AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ADMINISTERING MEDICINE BY THE AGENCY OF STEAM OR VAPOUR
Year: 1826

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WHITLAW, of No. 13, Bayswater Terrace, Paddington, in the County of
Middlesex, Medical Botanist, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighteenth day of February, One thousand eight hundred
and twenty-six, in the seventh year of His reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Whitlaw, His especial
licence that I, the said Charles Whitlaw, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Charles Whitlaw, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, and also in all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN ADMINISTERING
MEDICINE BY THE AGENCY OF STEAM OR VAPOUR;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Charles Whitlaw, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention; and in what manner the same is to be.per-
formed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of

page_text: the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Whitlaw, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following Drawings hereunto annexed,
and the following description thereof (that is to say):-
:-
The medicines which I administer consist of vegetables collected in their
native places of growth, and carefully prepared by drying and packing, so as
to retain their properties in the greatest state of perfection. The plants being
gathered at those periods when their principles have attained their proper
degree of elaboration or growth, are to be carefully dried in such a manner
as that, whilst their aqueous parts are evaporated, their volatile and oleaginous
ones may be retained as much as may be. I prefer to spread them thinly
over the floors of airy chambers, and to cover them with linen or cotton cloths
to prevent the light from acting upon them whilst drying. When sufficiently
dried, I subject them to tho action of screw or other presses, in order to
compress and form them into compact masses suitable for packing with the
least loss of space. I find the shape shewn in Figs. 1 and 2 of the Drawing
to be a very convenient one, and I give the vegetables that form by putting
them into wooden frames strongly united at their corners by dovetailing them,
such as is shewn in section at Fig. 3, and in plan at Fig. 4.
These frames
have loose bottoms fitted to them, and various wooden blocks are provided, in
order that when placed in a proper press more or fewer of them may be put
into the frames to fill them up, and thus convey the power of the press to the
masses of dried vegetables placed beneath them. When sufficiently com-
pressed, which in the case of oleaginous plants will be known by the partial
appearance of oil upon the surfaces of the masses, the frames must be
removed from the presses, and the loose bottoms with the compressed masses
of vegetables lying upon them be pushed out of the frames, thus leaving the
vegetables in a state ready to be closely packed in proper boxes, and which
operation should be effected as quickly as may be, each separate mass being
previously wrapped up in paper to guard it from contact with the external
air.
In Fig. 5 I have given a representation of a press with a single screw and
lover, calculated to hold one frame only; and in Fig. 6 I have shewn a double
screw press with several frames underneath its moveable beam; the sides of
some of the frames being removed to shew the masses of vegetables, the loose
bottoms, and the wooden blocks within them. I can also occasionally employ

page_text: vegetables in their recent state, or when freshly gathered, without previously
drying or pressing them, as above mentioned, although I generally prefer to
use those so prepared, on account of their producing more beneficial effects,
and being more mild in their operation. The steam or vapour employed by
me in administering vegetables as medicines I can produce in any of the
usual and well-known methods, but I prefer, for the sake of economising
fuel and other advantages, to employ a steam boiler and furnace of the
construction shewn in the Drawing at Figs. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13.
A, A, A, is the boiler, made of copper, wrought iron, or other fit and proper
metal. I prefer to form this in an oval shape, as shewn in the different
Figures, for the sake of placing the greater part of the water above the fire,
leaving enough water below, however, to protect the different parts from being
overheated, and for the same reason I also make the fire-place B, B, of an
oval figure, and place it as low as may be in the boiler. The chief part of
the fire-place is made of copper or wrought iron, but the grate C, C, is formed
of cast iron, as well as the front end of it D, which is fitted up with a
door E and air register F, the hinder or inner end of it being closely fitted
to the lower part of the fire-place B, B, in order to compel the heated air
to pass through the grate and over the end of it in its way to the flue or
chimney. The fire-place is united to the boiler in front by means of flanches,
screws, and nuts, as shewn in Fig. 10, and at its hinder end, which is con-
tracted below to form a flue, by tinning it and soldering it into an inverted
neck G made at the back of the boiler A, A, and which joining being kept
constantly surrounded with water is prevented from becoming unsoldered.
The boiler has a man-hole and safety valve fitted to it by screws at H in the
usual manner, and is provided with gauge cocks at I, I, Figs. 7 and 9, for
ascortaining the quantity of water in it, as well as another cock at J for
drawing off the whole of the water when the fire is removed, and it is
mounted upon feet K, K, with rollers or castors fitted to them for the sake
of conveying it to or placing it in any convenient situation for use. The
steam or vapour generated in the boiler is conveyed through the pipe L,
Figs. 7, 9, and 13, furnished with a cock M and a turning joint N into the
basis O of the tent P, Figs. 14, 15, 16, and 17, and either passing in its way
through the three-wayed cock Q, Figs. 15 and 16, and the construction of
which cock is shewn in the two enlarged sections of it, Figs. 18 and 19, in
which R is the plug of the cock, and S its handle, shewn by dotted lines in
Figures 18 and 19; T, the entrance tube; and U, V, the two branches
leading from it; W, the hole or passage through the plug R, and which,
when the plug is turned into the position shewn in Fig. 18, conveys the steam

