 

 in certam manner and proportions, sulphate of zinc, 

 potass, alum, chloride of sodium, and sand. The solid 

 matter thus obtained is again to be mixed with waste 

 tan, pulverized chloride of sodium, nitrate of potass, 

 soot, ashes, slacked lime, and muriate of ammonia [581, 

 2id]. 



On March 15, 1863, John Thornton Herapath ob- 

 tained a patent for precipitating the phosphoric acid 

 and ammonia of sewage, in a comparatively insoluble 

 state, by adding to it magnesia, or a magnesian com- 

 pound. This addition is to bo made at or about the 

 time when the deodorization of the sewage is effected, 

 through the addition of some cheinical agent which will 

 not decompose ammonia or its salts; but which, on the 

 contrary, will combine with or absorb hydro-sulphuric 

 acid, such as metallic sulphates, or metallic chlorides, 

 or vegetable carbon [043, 2^d.] 



To George Edward Doring a patent was granted, 

 March 28, 1853, for "applying the salts and matter 

 produced in the working of galvanic batteries" — gene- 

 rally treated as refuse, and thrown away — for disinfect- 

 ing and deoderizing fcecal matters, and to render them 

 available as manures [740, S^d.'] 



In the patent dated JVIay 20, 1853, granted to Thomas 

 Isaac Dimsdale, a claim is made for disinfecting sewage 

 and absorbing its noxious exhalations, by the employ- 

 ment of " a pecuHar kind of peat-earth containing a 

 salt or salts of iron or oxide of iron." Although no fur- 

 ther claim is made specifying the peculiar kind of peat- 

 earth, it is stated in the specification that " this know- 

 ledge of peat or bog-earth possessing those properties 

 h?.s led to this substance being very generally employed, 

 particularly in Ireland, where it is a common practice to 

 use peat in its raw state, or air-dried peat combined 

 with ashes and peat-charcoal, to mix with manures, for 

 the purpose of fixing ammonia and other volatile gases 

 which are evolved from them" [1,252, 3iJ.]. 



James Alexander Manning on November 29th, 1853, 

 obtained a patent for " defecating and separating certain 

 matters from sewage." For these purposes he employed 

 "animal charcoal, alum, and carbonate of soda and 

 gypsum." With the sewage precipitated thus, he mixed 

 " waste charcoal or carbonaceous matter of various 

 kinds, kelp, fjctory waste, common salt, or the refuse 

 brine derived from the curing of provisions — gypsum, 

 or phoxphate of lime and horn-dust riddlings." In 

 these operations the patentee used a peculiar form of 

 precipitating vessel, and tanks with inclined bottoms 



[2,780, Gid.]. 



A patent was granted, Dec. 10, 1853, to Allan Mac- 

 pherson, for purifying sewage and other foecal matters 

 by using combinations of substances, such as peats of 

 any description, whether in a high-dried natural 

 state, or carbonized, in lumps or coarsely granulated, 

 or finely powdered. Charcoal prepared from sawdust 

 or refuse wood is also named ; but peat charcoal is 

 preferred by the patentee. A claim is also made for 

 arresting, purifying, and deodorizing: noxious fiases in 

 sewers, by placing in chambers made in the sewers, per- 

 forated trays or basket-work trays, with a mixture of 

 peat charcoal. Where the sewage is discharged into a 

 river, it is to pass tlirough a barge, placed near the 

 mouth of the sewer, and provided with deodorizing 

 materials placed on gratings. The aqueous portion 

 passes off to the river much purified, while " the con- 

 tents of these lighters will be found to be a rich and 

 powerful manure" [2,870, 4id.]. 



