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| Most of the patents prior to 1836 were lost in the Dec. 1836 fire. Only about 2,000 of the almost 10,000 documents were recovered. Little is known about this patent. There are no patent drawings available. This patent is in the database for reference only.
“Specification of a patent for making from straw, white and handsome Writing Paper. Granted to Louis Bomeisler, Philadelphia, September 10, 1829.
Be it known that I, the said Louis Bomeisler, have discovered and invented a new and useful improvement in the manufacture of fine white writing paper, or composition of matter, or material, for making paper from straw, which I specify in the words following, viz. Take one hundred and twenty pounds of straw (after the knobs are cut off) and put it into a boiler, by layers, on which strew thirty pounds of lime; boil the whole down in water until the straw is nearly reduced to fibres, after which take it out, wash, and press il, in order to clear it of the water. The second operation is a mordant for extracting from the straw the silicious and glutinous matter (which would be injurious, and cause the paper to crack,) which is made as follows, viz. for every two and a half pounds of straw, take one pound of sulphur and three pounds of lime, and twenty-four pints of water, consequently, for 100 lbs. of straw it will require 40 lbs. of sulphur and 120 lbs. of lime, to be put in a boiler and boiled until the sulphur is scarcely perceptible, and until the liquor has a handsome brown colour, resembling strong beer; after which, it is to be removed into a tub sufficiently elevated, in order to draw off the liquor clear, which let run upon the straw; in which situation it must be left for about fifteen hours, when the straw is to be taken out and washed, in order to prepare it for being whitened or bleached, which is the third operation. After the straw is well washed and pressed, it must be spread out in a box, or recipient, for the purpose of being whitened, which is done as follows, viz. twenty-five pounds of magnesia mixed with fifty pounds of salt, thirty pounds of sulphuric acid, and twice its weight of water; divide the whole into several retorts fitted with tubes for introducing the contents into the box where the straw has been strewed; for the purpose of digestion twelve hours will be necessary, by which time a pap, or pulp, will be produced, fit to make fine white and handsome writing paper, with which pulp proceed in the same way as adopted by the paper manufacturers for making the pulp into paper.
The foregoing is adapted for the making of 100 lbs. of pulp, from 120 lbs. of straw, after the knobs are cut off; my improvement therefore is on making, from straw, fine white and handsome writing paper, not heretofore known or used.
Remarks by the Editor. In the first volume of this Journal, page 92, we published an account of a patent granted to Louis Lambert, a French gentleman then residing in London, for accomplishing the same end as that above described, and that by the same means. This publication was made by us in February 1826; the patent was then several months old in England and had been previously secured in France. To show the absolute identity of the two, we will extract a large portion of the article alluded to, as many of our subscribers have not our first volume in their possession:
First procure a quantity of straw and cut away all the knots; the straw is then to be boiled with quicklime, in water, for the purpose of extracting the colouring matter, and separating its fibres. When this is done, it is to be washed in clean water, in order to remove the colour that has been extracted, and also the slaked lime. The fibrous substance is then submitted to the action of a hydrosulphuret compound of quicklime and sulphur in solution, in the proportion of four ounces of quicklime to one of sulphur, with one quart of water, in order to get rid of the mucilaginous and silicious matters. After this the fibrous material must be thoroughly washed in successive waters, until all the alkaline matters are removed, and there is no smell of the sulphur left. It is then pressed to extract the water from the fibres and bleached in the ordinary way, either with chlorine, or with lime, or by exposure to the light and air upon a grass plat. The bleaching process being completed, it is to be introduced into the ordinary rag engine, for the purpose of rendering it to pulp, previously to moulding it into sheets.
To those of our readers who are not acquainted with chemistry, it may be necessary to say that the salt, manganese, [not magnesia] sulphuric acid, and water, spoken of by Mr. Bomeisler, are used for the purpose of procuring chlorine, by which the bleaching is effected. Mr. Bomeisler has made no claim, excepting to the making from straw, fine, white, and handsome writing paper, not before known or used. That it was before known, is manifest; that it has been used, is also certain; but we are informed that its texture was not such as to enable it to compete with the paper made of the usual materials.”
Journal of the Franklin Institute Vol. 9, Dec. 1829 pgs. 414-416
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