Editing Bitumen (section)

=== United Kingdom ===
Among the earlier uses of bitumen in the United Kingdom was for etching. William Salmon's ''Polygraphice'' (1673) provides a recipe for varnish used in etching, consisting of three ounces of virgin wax, two ounces of [[mastic (plant resin)|mastic]], and one ounce of asphaltum.<ref>{{cite book|first=William|last=Salmon|year=1673|publisher=R. Jones|location=London|title=Polygraphice; Or, The Arts of Drawing, Engraving, Etching, Limning, Painting, Washing, Varnishing, Gilding, Colouring, Dying, Beautifying and Perfuming|edition=Second|page=81|url=http://shipbrook.com/jeff/bookshelf/download.html?bookid=22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822202721/http://shipbrook.com/jeff/bookshelf/download.html?bookid=22|archive-date=22 August 2016}}</ref> By the fifth edition in 1685, he had included more asphaltum recipes from other sources.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/polygraphiceorar00salm|title=Polygraphice, or The arts of drawing, engraving, etching, limning, painting, washing, varnishing, gilding, colouring, dying, beautifying and perfuming: in seven books ... to which also is added, I. The one hundred and twelve chemical arcanums of Petrus Johannes Faber ... II. An abstract of choice chemical preparations...The 5th edition...|first=William|last=Salmon|date=7 September 1685|publisher=London : Printed for Thomas Passinger... and Thomas Sawbridge|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

The first British patent for the use of asphalt was "Cassell's patent asphalte or bitumen" in 1834.<ref name="LewisMiles" /> Then on 25 November 1837, [[Captain R. T. Claridge|Richard Tappin Claridge]] patented the use of Seyssel asphalt (patent #7849), for use in asphalte pavement,<ref>{{cite book | date=July 1838 | title=Journal of the Franklin Institute of the State of Pennsylvania and Mechanics' Register |chapter=Specification of the Patent granted to Richard Tappin Claridge, of the County of Middlesex, for a Mastic Cement, or Composition applicable to Paving and Road making, covering Buildings and various purposes|volume=22| location=London |pages=414–418|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W8oGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA414| publisher=Pergamon Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|date=20 January 1904| title=Notes and Queries: A medium of intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc. Ninth series. | volume=XII, July–December, 1903 (9th S. XII, 4 July 1903)|chapter=Comments on asphalt patents of R.T. Claridge, Esq| publisher=John C. Francis| location=London |pages=18–19 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/s9notesqueries12londuoft#page/18/mode/2up/search/claridge}} Writer is replying to note or query from previous publication, cited as ''9th S. xi. 30''</ref> having seen it employed in France and Belgium when visiting with [[Frederick Walter Simms]], who worked with him on the introduction of asphalt to Britain.<ref>{{cite journal| title=Obituary of Frederick Walter Simms| journal= [[Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society]]| volume=XXVI| pages= 120–121|date=November 1865 – June 1866 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3wsAAAAAMAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite periodical |year=1963 |author=Broome, D.C. |title=The development of the modern asphalt road |periodical=The Surveyor and Municipal and County Engineer |location=London |volume=122 |issue=3278 & 3279 |pages=1437–1440 & 1472–1475 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j77mAAAAMAAJ&q=claridge+1857}}</ref> Dr T. Lamb Phipson writes that his father, Samuel Ryland Phipson, a friend of Claridge, was also "instrumental in introducing the asphalte pavement (in 1836)".<ref>{{cite book|first=Dr T. Lamb|last=Phipson|year=1902| title=Confessions of a Violinist: Realities and Romance | publisher=Chatto & Windus| location=London|page=[https://archive.org/details/confessionsofvio00phiprich/page/11 11] |url=https://archive.org/details/confessionsofvio00phiprich}} Full text at Internet Archive (archive.org)</ref>

