A NEW MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING DISEASES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "A NEW MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING DISEASES."-A
communication from abroad by Maurice Howell Utley, of the City
of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, Doctor of Medicine.
Sealed the 1st June 1869, and dated the 4th December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th December 1868.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "A NEW MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING DISEASES,"
a communication from abroad by Maurice Howell Utley, of the City
of Montreal, in the Province of Quebec, Doctor of Medicine, to be
as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar mode of treating diseases, and to
apparatus employed therefor, and consists essentially in enclosing the

page_text: patient in a main air-tight receiver provided with a close-fitting cover,
and removeable front or shell, the joints being packed tight with india-
rubber, the shell or front being further secured when adjusted in position
by any convenient fastening. If desired glazed windows may be provided
for enabling the progress of the treatment to be inspected by the medical
attendant. The neck of the patient passes thro' a ring packed with
india-rubber and provided with an india-rubber cap or hood which
encloses the head leaving the face only exposed. An air inlet valve is
provided for admitting fresh air when required into the receiver which is
furnished with a vacuum guage and flexible air tubes in connection with
an air pump, as also with electrical wires for the application of electricity
to the patient when requisite. In conjunction with this main vacuum
receiver are employed other auxiliary receivers for the reception of the
limbs whilst the patient is still within the main receiver, such auxiliary
receivers enabling an increased vacuum to be applied to any of the limbs
if requisite. It is also proposed to employ either with or without the
use of the main receiver, minor auxiliary receivers, or vacuum cups,
which are intended for local application to the parts immediately affected,
each cup being provided with a flexible air tube in connection with an
air pump, and with electric wires. These vacuum cups may be used
either with or without electricity when applied to the part affected within
a partial vacuum, but when applied to the patient outside the receiver
they should be used in combination with electric currents. Glass
windows may be provided in the various vacuum cups or auxiliary
receivers to enable the part to be inspected whilst under treatment.
Medicated vapour when required is introduced into the receiver or auxiliary
receiver or cups through a tube provided for the purpose. The effect of
the above mode of treatment is to cause the blood and nervo-vital fluids
to fill the capillary vessels in any part of the body or in any particular
part according as the treatment be general or local, thereby removing
internal congestion, conveying the nutraline fluids as equally as possible
to every part of the system, and carrying the waste and dead matter from
the various parts of the body, thereby restoring vitality and healthy
action.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 4th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
year of
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of December, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors
give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her special
license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 "A NEW MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING DISEASES," a communica-
tion from abroad by Maurice Howell Utley, of the City of Montreal,
in the Province of Quebec, Doctor of Medicine, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 John Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Inventiou, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
The said Invention relates to a peculiar mode of treating diseases,
and to apparatus employed therefor, and consists essentially in inclosing
the patient in a main air-tight receiver, provided with a close fitting

page_text: cover and removable front or shell, the joints being packed tight with
india-rubber, the shell or front being further secured when adjusted
in position by any convenient fastening. If desired glazed windows
may be provided for enabling the progress of the treatment to be
inspected by the medical attendant. The neck of the patient passes
through a ring packed with india-rubber and provided with an india-
rubber cap or hood which encloses the head leaving the face only
exposed. An air inlet valve is provided for admitting fresh air when
required into the receiver, which is furnished with a vacuum guage
and flexible air tubes in connection with an air pump, as also with
electrical wires for the application of electricity to the patient when
requisite. In conjunction with this main vacuum receiver are employed
other auxiliary receivers for the reception of the limbs whilst the patient
is still within the main receiver, such auxiliary receivers enabling an
increased vacuum to be applied to any of the limbs if requisite. It is
also proposed to employ either with or without the use of the main
receiver minor auxiliary receivers or vacuum cups which are intended
for local application to the parts immediately affected, each cup being
provided with a flexible air tube in connection with an air pump and
with electric wires. These vacuum cups may be used either with or
without electricity when applied to the part affected within a partial
vacuum but when applied to a patient outside the receiver they should
be used in combination with electric currents.
Glass windows may
be provided in the various vacuum cups or auxiliary receivers to enable
the part to be inspected whilst under treatment.
Medicated vapour
when required is introduced into the receiver or auxiliary receiver or
cups through a tube provided for the purpose. The effect of the above
mode of treatment is to cause the blood and nervo-vital fluids to fill
the capillary vessels in every part of the body or in any particular part
according as the treatment be general or local, thereby removing
internal congestion, conveying the nutrative fluids as equally as possible
to every part of the system, and carrying the waste and dead matter
from the various parts of the body, thereby restoring vitality and healthy
action.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose
shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.

