IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF EPITHEMS USED FOR MEDICAL AND SURGICAL PURPOSES
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
MARKWICK, of Langham Place, in the County of Middlesex, Suigeon, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Ier
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twentieth day of
May, in the ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Maikwick, my exors, adññors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Alfred Markwick, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Markwick, my exors, adñions, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
EPITHEMS USED FOR MEDICAL AND SURGICAL PURPOSES," partly communicated to
me fiom a Foreigner, and partly invented by myself, in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Alfred Markwick, should cause a
particular description of the nature of the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to be inrolled in He said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto"
had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alfied Markwick, do hereby declare that the nature of the said, Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement the cof, that is to say :-
The Invention has for its object the manufacture of epithems by applying in
their construction certain prepared surfaces or fabrics hereafter explained.
And in order that the Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by "me
And in doing so I will first explain the making of epithems suitable for applying
fomentations, lotions, embrocations, or other fluids or preparations to the
surface of the humone or animal body for medical and surgical purposes.
In carrying out this part of the Invention the object to be obtained is a
porous surface made up of fibrous materials where it comes next the body, and
impermeable on the opposite or back surface. And in preparing such
porous surfaces, sponge, or sponge and fibrous materials, or fibrous materials
alone, are used with india rubber, gutta percha, or other impermeable matter.
When sponge is used it is cut into thin slices, which may readily be done
by pressing it between two sui faces, allowing as much to protrade as the
thickness desired, and then by a sharp knife to make the cut, and I usc for
this purpose a knife with a serated edge, the whole of the edges of the teeth
being sharpened as a knife. The slices of sponge thus obtained are spread
evenly over a flat surface, and a coating of dissolved india rubber (caoutchouc)
or of gutta percha is applied thereto and allowed to day, and a succession of
coatings are to be applied till an impermeable surface has been obtained, or
an impermeable surface to the sponge may be otherwise produced. By the
means above described a porous surface for going against the body will be
obtained, having an impermeable surface externally, or for going against tho
diess or other covering of the person, or of that part of the person where
an epithem is applied. O, in place of preparing the porous surface of an
epithem wholly of sponge, I sometimes combine the use of sponge with
fibious material, in which case the sponge is reduced into very small pieces,
and have found the best means of doing so is to submit it to the action
of a paper engine, and such reduced sponge I then mix with wool or other
felting fibre, and cause the fibies to be slightly felted, so that a porous surface
may be obtained which will hold together, and other fibious matters may be
mixed therewith, so long as the felting properties of the felting fibies are not
overcome by the non-felting materials, all which is well understood in preparing
felted fabrics. The fabric thus composed is then to have one of its surfaces
coated with a solution of india iubber o1 of gutta percha, or to be otherwise

page_text: rendered impermeable, as before explained when using sponge without fibies.
Or, in place of the porous preparations above explained. fibious matters alone
be used, in which case wool or other felting fibres are employed either alone
oi in combination with non-felting fibies, such as cotton, silk waste, or others,
so that the non-felting matters will not be too much for the felting ones, as is
well understood. The object is to get a surface slightly matted or felted
together which shall be as porous and open as possible, and to this product I
apply a surface of india rubber, gutta pcicha, or other impermeable matter, as
above explained, and portions of such fabrics so prepared in sheets (having the
one side porous, and the other side impermeable to fluid) are to be cut out,
and by strings or bandages of any required size and shape, they are to be
attached to the part of the body to be treated, the epithems so made being
first charged with lotion or other fluid or matter, according to the requirement
of the particular case. In some cases only warmth is required to be obtained
in a particular locality, such for instance as the chest, in which cases the use
of fibies with an impermeable su face, as above explained, may be resorted to,
and then, if not for temporary use, I prefer to cover the back of the epithem
with silk or other such fabric, and in those cases where it is desired that tho
epithem so manufactured should be permeable to the perspiration of the body,
then I puncture the came with numerous holes; and perforated epithems are
also useful in cases where the lotions or liquids used are required to evaporato
freely.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would wish it to be understood that I do
not confine myself to the details herein described, so long as the peculiar
character of the Invention be retained. But what I claim is,―
First, the mode of manufacturing epithems by employing sponge with
suitable impermeable back surface, as herein described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of manufacturing epithems by employing
sponge combined with fibious materials, with suitable impermeable back
surface, as heicin described And,
Thirdly, I claim the mode of manufacturing epithems, by employing fibrous
materials. so as to produce a porous surface with suitable impermeable back
surface, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfied Markwick, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
ALFRED (LS) MARKWICK.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid Alfied Maikwick came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-six.