IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY TO THE CURE OF CERTAIN BODILY AILMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Robert Samuel Hayward, of Shirehampton,
in the County of Gloucester, Surgeon, M.R.C.S.E. and L.A.C.L.,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY
TO THE CURE OF CERTAIN BODILY AILMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE
SAME."
Sealed the 13th December 1872, and dated the 10th October 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Robert Samuel
Hayward at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 10th October 1872.
I, JOHN ROBERT SAMUEL HAYWARD, of Shirehampton, in the County
of Gloucester, Surgeon, M.R.C.S.E. and L.A.C.L., do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF
ELECTRICITY TO THE CURE OF CERTAIN BODILY AILMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR
THE SAME," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an improved construction of galvanic belt for
the application of galvanic, electricity in the treatment of nervous and

page_text: dilute vinegar, so as to moisten the discs of flannel by which the couples
are separated. The metallic surfaces must then be dried, after which
the belt may be enveloped in a waterproof sheath, and the poles applied
where desired.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Robert Samuel Hayward in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 10th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ROBERT SAMUEL HAYWARD, of Shirchampton, in the County of
Gloucester, Surgeon, M.R.C.S.E. and L.A.C.L., send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victorin, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and graut unto me, the said John Robert Samuel Hayward, Her
special licence that I, the said John Robert Samuel Hayward, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
John Robert Samuel Hayward, my exccutors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF
ELECTRICITY TO THE CORE OF CERTAIN BODILY AILMENTS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE
SAME," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Robert
Samuel Hayward, 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 John Robert Samuel Hayward, 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

page_text: in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to an improved construction of galvanic belt for
the application of galvanic electricity in the treatment of nervous and
espectially of sexual disorders. The belt is more simple and durable and
of greater current power than those hitherto in use, and is less liable to
get out of order. It consists of a voltaic battery of the usual elements
(plates of brass or copper and zinc) so arranged as to produce a steady
and continuous current, and not cause any inconvenience to the wearer.
Discs at each end form the poles of the battery, and the current flows
from one pole to the other through the intervening part of the body.
An elastic suspensory bag composed of netted silk and a conducting
material (such as gold or silver thread) for enveloping the scrotum can
be attached at will to the belt and answers the same purpose as one of
the discs, that is to say, it serves instead of one of the discs as pole to
the battery, the current flowing between it and the other disc through
the intervening part of the body. The size of the plates, together with
the length required in the belt, determines the number of galvanic
couples, cach couple consisting of a brass and a zinc plate placed one
upon the other, but separated from each other by a disc of woolen cloth,
and the whole stitched together with silk thread and attached to a
suitable band or belt. The zinc of one couple is connected with the
brass of the next by means of a copper link or links which admit of the
necessary flexibility of the belt. At each end of the belt are the discs,
the one which is made of zinc and attached to the last zinc plate being
the negative pole, while the other made of brass and attached to the last
brass plate is the positive pole. These discs are the only parts of the
belt which should be in contact with the naked body.
When it is desired to pass the current through the organs of genera-
tion the zinc disc must be covered with a flap of cloth provided for that
purpose, and the bag of netted silk and gold thread being attached it is
connected with the covered disc by a covered conducting wire or cord of
wires. The current will then circulate between the bag, which thus
acts as a pole, and the other disc which ought to lie on the abdomen.
In connection with this bag is a circle composed of metallic beads or
plates hung on elastic or other threads to be applied on the penis which
it encircles. This circle must be in metallic conucction with the wires

page_text: in the bag or with the negative pole, the action of the current being
thus extended to the generative organs. The moisture and carbonic
acid which exude through the skin will produce the electric current, but
when a stronger current is desired the plates may be rubbed with a
sponge dipped in diluted vinegar so as to moisten the discs of flannel by
which the plates are separated. The metallic surfaces may then be dried
and the poles applied where desired.
Figure 1 shews the galvanic belt with the suspensory bag and circle
attached, and Figure 2 an edge view drawn to a larger scale of part of a
belt showing the disposition of the plates.
Care brass or (copper) and Z are zinc plates sewn together in pairs on
a belt, each pair consisting of a zinc and a brass plate with a disc of
woolen cloth a between them. The several pairs of plates are juxtaposed
and connected together by metallic links b, which connect the zinc plate
of one pair with the brass plate of the next as shewn.
The series of
plates are attached to a belt c of leather or other suitable material lined
on the inside with oiled silk, which is continued in the form of a loose
flap calong the under side of the belt. This flap is folded over and
covers the plates, and is secured by buttons or otherwise, and serves to
prevent contact of the plate with the body, and the evaporation of the
exciting liquid with which the cloth discs a are moistened, the side of
the flap which comes in contact with the skin of the wearer being
covered with cloth for the sake of comfort. d, d', are the two discs
which form the poles of the series; disc d, which is of zinc, being
attached by a covered wire to the last zinc plate; and disc d', which is of
copper or brass, to the last brass element.
e is a flap of cloth and oiled
silk by which the zinc disc d is covered. When it is desired to convey
the current to the circle B and to the wires in the suspensory bag D,
B is the circle of metallic plates or beads to be placed on the penis.
The beads are positive and negative, a brass (or copper) bead being
placed alternately with a zinc one. It is connected by a covered con-
ducting wire attached to one of the beads with the zinc plate d. The
said wire is also connected with a number of fine gold or silver wires /
(uncovered) threaded through the network of the bag D so as to come
in contact with the skin of the scrotum. The circle B, together with
the wires of bag D, serve as one pole of the battery when disc d is

page_text: covered up by flap c. g is a ribbon or cord by which the circle B is
attached to the belt and supported. The suspensory bag is buttoned or
otherwise attached to the belt by straps of clastic webbing a to enable
it to accomodate itself more comfortably to the body of the wearer,
and to be detached at will.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of per-
forming the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. The improved arrangement of the couples in the galvanic belt
which consists in superposing the one disc C directly upon the other
disc Z with an intervening layer or disc of cloth, the couples being con-
nected by flexible links b, and combined with a suitable belt of leather
or other material substantially as described and shewn in the Drawings.
2ndly. The combination with the galvanic belt of the uncovered
metallic threads interlaced through the suspensory bag D and the
circle B, the whole constructed, arranged, and applied (the disc d being
covered by a flap) substantially as and for the purpose shewn and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Robert Samuel Hayward, havo
hercunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.