page_text: Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a side elevation of the main
receiver; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same; Figure 3 is a plau
of the receiver; Figure 4 is a vertical section thereof; Figure 5 is a
section of a leg auxiliary receiver; Figure 6 is a section of an arm
auxiliary receiver; Figure 7 is an auxiliary vacuum cup for treating the
liver; Figure 8 is a similar cup for general application to the body;
Figure 9 represents an auxiliary vacuum cup for application to the
vagina; Figure 10 is a similar cup for application to the breast;
Figure 11 is a vacuum cup for the treatment of the male generative
organs; Figure 12 is a vacuum cup for the treatment of the eye;
Figure 13 is a section of a vacuum cup for the ear; and Figure 14 is
a similar view of a vacuum cup for application to various parts of the
body.
a is a large receiver into which the body of the patient is introduced
with the exception of the head; it may be constructed of metal, wood,
or glass, or of all combined, and made of the general form shewn in the
Drawings, or in such modifications of the same as may be thought
desirable. If constructed of metal or wood strong glass windows may
be inserted in the sides for the purpose of permitting the medical man
to see the action of the treatment on the patient's body. Such glass
windows however are not absolutely necessary although they would no
doubt be useful. The front portion can be removed from the body of
the receiver and when in place is firmly secured to it by means of catch
levers c, c, or set screws. In order to make the junction of the two
air-tight a groove packed with india-rubber or other analagous substance
is arranged around the sides of the body of the receiver into which the
semicircular packing on the corresponding portion of the cover fits;
or semicircular grooves may be arranged in the front edge of the receiver
and on the cover, into which an india-rubber tube is fitted. This tube is
arranged in such a. manner as to permit of its being inflated with air
from an air pump when the cover is in place. The inflation causes the
tube to swell, and in this manner fills all parts of the cavity and forms a
tight joint. Other modes of forming air-tight joints now in use may be
adopted and used for this part of the apparatus. d is a circular aperture
in the top of the receiver for the reception of the patient's neck; around
this circular aperture there is a brass ring e with an india-rubber packing
between it and the top of the receiver for the purpose of making an air-
tight junction. The outer circumference of this ring is grooved for the
purpose of attaching an india-rubber cap which covers the patient's head

page_text: fitting tightly to the same, but leaving the face and breathing organs
exposed. The material of this cap should be thin, flexible, and air-
tight. y is a vacuum air pump of any suitable description, but by
preference employ a double action one as shewn in the Drawings
worked by a lever; this pump is connected to the receiver by the
india-rubber tube for the purpose of exhausting the air from
the same.
This tube is connected with the lower portion of the
receiver. The air pump or any suitable modification thereof may
be placed on the inside of the receiver in the space underneath
the seat, and the valve spindle carried through the side of the receiver
and worked by a lever on the outside. This arrangement will be
a more compact one than that first described. i, i, are wires com-
municating with an electrical battery of ordinary description and
convey the electrical current through the receiver either to the seat
on which the patient is sitting or to the moveable cups or auxiliary
receivers to be presently described and moved or applied by the patient
himself. These wires may exist in any number and be attached to
whichever portion of the receiver may be thought advisable. is
a mercurial guage for measuring the tension of the vacuum; it is
attached to the body of the receiver on the outside, but communicates
with the interior; a second mercurial guage may also be attached to the
outside of the large receiver but communicating by means of a suitable
india-rubber tube with either of the auxiliary receivers when used in
the inside of the main receiver, and serves to indicate the tension of the
vacuum in the auxiliary receiver, whilst the first guage is indicating
the tension of the vacuum existing in the large receiver. Z is an air duct
through the side of the large receiver for admitting air into the same
when required; air may also be admitted into either of the auxiliary
receivers when employed inside the large receiver by means of a flexible
tube connecting with the outside of the large receiver. m is an auxiliary
receiver for the reception of the patient's leg, and of the general form
shewn in the Drawings; it may be made of tin, zinc, or other suitable
material, and glass may be let into the sides for the purpose of allowing
the medical man to watch the progress of the treatment. This auxiliary
receiver will be made air-tight at the bottom, and is provided on its top
with an india-rubber band, which will encircle the upper portion of the
leg forming an air-tight joint; the air suction pipe from the vacuum
pump is connected with it at n. This as well as all the other auxiliary
receivers will be strongly constructed to enable them to resist the

