The morning news., 1897-08-06
INFANT INCUBATORS.
A Successful Machine For Raising
Weakly British Babies.
From the London Standard.

FROM the London STANDARD.
At the Victorian Era exhibition at
Earrs-court recently a novel treatment
of prematurely born and weakly infants
was opened to private inspection The sit
uation of the model institution, which is
of considerable Dimensions, having a Co.
foot frontage and a corresponding breadth
of %. is in the line Of buildings In the
Western gardens, opposite the old Wei
come Club. 1t is conveniently divided into
three sections. In the central one are the
handsome nickel-plated and plate-gass
incubators, in which the infants are plac-
ed, neatly wrapped I'm cotton wool and laid
on little white coverlets. One wing Of the
building, which is built of brick, is ar
ranged as a model nursery, while the
other is used for the Offices of the nurses
and medical men in charge. The most
important considerations In the vitality
Of premature infants are weight and tenn
perature, and on these features depend
entirely the chances OF saving their lives.
As general fact, infants weighing less
than two pounds three ounces die on the
day Of their birth. OF those under three
pounds five ounces half are saved by the
Altman apparatus. In the primitive meth
DDS OF years ago the puny babies were
wrapped in wadding or in a sheekpskin
with the wool adhering. In some coun-
tries they were put in jars Of feathers
or the cradle was drawn close to the
hearth. NJ. Turner's couveuses have done
good service at the Paris Maternity hos
pital, and other apparatus has been use
fully employed to "a limited extent; but
nothing so regular and uniform, so pure
and wholesome In it's operation, has here
tofore been explained
The new apparatus was explained TO the
al d.
its paramount qualification being the au-
tomato maintenance Of "A uniform tenn
perature. The incubator Is metal and
glass case under a cubic yard in capacity
The front portion rs formed by two swing
ing doors. The child rests on the coverlet
Of fine kire hammock suspended from
the four corners The air Is supplied
through a pipe four inches IN diameter,
connected 20 an air box, and before enter
ing Il is made moist by passing through
small sheet OF antiseptic absorbent wool.
The air then passes through dry wool,
which retains the SCOT and other impurl-
ties OF the atmosphere. From this hitter
the air traverses another pipe leading to
the center OF the incubator. over les orr
fee is placed q disk for uniformly dis
tributing the air. and above all is a three
foot chimney with horizontal revolyini,
fan, which cOmpels the exhausted air 10
escape. The uniform heating Of the case
~ pfouucfu py not water drawn from an
external boiler heated by parafiin gas or
electricity. the circulation being effected
by a copper pipe running beneath the
wire hammock. IN the right hand wall
is fixed "a thcrm08tat connected 20 "a light
chain. which Huspends an aluminium cone
ia over the lamp of the boiler and lta
expansions and cOntr1cilona nut0matical-
lV control the temperature - tho degree
20 which the apparatus ia aet. A ther-
m0mefor suspended inside one of me glass
doors renders possible observations Of The
temperature of fhn interior. while "a hv-
gromcicr similarly Indicates the moisture
~ che aif within,