IMPROVED GARMENTS TO BE WORN NEXT THE SKIN FOR SANITARY PURPOSES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Thomas Hughes, of the Firm of Hughes
and Son, Patent Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, for the
Invention of "IMPROVED GARMENTS TO BE WORN NEXT THE SKIN FOR
SANITARY PURPOSES."-A communication from abroad by Messrs..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Thomas Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th December 1869.
I, EDWARD THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent
Agents, 123, Chancery Lane, London, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVED GARMENTS TO BE WORN NEXT THE SKIN FOR
SANITARY PURPOSES," a communication to me from abroad by Messrs.
Charles Mez and Sons, of Freiburg, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, to be
as follows:-
It is a well known fact that good conductors of heat are injurious if
worn next the skin, as they convey the warmth away from the body and

page_text: produce chills and other injurious effects. One of the most important
*promoters of health is air, which not only enters the body through the
lungs, but also through the pores of the skin which also perform the
important functions of respiration. It therefore follows that our bodies
should be clad in bad conductors of heat, and that the clothing ought
not to hinder the work of respiration of the pores of the skin. Now the
worst conductor of heat is an enclosed layer of air, and this Invention
consists in garments that will admit of the proper action of the respi-
ratory functions of the skin, and at the same time produce great warmth.
These garments are constructed of a network of silk, between the meshes
of which layers of air are enclosed. Silk possesses a further advantage
in that it is a non-conductor of electricity, therefore does not convey
away the electric warmth of the body. These improved garments may
be worn under an ordinary shirt or light upper garment, into which the
perspiration will soak, evaporating quickly into the air. They may be
made either in the form of a shirt, drawers, or other form of under
clothing, and when made in the form of drawers they prevent the injurious
effects arising from the tight fit of the trousers at the knees by providing
space for the passage of air to the pores of the skin. It will thus be seen
that no matter in what form the silken network is constructed the air has
free access to the skin, thus ensuring the perfect respiratory functions of the
pores, beside providing an excellent non-conductor of heat by interposing
a layer of air between the skin and the outer clothing, and from the
material of which it is made preventing the escape of the electric warmth
of the body, thus providing all the most necessary conditions of health.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Thomas Hughes in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
THOMAS HUGHES, of the Firm of Hughes and Son, Patent Agents, 123,
Chancery Lane, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, Her special

page_text: licence that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Thomas
Hughes, 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 "IM-
PROVED GARMENTS TO BE WORN NEXT THE SKIN FOR SANITARY PURPOSES," a
communication to me from abroad by Messrs. Charles Mez & Sons, of
Freiburg, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, 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 Edward Thomas Hughes, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, that is to say :-
It is a well known fact that good conductors of heat are injurious if
worn next the skin, as they convey the warmth away from the body and
produce chills and other injurious effects. One of the most important
promoters of health is air, which not only enters the body through the
lungs but also through the pores of the skin, which also perform the
important functions of respiration. It therefore follows that our bodies
should be clad in bad conductors of heat, and that the clothing ought
not to hinder the work of the respiration of the pores of the skin. Now
the worst conductor of heat is an enclosed layer of air, and this Invention
consists in garments that will admit of the proper action of the
respiratory functions of the skin, and at the same time produce great
warmth. These garments are constructed of a network of silk, between
the meshes of which the layer of air is enclosed. Silk possesses a
further advantage in that it is a non-conductor of electricity, therefore
does not convey away the electric warmth of the body. These improved
garments may be worn under an ordinary shirt or light upper garment
into which the perspiration will soak, evaporating quickly into the air.

page_text: They may be made either in the form of a shirt, drawers, or other form
of under clothing, and when made in the form of drawers they prevent
the injurious effects arising from the tight fit of the trousers at the
knees by providing space for the passage of air to the pores of the skin.
It will thus be seen that no matter in what form this silken network is
constructed the air has free access to the skin, thus ensuring the perfect
respiratory functions of the pores, besides providing an excellent non-
conductor of heat by interposing a layer of air between the skin and the
outer clothing, and from the material of which it is made preventing the
escape of the electric warmth of the body, thus providing all the most
necessary conditions of health.
Having now described the nature and particulars of the said Invention,
as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, I claim con-
structing garments to be worn next the skin of a network of silk
between the meshes of which a layer of air is enclosed, as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Thomas Hughes, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of June One
thousand eight hundred and seventy.