IMPROVEMENTS IN VAPOR-BATH APPARATUS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Lefebvre, of No. 9, Cecil Street, Strand, in the
County of Middlesex, Physician, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
VAPOR-BATH APPARATUS."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Louis Lefebvre at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 9th October 1863, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
LEFEBVRE, of No. 9, Cecil Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Physician, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
VAPOR-BATH APPARATUS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am the true and first
Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Lefebvre, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement:-
My Invention consists of,-
1. An apparatus for vapor baths for the whole body excepting the head,

page_text: composed of a boiler or steam generator and furnace heated in an ordinary
manner, or by a lamp for burning fluid, and a chamber in which the patient is
enclosed.
2. An apparatus for vapor baths for a part of the body.
3. A chair vapor bath for a part of the body.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents the first part of my
Invention. A, the boiler or steam generator, furnished with safety valves B, B;
C, a cock, through which steam passes to the chamber; D, a funnel for the
introduction of water with or without volatile substances into the generator
through E, a double cock with a globe between; F, a man-hole or opening,
by which the generator may be cleaned or plants or other substances may be
introduced; G, an opening for emptying the contents of the generator; H, the
water level; I, the handle by which to carry the generator; J, the furnace or
lamp holder, which can be placed in the opening K; L, a flexible pipe, com-
municating between the generator and the chamber M, covered with cotton
cloth or close tissue supported by the frame represented in Fig. 3; N, N,
pockets or covered holes, by which the body of the patient may be reached
either for the purpose of being rubbed or dried.
Fig. 2 represents the heater or furnace and a lamp or burner more at large,
particularly in plan and section. The heat may be obtained from solid fuel
or gas. When fluid is to be burned it is put into the trough B, which has
two compartments B and D, partially separated by a hollow chamber C, under
which there is a communication. The fluid is introduced through D, while it
may still burn in B. and all danger is thus obviated of the flame being com-
municated to the alcohol in D or the vessel outside.
Fig. 3 represents the frame of the chamber in which the patient lies. It is
composed of metallic tubes tinned or lined on the interior surface, and covered
externally with cloth to prevent the patient from being burnt by them, and a
hoop F to distend the cover, and another G, which is moveable, so as to fit
the patient's neck at H. The steam from the generator enters the globe M,
into which also may be introduced medicated substance through the funnel L.
The steam circulates through the tubes, and escapes into the chamber through
holes in the upper surface of the lower tubes C, C, which are kept from the
patient's touch by a slight trelliswork or border K. The patient can regulate
the amount of steam entering by means of the cock N, furnished with an
indicating pointer, and moved by a lever P, which is worked by the rod Q, at
the end of which is a handle. The tubes and rods may have joints S, S, to
make them more portable. The water condensing in the tubes C passes

page_text: through D, D, to a tube E, and is allowed to escape at intervals through the
cock J, the apparatus being inclined by the wedge-shaped support I.
Fig. 4 represents the vapour-bath apparatus for local applications. The
front of the apparatus is oblique to the tube supplying it with vapor through
the tube with a stop-cock F, so that while the steam issues through the small
holes at A, the water condensed runs into a gutter B, and by a pipe C for
escape at the end curved upwards at E. The apparatus can thus be directed
to any part of the patient's body, even while in bed, without moistening either
it or the patient.
Fig. 5 represents the vapour chair bath. The steam generated by a furnace
or heater, as described, or by other means, enters a tube at A through a
cock B, regulated by the patient himself, and thence by a tube C into the
condensing globe D, from which the water escapes through E, a small conical
pipe. The steam passing through G, a pierced diaphragm, enters a chamber H,
over part of which the patient sits.
I claim as my Invention the vapor-bath apparatus of lampholder, generator,
and chamber, the vapor bath for local application, and the chair vapor bath,
all as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Lefebvre, have bereunto- set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
L. LEFEBVRE, D.M. (L.S.)