page_text: atmospheric pressure. o is an auxiliary receiver for the reception of
the patient's arm when that portion of the body requires treatment. The
vacuum pipe is attached to the outer end as shewn in the Drawing, and
a handle is provided on the inner side for the patient to take hold of.
In order to make an air-tight junction of this auxiliary receiver with the
arm an india-rubber flap p is firmly attached to the open end of the
is
auxiliary receiver, and to the arm by an elastic cord or otherwise. g
an auxiliary receiver of metal, glass, or other substance of a funnol-shape
and of any convenient size, adapted to any part of the body. This cup
is moveable at the patient's pleasure and is attached to an air-tight
flexible tube, connected to the inner side to a metal tube in the shell of
the large receiver. A second flexible tube connects the metal tube on
the outside of the shell with a small hand air pump r. The object of
this cup is to take a still greater pressure from a diseased part of the
body. s is an auxiliary cup or receiver, with the same object in view as
described for q but of a different form, which adapts it to circular
portions of the body. All these auxiliary receivers are connected with
the electrical wires, vacuum guage, and air pumps, and as before stated
may be provided with glass windows, through which the operator may
inspect the part being treated. The leg and arm auxiliary receivers, with
the minor ones described, may be either used on the patient within the
partial vacuum of the large receiver, with or without electricity, or they
may be used without the partial vacuum of the large receiver, either
with or without the electrical current, according to the judgment of the
medical attendant.
t is an auxiliary vacuum for applying to the breasts
of females and connected to the vacuum pump by a flexible tube; by
preference it is circular in form. u is an auxiliary receiver for applying
to the vagina, and also conuected to the air pump by a flexible tube.
vis a glass vacuum cup for the eye and used either with or without
electricity; it is attached to a small vacuum pump w by the flexible
tube x.
The shape of this cup is such as to admit of it being fitted
closely to the eye and forming an air-tight junction. y is a vacuum cup
for the ear, also made of glass and used either with or without electricity
and connected to the vacuum pump by an india-rubber tube. z, z, are
vacuum cups of various sizes for application to the temples or other
parts of the face, with or without electricity; they are attached to the
vacuum pump in the ordinary manner.
A is an elongated glass vacuum tube, open at one end and closed at
the other, as shewn in the Drawings; at the outer or closed eud and

page_text: attached to the same by a suitable air-tight tube is a small air pump;
a second aperture at this end of the glass tube permits of the introduction
of medicated vapour when required. The electrical wires are connected
to this tube when required and run its entire length, connecting at the
base or open end of the tube with a metallic ring placed round it. By
this means the current of electricity is carried to the required points.
The object of this tube is for the treatment of the male generative
organs. Medicated vapour of any required kind may be introduced into
the auxiliary receivers or into the main receiver, as the medical attendant
may deem proper.
I will now proceed to describe more particularly the mode of action
of the improved apparatus. The main receiver being arranged as shewn
in the Drawings in connection with a suitable vacuum pump, electrical
battery and vacuum guages, the front portion is removed, and the
patient enters the receiver and is seated on a chair as represented, with
his neck in the circular aperture in the top. In this position the front
side of the receiver is put in place, and the cap drawn over and adjusted
on the patient's head, leaving the face exposed. The cover is then
securely fastened to the body of the receiver by means of the fastenings
and made air-tight in any of the modes described. The air is then
partially exhausted from within the receiver by the air pump to an
extent which will be indicated by the guage, and consequently removes
a certain amount of atmospheric pressure equally from every part of
the body producing an equal suction from all parts except the head,
causing the blood and nervo vital fluids to fill the capilliary vessels in
every part of the body, thus removing internal congestion, conveying
the nutrative fluids as equally as possible to every part of the system,
and conveying the waste and dead matter from all parts of the body,
thus restoring vitality. In treating paralysis of the lower limbs
(paraplegia), chronic rheumatism of the limbs, week ankles, knees, and
hips, dropsy of the limbs, varicose veins, sciatic affections, stiff joints,
atrophied wasted limbs, and the like, in addition to the use of the large
receiver for the whole body the whole or any part of the limbs affected
is inserted in an air-tight auxiliary receiver adapted to that limb, or
vacuum cups are fitted to any part of the body, to which an air pump
and guage are attached as described. A vacuum of as great an extent
as the patient can bear comfortably is now produced, causing the blood
and nevo vital fluid to flow more freely to the diseased part or parts
of the body, while the whole body is also within the partial vacuum of