Claridge obtained a patent in Scotland on 27 March 1838, and obtained a patent in Ireland on 23 April 1838. In 1851, extensions for the 1837 patent and for both 1838 patents were sought by the trustees of a company previously formed by Claridge.<ref name="LewisMiles"/><ref>{{cite book|date=25 February 1851 | title=The London Gazette|chapter=Claridge's UK Patents in 1837 & 1838|page=489 |chapter-url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/21185/pages/489}}</ref><ref name="BritishHistoryOnline1994">{{cite book|editor=Hobhouse, Hermione |title='Northern Millwall: Tooke Town', Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs |chapter=British History Online |pages=423–433 (see text at refs 169 & 170)|year=1994 | chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46514&amp;strquery=Claridge}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|date=7 April – 29 September 1838 | title=The Mechanics' Magazine, museum, register, journal and gazette| volume=29|chapter=Claridge's Scottish and Irish Patents in 1838 | publisher=W.A. Robertson| location=London |pages=vii, viii, 64, 128 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygoAAAAAMAAJ&q=1838+september+%22mechanic's+magazine%22&pg=PA479}}</ref> ''Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company''{{snd}}formed in 1838 for the purpose of introducing to Britain "Asphalte in its natural state from the mine at Pyrimont Seysell in France",<ref name="CivilEngineer&ArchitectsJ199">{{Cite book |last=Laxton |first=William |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sQ5AAAAAYAAJ |title=The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal |date=1838 |publisher=Published for the proprietor |language=en}}</ref>{{snd}}"laid one of the first asphalt pavements in Whitehall".<ref>Miles, Lewis (2000), pp.10.06.1–2</ref> Trials were made of the pavement in 1838 on the footway in Whitehall, the stable at Knightsbridge Barracks,<ref name="CivilEngineer&ArchitectsJ199" /><ref name="responsetoquery18">Comments on asphalt patents of R.T. Claridge, Esq (1904), p. 18</ref> "and subsequently on the space at the bottom of the steps leading from Waterloo Place to St. James Park".<ref name="responsetoquery18" /> "The formation in 1838 of Claridge's Patent Asphalte Company (with a distinguished list of aristocratic patrons, and [[Marc Isambard Brunel|Marc]] and [[Isambard Kingdom Brunel|Isambard Brunel]] as, respectively, a trustee and consulting engineer), gave an enormous impetus to the development of a British asphalt industry".<ref name="BritishHistoryOnline1994" /> "By the end of 1838, at least two other companies, Robinson's and the Bastenne company, were in production",<ref name="LewisMiles10.06.2">Miles, Lewis (2000), p. 10.06.2</ref> with asphalt being laid as paving at Brighton, Herne Bay, Canterbury, Kensington, the Strand, and a large floor area in Bunhill-row, while meantime Claridge's Whitehall paving "continue(d) in good order".<ref>{{cite book|date=22 September 1838 | title=The Mechanics' Magazine, museum, register, journal and gazette| volume=29|chapter=1838 bitumen UK uses by Robinson's and Claridge's companies, & the Bastenne company | publisher=W.A. Robertson| location=London |page=448 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygoAAAAAMAAJ&q=1838+september+%22mechanic's+magazine%22&pg=PA479}}</ref> The [[Bonnington Chemical Works]] manufactured asphalt using [[coal tar]] and by 1839 had installed it in [[Bonnington, Edinburgh|Bonnington]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ronalds|first=B.F.|date=2019|title=Bonnington Chemical Works (1822–1878): Pioneer Coal Tar Company|journal=International Journal for the History of Engineering & Technology|volume=89|issue=1–2|pages=73–91|doi=10.1080/17581206.2020.1787807|s2cid=221115202}}</ref>

In 1838, there was a flurry of entrepreneurial activity involving bitumen, which had uses beyond paving. For example, bitumen could also be used for flooring, damp proofing in buildings, and for waterproofing of various types of pools and baths, both of which were also proliferating in the 19th century.<ref name="Abraham1938"/><ref name="LewisMiles"/><ref>{{cite book|first=W.M. Paul|last=Gerhard|year=1908| title=Modern Baths and Bath Houses| edition=1st| publisher=John Wiley and Sons| location=New York |url=https://archive.org/stream/modernbathsandb00unkngoog#page/n11/mode/1up}} (Enter "asphalt" into the search field for list of pages discussing the subject)</ref> One of the earliest surviving examples of its use can be seen at [[Highgate Cemetery]] where it was used in 1839 to seal the roof of the terrace catacombs. On the London stockmarket, there were various claims as to the exclusivity of bitumen quality from France, Germany and England. And numerous patents were granted in France, with similar numbers of patent applications being denied in England due to their similarity to each other. In England, "Claridge's was the type most used in the 1840s and 50s".<ref name="LewisMiles10.06.2"/>

