IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE INHALATION OF BALSAMIC AND OTHER VAPOURS
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Morgan at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 4th May 1880. A communication from
abroad by Dowmont Matuszewicz, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Dentist.
THOMAS MORGAN (Secretary of the Inventors' Patent Right Association, Limited),
of 21, Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE INHALATION OF BALSAMIC AND OTHER VAPOURS."
A communication from abroad by Dowmont Matuszewicz, of Paris, in the Republic
of France, Dentist.
This Invention has for its object an improved apparatus for enabling vapours
exhaled from tar essences, balsams, and in general from the various substances
capable of yielding vapours at the ordinary temperature, which are known to be
efficacious in the medical treatment of affections or diseases of the respiratory
organs and of the bronchial tubes in particular, to be inhaled with great facility
and for a prolonged period. The principal part of the said apparatus consists of a
cylindrical box, by preference of boxwood, closed by a screwed cover, and having a
bottom concave on its lower side. This bottom, as well as the cover, is perforated
with a number of holes, the number and dimensions of which may be varied as
required. The box is traversed by a central tube, one extremity of which
debouches at the centre of the cover, and is provided with a clack or flap valve of
aluminium, hinged to the cover. One or two washers or discs having a central
perforation are introduced into the box; these washers are of woollen or cotton
material. The box, constructed as above described, is attached to the centre of a
half mask of lined silk. This half mask covers nearly half of the lower part of
the nose, and descends sufficiently low to cover the chin. It is so cut and sewn as
to form a convex surface opposite the mouth and nostrils, constituting a practically
air tight chamber or reservoir. The upper edge of the half mask, that is to say the
part touching the nose and cheeks, is provided with a very flexible wire, which
enables the half mask to be applied tangentially to the curvilinear contour of the
features. The lower part of the half mask, that is to say the part covering the
chin, with the two lateral parts extending to the ears, are sewn to a close fitting cap
or head gear, the edges of which are bordered with a silk ribbon. The box
hereinbefore described is placed in a cylinder of silk, attached to a circular opening
in the central part of the mask, and is made fast externally by means of an india
rubber ring. The cap or head gear, which is of open work or other suitable

page_text: material as required, serves as a support to the mask with the box, and by its
elasticity presses the mask firmly to the nose and cheeks in such a manner that the
edges of the mask are well in contact with the face at all points. Hence it results
that the hollow of the mask, that is to say the chamber or reservoir, is almost air
tight. Tapes or strings are provided on the head gear, which serve to draw all the
parts tight, thereby more effectually sealing the reservoir. The dimensions of the
head gear with its tapes, as well as the dimensions of the half mask and box, are
arranged to correspond to the size and shape of the head and face of the person
using the apparatus.
The apparatus is charged by saturating the two discs or washers by plunging
them into the liquid volatile matter employed, and placing them inside the box,
which is then secured in the cylinder on the mask by means of the india rubber
ring. This having been effected, the head gear with half mask attached is placed
in position. The box, with perforations, valve, and air tight reservoir, are so
constructed that during the act of inspiration or inhaling the valve is closed, and
the external air being compelled to enter the box through the perforations becomes
After saturation the air
saturated with the volatile substance which it contains.
passes into the reservoir, which is thus enabled to furnish the required supply of
air, properly saturated with suitable vapours. During the act of expiration the
vitiated air issuing from the mouth, or rather the carbonic acid and aqueous vapour,
readily escape through two outlets, viz., the open valve and the perforations. The
air, or rather the oxygen, necessary for respiration is supplied in sufficient quantities,
without requiring any undue exertion on the part of the respiratory organs, as the
vitiated air on leaving the mouth enters the reservoir, and is immediately discharged
therefrom through the valve and perforations in the box, being expelled by the
continued pressure of the air from the lungs.
The cylindrical box may be constructed of glass, or one half glass and the other
half wood, or of ivory, aluminium, or other substance which is inert in comparison
to the curative substances placed in the box. This inhaler, when applied to the
mouth, enables vapours of tar, essences, balsams, and of other substances belonging
to the aromatic class, as well as the vapours of all matter capable of exhaling
vapours at the ordinary temperature, when introduced into the apparatus to be
inhaled even during the night when asleep as well as by day.