AN IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE COLLARS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Leonard, of the State of Massachusetts,
of the United States of America, for the Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN HORSE COLLARS."
Sealed the 28th July 1868, and dated the 15th June 1868.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by William Leonard at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 15th June 1868, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT
KNOWN, that I, WILLIAM LEONARD, of the State of Massachusetts, of
the United States of America, have made an Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN HORSE COLLARS," and I do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which it is to be performed, to be fully
described in the following Specification, and represented in the accom-

page_text: panying Drawings, of which Figure 1 is a rear view, and Figures 2 and 3
are vertical sections of a collar provided with my Invention.
The nature of the said Invention consists in a collar as made with
a waterproof and desiccative or medicated covering, where, when in use,
it is to bear against the surface of a horse or other animal to which it
may be applied; this lining I usually make of strong cloth, such as
canvas or kersey, for instance, and a coating of vulcanized caoutchouc
or gutta percha containing sulphur or other proper medicament, the
coating being applied to the cloth so as to adhere firmly thereto.
The process of making india-rub cloth or cloth coated with
vulcanized india-rubber, or a composition in which india-rubber or
gutta percha is a constituent, is well known to fabricants of articles
composed in whole or in part of india-rubber or caoutchouc, and
consequently there is no need of any description of such by me. It
is sufficient to state that in carrying out my Invention I avail myself
of cloth so prepared, and especially that having sulphur combined with
the india-rubber or elastic material. Other matters possessing curative
or healing properties may be employed in the place of sulphur, or with
it in conjunction with the waterproof material.
In the Drawings the cloth lining of the inner part of the collar is
shown at a, and its vulcanized rubber covering is exhibited at b, the
stuffing and body of the collar being shown at c and d. It has been
found that a horse collar or pad when so made is far preferable to one
simply lined with leather, whether such be with or without a coating
of varnish, as my coating when the animal surface borne against
by the collar is abraded or wounded operates to heal the wound,
and besides prevents the perspiration of the animal from being
absorbed into the lining and stuffing of the collar. It also enables
the collar to be washed without causing the stuffing to be wet. By
preventing the perspiration from being taken up by the stuffing and
the lining, its absorption or return to the pores of the skin of the
animal, and the production of disease thereby, as well as other bad
consequences, will be prevented.
The term "desiccative," as herein employed, has reference to a lining
containing a substance like sulphur, for instance, which when applied
to a wound has a tendency to dry or render hard the matter exuded
'from it, and thereby aid in forming or preserving a scab on such wound.

page_text: What I claim therefore as my Invention is my improved manufacture
of collar for a draft animal, that is, a collar as made with a desiccative
or medicated and waterproof lining, substantially as described.