AN IMPROVED VESSEL OR FEEDER FOR ADMINISTERING FOOD AND MEDICINES
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edwards, of Dalston, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED VESSEL OR
FEEDER FOR ADMINISTERING FOOD AND MEDICINES."
Sealed the 5th March 1858, and dated the 10th October 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edwards, at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th October 1857.
I, HENRY EDWARDS, of Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED VESSEL
OR FEEDER FOR ADMINISTERING FOOD AND MEDICINES," to be as follows:-
I construct my feeder in the form of a cornucopia or of an inverted cone,'
with the apex curved or bent. The mouth is closed, with the exception of an
aperture left or formed in the cover thereof for the purpose of filling the vessel,
and for regulating the outflow from its narrow and tapered end. This tapered
end is open, and has fitted to it or not, according to the uses to which it is to
be appropriated, an artificial teat or other like suitable article, a stop-cock,
nozzle, or spout.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th April 1858. .
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARDS, of Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Edwards, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Edwards, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Edwards, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED VESSEL OR FEEDER
FOR ADMINISTERING FOOD AND MEDICINES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Edwards, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to
be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Edwards, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
I construct my feeder in the form of a cornucopia or of an inverted cone,
with the apex curved or bent. The mouth or larger end of the cornucopia is
closed, with the exception of an aperture left or formed in that part thereof
for the purpose of filling the vessel with liquid food or other liquid, and also
for regulating the outflow from its narrow and tapered end. This tapered end
is furnished with a small orifice, and has fitted to it or not (according to the
uses to which it is to be appropriated) an artificial teat or other like suitable
article, a stop-cock, nozzle, or spout; and when using the feeder for any other

page_text: purpose than inhaling volatile medicines, the small end is always the lower
end of it.
In the Drawings annexed I have represented the form in which I prefer to
manufacture my improved feeder; bnt I desire to state that, so long as
the main features of my Invention be retained, the form may be somewhat
varied;
for instance, instead of the body of the feeder being in the form of a
circular tapering tube, it may be made flat, wedge-like, with sides tapering off
towards the curved or bent outlet. Again, one side only may be flattened, to
enable the feeder to be laid down without the contents being liable to run out.
Figure 1 is a side view of one of my cornucopian feeders. A is an aperture
for filling the vessel, and B a collar or welt formed on the tapered end
to receive an artificial teat or nipple through which to draw off the liquid
contents of the feeder. By placing the thumb or finger on the aperture A, and
allowing more or less air to enter from time to time, the rate at which a
child may draw off the food or other liquid can be regulated; or, instead of
the thumb or finger, a ventilating stopper, of the kind secured by me by
Provisional Protection the 20th day of February 1858, may be advantageously
used. It will readily be understood that so long as any liquid food remains in
the feeder, and as long as the feeder is held in the position shewn in the
Figure, no air can be imbibed by a child sucking at the teat.
Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 is a side view, of a feeder similar to that
shewn in Figure 1, but with the body of a more wedge-like form, and with
a tapering neck made with a sharper curve.
Figure 4 is a side view of a feeder similar to that shewn at Figure 1, but
with outlet differently formed, and curved in such manner as to enable an
infant, invalid, or other person to imbibe liquid food or medicine while in
a recumbent position or otherwise.
Figure 5 is a side view of a vessel particularly adapted to the inhaling of
the vapours of ether, vinegar, and other volatilizable medicines.
For administering medicine to cattle and other animals I employ a cornu-
copian vessel made in tin or other suitable metal or material, and curve the
outlet in the manner shewn in the side view, Figure 6.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not claim any
description of feeder which is not furnished with an orifice for the purpose of
regulating the admission of air and the outflow of liquid from the vessel,
as herein-before described, and that I claim the improved mode of constructing

page_text: a vessel or feeder for administering food and medicines, with an orifice at the
upper end for regulating the admission of air to the vessel and the outflow of
the liquid, and with a narrow curved outlet at the lower part or end, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edwards, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of April, One thousand eight hundred.
and fifty-eight.
HENRY EDWARDS. (L.S.)