In 1914, Claridge's Company entered into a joint venture to produce [[Macadam#Tar-bound macadam|tar-bound macadam]],<ref>{{citation |date=January 1914 |title=Claridge's Patent Asphalte Co. ventures into tarred slag macadam |journal=Concrete and Constructional Engineering |volume=IX |issue=1 |page=760|location=London |url=https://archive.org/stream/concreteconstruc09lond#page/760/mode/1up }}</ref> with materials manufactured through a subsidiary company called Clarmac Roads Ltd.<ref>{{citation |year=1921 |title=Registration of Clarmac Roads |journal=The Law Reports: Chancery Division |volume=1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2AQxAAAAIAAJ&q=clarmac|pages=544–547}}</ref> Two products resulted, namely ''Clarmac'', and ''Clarphalte'', with the former being manufactured by Clarmac Roads and the latter by Claridge's Patent Asphalte Co., although ''Clarmac'' was more widely used.<ref>{{citation |date=7 July 1915 |title=Clarmac and Clarphalte |pages=2–4 (n. 13–15 in electronic page field)|journal=The Building News and Engineering Journal |volume=109: July to December 1915 |issue=3157 |url=https://archive.org/stream/buildingnewseng109londuoft#page/n13/mode/1up/search/clarmac}}</ref>{{refn|''The Building News and Engineering Journal'' contains photographs of the following roads where ''Clarmac'' was used, being {{qi|some amongst many laid with 'Clarmac'}}: Scott's Lane, [[Beckenham]]; Dorset Street, Marylebone; Lordswood Road, [[Birmingham]]; Hearsall Lane, [[Coventry]]; Valkyrie Avenue, [[Westcliff-on-Sea]]; and Lennard Road, [[Penge]].<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/buildingnewseng109londuoft#page/n14/mode/1up Roads laid with Clarmac] ''The Building News and Engineering Journal'', 1915 '''109''' (3157), p.3 (n14 in electronic field).</ref>|group="note"}} However, the [[First World War]] ruined the Clarmac Company, which entered into liquidation in 1915.<ref name=WW1Impact>[https://books.google.com/books?id=2AQxAAAAIAAJ&q=%22war,+and+the+Claridge+%22 Clarmac financial difficults due to WW1] [https://books.google.com/books?id=2AQxAAAAIAAJ&q=%22debentures+with+the+clarmac%22 Debentures deposited] ''The Law Reports: Chancery Division'', (1921) '''Vol. 1''' p. 545. Retrieved 17 June 2010.</ref><ref>{{citation |date=26 October 1915 |title=Notice of the Winding up of Clarmac Roads |journal=The London Gazette |issue=29340 |page=10568 |url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/29340/pages/10568}}</ref> The failure of Clarmac Roads Ltd had a flow-on effect to Claridge's Company, which was itself compulsorily wound up,<ref name=NewCompanyFunded>[https://books.google.com/books?id=TiYyAAAAIAAJ&q=claridge+%22compulsorily+wound+up%22 Claridge's Patent Asphalte Co. compulsorily wound up] [https://books.google.com/books?id=TiYyAAAAIAAJ&q=%22funds+in+the+new+company%22 Funds invested in new company] ''The Law Times Reports'' (1921) '''Vol.125''', p. 256. Retrieved 15 June 2010.</ref> ceasing operations in 1917,<ref>{{cite book|date=16 November 1917 | title=The London Gazette|chapter=Claridge's Patent Asphalte Co. winds up 10 November 1917|page=11863| chapter-url=http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/30384/pages/11863}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|editor=Hobhouse, Hermione |title='Cubitt Town: Riverside area: from Newcastle Drawdock to Cubitt Town Pier', Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs |chapter=British History Online |pages=528–532 (see text at refs 507 & 510)|year=1994 | chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46529&amp;strquery=claridge}}</ref> having invested a substantial amount of funds into the new venture, both at the outset<ref name=NewCompanyFunded/> and in a subsequent attempt to save the Clarmac Company.<ref name=WW1Impact/>

Bitumen was thought in 19th century Britain to contain chemicals with medicinal properties. Extracts from bitumen were used to treat [[catarrh]] and some forms of [[asthma]] and as a remedy against worms, especially the [[tapeworm]].<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge'', Vol III, (1847) London, Charles Knight, p. 380.</ref>