AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF PESSARY
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Gedge, of the Firm of John
Gedge and Son, of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
SYSTEM OF PESSARY." A communication from abroad by Celina
Lebrun and Adrienne Lebrun, Midwives, and Henri Houzé, Medical
Student, all of Paris, France.
-
Sealed the 14th June 1870, and dated the 18th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Gedge
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th December 1869.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son,
of No. 11, Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF PESSARY," a communication to me from abroad
by Celina Lebrun and Adrienne Lebrun, Midwives, and Henri Houzé,
Medical Student, all of Paris, France, to be as follows:-
A pessary upon this improved system is illustrated on the accom-
panying Diagram. A, A, indicating the body, varying from %, of an

page_text: inch to one inch (1 to 2 centimètres in breadth by about 1, an inch (1
centimètre) in thickness. This pessary has the shape of a ring. B,
central opening (intended to receive the neck of the matrice) varying
from 1%, inches (3 centimètres) to 4 inches (10 centimètres).
All the pessarys hitherto used have an opening of less than 1%, inches
centimètres), the result of which is that the ring being unable to
give passage to the neck of the matrice these pessarys only act as a
pellet or plug, hinder the menstrual flux, irritate the matrice, fall of
themselves by reason of their considerable bulk, and often become
insupportable to the patient. This improved pessary on the contrary
by reason of its large central opening receives in its ring the neck of
the matrice, surrounds it, supports it, restores its natural form, keeps
the matrice from shaking, strengthens the ligaments, gives free passage
to the menstrual flux, and never gives rise to the whites.
+
The patient can easily apply this pessary without assistance, and wear
it for an indefinite period, as it cannot fall and needs no cleaning.
The central opening is the main point of the Invention, and is
applicable to every shape of pessary, whether round, oval, cylindrical, or
of other form.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Gedge in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 17th June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD GEDGE, of the Firm of John Gedge and Son, of No. 11,
Wellington Street, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth 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 William Edward Gedge, Her
special licence- that I, the said William Edward Gedge, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Edward Gedge, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at

page_text: 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 SYSTEM OF PESSARY," a communication to me from
abroad by Celina Lebrun and Adrienne Lebrun, Midwives, and Henri
Houzé, Medical Student, all of Paris, France, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Gedge, 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 William Edward Gedge, 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:-
A pessary upon this improved system is illustrated on the accom-
panying Diagram. A, A, indicate the body of the pessary varying from
%, of an inch to one inch (1 to 2 centimètres) in breadth by about 1/
an inch (1 centimètre) in thickness. This pessary has the shape of a
ring. B, central opening intended to receive the neck of the matrice
varying from 1%, inches (3 centimètres) to 4 inches (10 centimètres).
All the pessarys hitherto used have an opening of less than 1%, inches
(3 centimètres), the result of which is that the ring being unable to
give passage to the neck of the matrice these pessarys only act as a
pellet or plug, hinder the menstrual flux, irritate the matrice, fall of
themselves by reason of their considerable bulk, and often become
insupportable to the patient. This improved pessary on the contrary
by reason of its large central opening receives in its ring the neck of
the matrice, surrounds it, supports it, restores its natural form, keeps the
matrice from shaking, strengthens the ligaments, gives free passage to
the menstrual flux, and never gives rise to the whites.
The patient can easily apply this pessary without assistance and wear
it for an indefinite period, as it cannot fall and needs no cleaning.

page_text: The central opening is the main point of this Invention, and is
applicable to every shape of pessary, whether round, oval, cylindrical,
or of other form.
In witness whereof, 1, the said William Edward Gedge, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
W. E. GEDGE. (L.S.)