IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPOSITORIES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, of the Firm of Harris
and Mills, of 23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPOSITORIES." A commu-
nication from abroad by Edwin Hampden Gibbs, of the City, County, and
State of New York, in the United States of America, Doctor of Medicine.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard
Mills at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th November
1881.
BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and Mills, of
23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPOSITORIES." A communication from abroad by Edwin
Hampden Gibbs, of the City, County, and State of New York, in the United States
of America, Doctor of Medicine.
The subject of this Invention is a hollow suppository provided with a stopper,
the whole being made of butter of cocoa or analogous material, adapting it to be
hermetically closed by the application of heat, and when used to be melted and
absorbed by the body, for the purpose of introducing medicine of any suitable kind
or description; the said medicine being introduced into the hollow interior of the
suppository and there confined by the application and sealing of the stopper.
The hollow suppositories are adapted for rectal, vaginal, intrauterine, urethral,
aural, nazal, cystic, and other use, and for veterinary use, as well as for the human
subject, and are made of any size and form to adapt them to the purpose and to the
cavity to which they are to be applied.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 16th May 1882.
BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and Mills, of
23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SUPPOSITORIES." A communication from abroad by Edwin
Hampden Gibbs, of the City, County, and State of New York, in the United States
of America, Doctor of Medicine.
The subject of this Invention is a hollow suppository provided with a stopper
for the purpose of administering medicine or nourishmentof any suitable kind, the
said medicine or nourishment being introduced into the hollow interior of the
suppository and there confined by the application and ecaling of the stopper.
The suppositories and the stoppers are preferably made of butter of cacao or
analagous material, adapting them to be hermetically closed by the application of
beat, and when used, to be melted by the heat of the body and absorbed without
injurious effect.
The hollow suppositories are adapted for aural, nasal, rectal, urethral, cystic,
vaginal, intra-uterine, and other uses, and for veterinary use, as well as for the
human subject, and are made of any size and form to adapt them for the purpose,
and to the cavity to which they are to be applied.
It is well known that the taking of medicines into the stomach frequently
causes nausea, griping, discomfort, and derangement of the system, and is liable in
the end to impair the strength and tone of the digestive organs, whereas the giving
of medicines through the rectum, while avoiding the disadvantages referred to, is
often as beneficial in its curative effects as the more usual mode of giving medicines
by the mouth.
Suppositories possess the further advantage of affording means for the direct
application of medicaments to organs and cavities which cannot be so readily or
effectively reached through the digestive system.
The object of this Invention is to provide apothecaries and others with hollow
suppositories which will keep an indefinite length of time, and when called for
may be prepared for use in a few minutes by being simply filled with the required
medicine and closed.
The annoyance, difficulty, and waste usually encountered in putting up
prescriptions in the form of suppositories are thus entirely avoided.
And in order that the said Invention may be more clearly understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying Drawings, more fully
to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a suppository of the preferred form for use in
the rectum.
Figure 2 is a perspective view of a suppository of larger size adapted for the
application of medicines to the vagina or os uteris.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of a suppository adapted for urethral or intra-
uterine usc.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of a spherical suppository adapted for the same
use as that shown in Figure 2.
Figure 5 shows by perspective and sectional views a suppository adapted for

page_text: The Drawings are on an enlarged scale, so that when reduced one half linear
(as in photo lithographing) a proper actual size for the respective suppositories will
be shown.
The suppositories are moulded in hollow form from pure butter of cacao or other
material adapted to be absorbed into the system and impart nourishment thereto
without any injurious effect.
In each of the Figures A represents the body of the suppository formed with an
aperture a for the reception of the medicament or nourishment to be placed
therein, and B, a stopper formed of the same material and fitted to tightly close
the aperture.
In use the suppository A is nearly filled with the required medicine or food,
either alone or mixed with butter of cacao, vegetable oils, or other unobjectionable
materials, as convenience or preference may dictate, leaving room for the insertion
of the stopper. The stopper is taken on the point of a needle or penknife, and after
being slightly warmed inserted in the aperture of the suppository, which it will
hermetically seal in cooling; or the stopper may be inserted cold and the top rubbed
with a warin knife or spatula until a portion of it is melted so as to hermetically
Beal the joint. The suppositories are then put in a cool place, or are placed in ice
water to cool them, and are immediately ready for use. After application the
warmth of the body melts the material of the suppository and releases the medicine
and the whole is absorbed.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and the mode in which
the saine may be carried into effect, I would have it understood that what I claim
is,-
First. A hollow suppository A provided with a stopper B made of suitable
material to adapt it to be hermetically closed, and to be melted and absorbed in
the cavity to which it is applied, substantially as herein set forth.
Second. A stoppered hollow suppository formed of butter cocoa or analogous
material and adapted to inclose and hold any desired medicament or nourishment,
and to be hermetically scaled by heat, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.
B. J. B. MILLS. (L.S.)