To all to whom these Presents shall come I Prosper Vincent Ramel of No. 29 Rue Louis le Grand in the City of Paris, Empire of France, by my attorney Ferdinand Mueller Doctor in Medicine and Government Botanist, of Melbourne Victoria send greeting.1 Whereas I am desirous of obtaining Royal Letters Patent for securing unto me Her Majesty's special license, that I, my executors administrators and assigns and such others as I or they should at any time agree with and no others should and lawfully might from time to time and at all times during the term of fourteen years (to be computed from the day on which this instrument shall be left at the Office of the Chief Secretary) make use exercise and vend within the Colony of Victoria and its dependencies an invention for a new Method of preparing the leaves and bark of plants belonging to the genus Eucalyptus and of other plants of the family of Myrtaceae for the purpose of using them as Tobacco and Snuff, and in order to obtain the said letters patent I must by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed and must also enter into the covenant hereinafter contained. Now know Ye that the nature of the said invention and the manner in which the same is to be performed is particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement. That is to say, the invention consists in the utilisation of the leaves and bark of Eucalypti and other Myrtaceous plants for all purposes for which Tobacco is now used. Plants of that Class do not contain the injurious substances which are found in the Tobacco plant, all the constituents of the former being totally innocuous and inoffensive. The leaves of these plants are pleasant to the taste and smell after the juices they contain have been expressed and after their essential oil is evaporated. Their ashes possess neither corrosive nor astringent properties and they do not affect in any way the mucous parts of the palate or throat or the gums or enamel of the teeth. Their smoke when burnt contains no injurious vapors. The simple process required for the preparation of the leaves consists in their being dried after they have been collected. They are then submitted to a bleaching process by means of hot water or steam after which they are dried again when they are fit to undergo the usual operations required by Tobacco intented for manufacture into snuff, cigars, cake roll or other Tobacco. And I do hereby for myself my heirs executors and administrators covenant with Her Majesty, Her heirs and successors that I believe the said invention to be a new invention as to public use and exercise thereof an that I do not know or believe that any other person than myself is the true and first inventor of the said invention and that I will not deposit these present at the Office of the Chief Secretary with any such knowledge or belief as last aforesaid
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty fourth day of March in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty six
Prosper Vincent Ramel
pr his attorney Ferd. Mueller, MD.2
Claim — I claim as my invention the process herein described of preparing the leaves and bark of the Eucalyptus and of other plants of the family of Mrytaceae for the purpose of manufacturing cigars, tobacco and snuff as conveyed herein.
Prosper Vincent Ramel
by his attorney
Ferd. Mueller, M.D.3
That is, M lodged this application on Prosper Ramel's behalf; the addressee is given here as the Chief Secretary, as the notice of application was said to have been deposited at the office of the Chief Secretary (Victoria government gazette, 6 April 1866, p. 759). A notice also appeared in the Argus on the same day and again on 7 April.)
The file includes a certified copy of a Power of Attorney signed by Ramel on 26 January 1866 at the British consulate in Paris, authorizing M to act on his behalf in obtaining patent protection for his process in Australia.
Prosper … MD. is in M's hand. MS annotation by unknown: 'No. 897. | Specification but Drawings none | Copy of power of attorney Deposited at this Office on the 24th of March 1866. | Chief Secretary's Office | Melbourne'.
Claim … Ferd. Mueller, M.D. is written in a different hand with the signatures of Ramel and M in M's hand. In the same unknown hand is added I have required the above claims to be added I allow the process alone | (signed) Geo. Higinbotham | Attorney General.
M applied for and was granted the same patent on Ramel's behalf in Vic (No. 897, 1866), NSW (No. 164, 1867), SA (No. 95, 1867) and Tas (No. 46, 1867). In August 1868, he also obtained in WA, which did not have a formal patent system, an 'ordinance, for securing to Prosper Vincent Ramel for a limited period, the exclusive benefit' from his Invention. See also George (2012).
Please cite as “FVM-66-03-24e,” in Correspondence of Ferdinand von Mueller, edited by R.W. Home, Thomas A. Darragh, A.M. Lucas, Sara Maroske, D.M. Sinkora†, J.H. Voigt† and Monika Wells accessed on