page_text: And when
the large receiver at the same time when it may be deemed advisable,
the electrical wires are attached to the vacuum auxiliary receivers or
cups as described, thus furnishing a very important vital fluid to the
body, or to that particular locality under treatment. The blood vessels.
which penetrate to every part of the human body are the vehicles which
convey the nutriment, every particle of bone, muscle, nerve, vein, artery,
glaud, and membrane must have a new supply of nutrative atoms every
day, and there is no possible way of getting the supply of nutrition
except through the arteries, veins, and capillary vessels.
the blood vessels become congested or diseased, and thereby incapacitated
and unable to convey the nutriment to au organ, that part becomes
starved and consequently weakened and diseased and unable to perform
its duties; but by applying this principle vitality is restored by
equalizing the circulation of the blood and supplying the deficiency of
electricity to the nerves. When the auxiliary receivers are made use
of, they are adjusted before closing the receiver, and at the same time
attaching the electrical wires when required and the vacuum tubes.
When the minor auxiliary receivers or vacuum cups are employed in
the large receiver they may be adjusted to the part of the body affected
by the patient while in the partial vacuum of the large receiver.
in the opinion of the medical attendant the patient has been sufficiently
long in the vacuum the partial vacuum is destroyed by the introduction
of a supply of air and the cover is then removed. During the treatment
the air in the receiver may be frequently changed by the introduction
of fresh air through the air duct and the vitiated air is withdrawn by
the pump. In cases requiring treatment without the aid of the large
receiver the vacuum cup suited to the diseased part is applied as
described either with or without the electrical wires as the medical
attendant may direct. As regards the form and construction of the
main receiver, auxiliary receivers, and vacuum cups, the first may be
made either light and portable or heavy and stationary, and the form of
the vacuum cups may be varied to suit different portions of the body.
When
Having.now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used
or carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I
consider to be novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The peculiar construction, arrangement, and mode of using

page_text: the main air-tight receiver, as and for the purpose herein-before
described.
Second. The combination with an air-tight receiver of a moveable
air-tight cover and shell, with or without windows, a circular ring for
the neck with cap attached thereto, an air port for introducing fresh air,
flexible air tubes, fastenings, mercurial guages, electrical wires, and air
pump, arranged and operating together substantially in the manner and
for the purpose herein-before described.
Third. The construction and use of the auxiliary receivers for
enclosing the limbs of a patient and applied in the partial vacuum of
the main receiver in connection with air tubes and a vacuum pump, and
with an electric battery and guages, whereby a vacuum may be formed
within a vacuum, and at the same time if required, an electrical current
may be conveyed to the part affected, substantially in the manner and
for the purpose herein-before described.
Fourth. The construction and use of the minor or auxiliary receivers
or vacuum cups in conjunction or not with electricity when applied to
the part affected within a partial vacuum by the patient himself,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
Fifth. The employment of any of the herein-before described auxiliary
receivers and vacuum cups outside of the main receiver when used in
conjunction with electrical currents for the purpose specified.
Sixth. The peculiar mode of and apparatus for using or applying
medicated vapers in vacuo as and for the purpose herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth
day of May, One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)