AN IMPROVED MECHANICAL VALVE RESPIRATOR
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Hibbert at the Office of
the Commissioners of. Patents, with his Petition, on the 3rd February
1866.
I, WILLIAM HIBBERT, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
MECHANICAL VALVE RESPIRATOR," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates particularly to preventing the spread and accelerating
the cure of rinderpest and other infectious diseases, to which animals or
human beings are subject. This apparatus will secure the use of pure,
medicated, or disinfected air for breathing, and is supplied direct to, and the
respired air is conducted direct from the respiratory organs to any distance
from the patient or hospital. As a disinfectant for filtering and purifying the
air, I use chloride of magnesium, bromine, and chloride of zinc, either separately
or in combination, hot or cold; if used in combination I take chloride of
magnesium in solution at about 56° Twaddell, add about two ounces of
bromine to the gallon of the said solution, and about ten to twenty per cent.
of chloride of zinc, by the use of which in combination with the valve respirator
complete isolation from infectious contagion is effected. This auxiliary lung
respirator is made of strong leather or other suitable material and of any
suitable conformation to suit animals or human beings. In the muzzle.or

page_text: pad for the mouth or nose I punch two holes sufficiently large to ensure easy
breathing. I make two valves with spreading flanges for fastening in between
the folds of leather or material round the breathing holes, and with coupling
worm or screw for attaching thereto tubing of any required length. One of
the valve clacks is hinged to open inwards towards the mouth, the other to
open outwards from the mouth, the air supply valve being opened by inhalation
and closed by respiration; the other or outlet valve is opened by respiration
and closed by inhalation. A bag or receiver is fastened under the end of
the muzzle to receive the saliva, with a screw-capped outlet for its removal.
Leather or india-rubber tubes are coupled to the supply and outlet valves, the
supply tube being attached to the reserve chamber of medicated and disinfected
atmospheric air; or I lengthen the tubes and insert disinfecting filters by which
pure air is conducted direct to the mouth or lungs, and the respired air conducted
direct from the mouth to any required distance from the shippon or hospital.
For the purposes of safe removal or perambulation I couple to the valves
short tubes with disinfecting filters inserted therein, one for the prevention of
receiving the infected air, and the other to prevent its communicating infection.
For cattle feeding I partition off the front part of the stall, with openings to
admit the head, which openings are enclosed by air-proof or disinfected cloth
surrounding the neck of the animal, the purified air being supplied by a down
draught, and taken away by an up draught. This is partial isolation and
will answer instead of the muzzle for ordinary precautions. My method of
preventing contagion being communicated or received through the medium
of the skin is by clothing, surrounding, or bandaging the animal with cloth
or other suitable material impregnated with the above-named medicated and
disinfecting solution or solutions, or impregnating the skin. If small doses of
chloride of magnesium and bromine were occasionally given to healthy
animals, it would lessen the violence of an attack of rinderpest or other
contagious disease, if not throw off the influence altogether. My general
adaptation of the auxiliary lung respirator consists in varying the conformation
and material to suit the comfort, convenience, and appearance of human
beings, the principle of the supply and outlet valves being the same as that
for animals with the addition of one constructed upon the same principle,
which I either attach to the pad or mouth-piece separately, or insert it inside
the nose, or in combination with the mouth respirator. Medicating and
disinfecting filters are inserted in the supply tube, whether for the mouth or
nose, the latter forming an important desideratum. to medical men and others
visiting hospitals or other places infected by the presence of decaying or
decomposed animal or vegetable matter. Cloths impregnated with the

page_text: aforesaid disinfecting and medicating solutions make painless bandages for
hospitals, as they keep cool and moist and do not adhere to the hair or skin
of the limb or other parts of the body, and consequently tend to keep down
inflamation, also ulcers and running sores are disinfected by being bathed
with a weak solution of the same. This solution makes medicated, tepid, or
cold baths equal to the continental baths which cool, refresh and sweeten
the skin.