The Washington times., 1901-08-11
THE BABY INCUBATOR.
1t Is stellar Exhibition Mt the Buff
faIO Fair.

| Statistics show that only about Is per
| cent of the infants prematurely or weakly
born live ordinarily, but by means of the
baby incubator of today the lives of
about S. per cent are saved The baby
incubator exhibited at the Pan-American
Exposition is in a special building on the
Mall near one of the entrance gates, and
while 1t is in the nature of a concession
or, in other words, an exhibit, il has
proved to be of great interest to visitors
In a large room, well-lighted1 are a dozen
incubators, each of which consists of a
glass case in a metal frame. and sup
ported on metal legs. In each is small
woven-wire cot carefully padded. Fresh
air is admitted by large pipe from out
side the building. The air passes first
through an antiseptic fluid, which de-
stroys any germs that may be lurking in
II. 1t also passes through cotton, which
filters out any physical impurities. The
air is then warmed and is finally intro
duced into the chamber where the baby
lies. A pan of warm water keeps the
atmosphere humid and the amount of
moisture is registered by a small hygro-
meter at one side of the incubator. The
air enters at the bottom: of the case,
strikes a shield below the cot. and is de-
fected downward until it meets the warm
current of air heated by Bunsen burner
placed outside the case. The tempera-
tnre is automatically regulated by
thermostat: At the side. of each case is
a small boiler which holds about two gal
Ions OF water. Through the proper intro
duction of cold water the circulation is
controlled in the pipes that heat the in
cubator In the same manner in which II
Is done in a house heated by hot water
a centigrade thermometer in front of
each incubator gives the actual tempera-
ture all the time. Each infant is swathed
Gorman fashion, ard they can be clearly
seen through the glass doors and sides of
the various incubators. The infants are
sent by the physicians of Buffalo and are
given over to the care of the institution
Ihey are weighed, clothed and placed in
the incubator. They are usually under
hve pounds in weight on admission. The
babies are taken out of the incubators
every two hours to be fed by the nurses
who live in the building.
AT the rear of the incubator room is a
model nursery. miniature elevator
takes the infants to the upstairs quarters
TO be fed. Most of the babies lie with
their eyes closed, and practically the only
sign of life is the occasional fiutter of one
OF the TRY hands. In accordance with the
European custom, the boys are distin-
gulshed ty blue ribbons and the girls by
pink. The infants at the exposition are
not from institutions. but are from pri-
Nate families. so that the names of the
little patients are carefully kept from the /
pubic. Above each incubator is a card |
on which is given the child's initials the !
date of it's birth. its admission to the in |
cubator, the circumstances that make ar
tillcial care advisable. its weight and any /
other detail Of significance. fhe incu- |
bator was invented about sixty wears ago !
but 1t never came into general use until |
1873, when incubators were installed al |
the Paris Maternity Hospital Both Ber- |
I'm and London have permanent institu- |
tons similarly equipped and in successful /
peration.-Scientific American