AN IMPROVED SPLINT FOR GUN-SHOT AND OTHER COMPOUND FRACTURES OF THE LIMBS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Stacy Skipton, Doctor of Medicine, and
Assistant Surgeon in Her Majesty's 78th Highland Regiment of Foot,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED SPLINT FOR GUN-SHOT AND OTHER
COMPOUND FRACTURES OF THE LIMBS."
Sealed the 25th January 1861, and dated the 3rd August 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Stacy Skipton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd August 1860.-
I, SAMUEL STACY SKIPTON, Doctor of Medicine, and Assistant Surgeon. in
Her Majesty's 78th Highland Regiment of Foot, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SPLINT FOR GUN-SHOT AND
OTHER COMPOUND FRACTURES OF THE LIMBS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the manufacture of splints well adapted to gun-
shot or other compound fractures of the limbs. By the principle hereafter
described the wound in the limb may be left uncovered for the purpose of
applying the requisite dressings without removing the splint. The principle
consists in the splint being made up of transverse strips, retained in their place
by longitudinal bars at the back thereof, and may be formed of any suitable
shape, size, or material. Any one or more of these transverse strips are
removable, in order that the splint may be applied to the limb, at the same
time leaving the wound exposed. For the sake of economy and portability,
፡

page_text: as required in the army, the same splint may be made sufficiently long to fit a
tall man, or by removing one or more of the transverse strips short enough
for a boy.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Stacy Skipton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
2nd February 1861.
•
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
STACY SKIPTON, Doctor of Medicine, and Assistant Surgeon in Her Majesty's
78th Highland Regiment of Foot, send greeting.
WHEREAS, Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-fourth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Samuel Stacy Skipton, Her. special licence that I, the said Samuel Stacy
Skipton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Samuel Stacy Skipton, 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 "AN IMPROVED SPLINT
FOR GUN-SHOT AND OTHER COMPOUND FRACTURES OF THE LIMBS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Stacy Skipton, 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 Samuel Stacy Skipton, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-
lowing statement, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in the manufacture of splints well adapted to gun-
shot or other compound fractures of the limbs, by which principle the wound.
in the limb may be left uncovered for the purpose of applying the requisite
dressings without removing the splint.

page_text: In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now
proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the
same into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of
Drawings hereto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference
marked thereon respectively as follows
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a complete leg splint manufactured according
to my Invention, Fig. 2 being a front view of one of the pieces of the splint
detached, similar letters of reference denoting corresponding parts at each of
the Figures respectively.
1
t
At Fig. 1 is a plan view of a complete splint composed of transverse strips a, a,
upon each of which are placed vertical plates b, b, shewn in a front view at
Fig. 2; each of these vertical plates having a hole pierced therein for a
longitudinal bar c, c, to pass through; each end piece d of the splint is supplied
with pillars e, é, and set screws f, f, or rivets to keep these pieces in their.
respective places at the required distance. on the bars. Each transverse
strip a, a, being numbered consecutively, no mistake can possibly occur by the
strips being misplaced, and thereby disarranging the shape of the splint. By
unscrewing either end piece d, d, at f, f, and withdrawing it from the bars c, c,
any one or more of the transverse pieces a, a, may be withdrawn and set aside;
the end piece d and others being replaced at the required distance, thus
providing an interruption at any spot in the course of the splint, and so giving
facility for the application of the requisite dressings to a wound without
disturbing the support of the slpint on the limb. Arm and thigh splints may
be manufactured in like manner by placing two sets of bars, one above and
the other below the elbow or knee joint. And when the splint is only required
for a simple fracture of a bone, the bars c, c, may be passed through holes
made in the plates b, b, close to the transverse strips, in which case the
bandage may be applied over the entire splint.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention of "An Improved
Splint for Gun-shot and other Compound Fractures of the Limbs," and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would remark, in conclusion,
that I'do not confine or restrict myself to the precise details herein described,
and shewn in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, as many slight modifica-
tions and variations may be made therein without in any way departing from
the principle of my Invention; but what I claim as my Invention intended to
be secured to me by the herein in part recited Letters Patent is, the manu-
facture of splints interruptable for gun-shot or other compound fractures of the

page_text: limbs, whereby the wound may be left exposed for the application of the
necessary dressings while the splint. remains bound on the limb, consisting of
transverse strips, which, placed side by side, form the shape of the required
splint, and which transverse strips slide on one or more longitudinal bars at
their back to retain them in their places, the terminal strips being fixed by
rivets or screws to each longitudinal bar, the material being metal, or wood
and metal, or any suitable material adapted for the purpose, to be made in the
manner shewn in the accompanying Drawings for the purposes herein described
and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Stacy Skipton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and-sixty-one.
מהחחד די!
SAMUEL STACY SKIPTON, M.D., (L.S.)
Assistant Surgeon, 78th Highlanders,
Vitñess,
RICHARD PIERCE BUTLER,
Lieutenant 78th Highlanders, .
Edinburgh Castle.
*Edinburgh Castle.