page_text: or vapour into the left branch, as when turned into the contrary position,
and as shewn in Fig. 19, its course is directed into the right branch. When,
however, the solid part of the plug R is brought opposite to the entrance
tube T, the passage of the steam or vapour is entirely prevented through
the cock Q. It may, however, if preferred, be delivered directly into
the basis O of the tent through a pipe T, as shewn in Fig. 17. When
the steam or vapour is conveyed through the right branch V of the three-
wayed cock, as shown in Fig. 19, it passes directly into the basis O of the
tent, and which basis is a rectangular wooden chest lined with metal plates.
The lid of this chest consists of a wooden frame X, shewn by dotted lines in
Figs. 16 and 17, and of a metal plate Y, secured to the frame by nailing it
or otherwise. This plate Y is perforated with numerous small holes, as
shewn in the Figure, and the use of which is to diffuse the steam or vapour
uniformly throughout the tent without suffering it to enter into it in the form
of scalding streams or currents, so as to endanger the person using the tent.
The tent is framed to this basis O in the following manner:-In Figs. 16
and 17, Z, Z, &c. are four circular holes, one being made at each corner of the
basis; these holes are surrounded by metal loops or bands a, a, &c., secured
to the corners of the basis by screws or otherwise, and one of which is shewn
separately at Fig. 20, which is a side view of it, and in Fig. 21, which is a
plan of it. Four other metal loops with circular holes in them are also affixed
to the basis, one at cach corner of it below the above-mentioned ones, as shewn
at b, b, &c., in Figs. 14 and 15, and one of which is shewn separately in
Fig. 22; into each pair of these loops a and b a round wooden pole c, c, &c.
is inserted and rests upon the floor of the bathing room. At the tops of these
four poles c, c, c, c, are metal spikes, which are passed through four holes made
one in each corner of a rectangular wooden frame d, partly shewn in Figs. 14
and 15, so as to support that frame firmly. Around and over the whole a
linen or cotton cloth or other proper covering is placed, which is made to open
on one side of the tent to admit the person into it, and to be closed either by
means of strings tied together or otherwise as required. The tent is also
furnished with a chair e, having a reticulated bottom made of cano or other
proper open work, and provided with two wooden bars f, f, to support it upon
the basis O. A foot board g for the feet of the person to rest upon is also
provided, and likewise a thermometer h, which is hung to the framed to
ascertain the temperature of the steam or vapour within the tent.
When I wish to administer medicine by the agency of steam or vapour, I cause
the steam or vapour to be delivered immediately upon the vegetables forming the
medicament, in the following manner :--In Fig. 23, i is a circular metal vessel

page_text: furnished with a lid and false bottom, the sides, lid, and fulse bottom being
perforated with small holes; the steam or vapour is admitted into the lower
part of this vessel below the false bottom, either through the pipe j, which
passes through the side of the basis O, as shewn at T in Fig. 17, or else
through the side branch U of the three-wayed cock, as shewn in Fig. 16; the
steam then rises through the holes in the false bottom of the vessel i and acts
upon the vegetables, with which the upper part of that vessel is previously
filled, so as to separate and exalt their volatile parts, and which, blended with
the steam or vapour, rise up through the holes made in the sides and cover of
the vessel i and diffuse themselves throughout the interior of the tent.
I can
employ steam of greater or lesser temperature and pressure by loading the
safety valve H of the boiler more or less, and I can concentrate or regulate
its action upon the vegetables by putting them into vessels of greater or lesser
size, and provided with more or fewer holes, or by making those holes of
greater or lesser sizes; the smaller the vessel, and the smaller and fewer the
holes in it, the more is the power of the steam concentrated upon the vegetables,
and vice versa. I can also obtain a similar result by making the perforated
cover of the vessel i cylindrical and moveable, so as to rise or fall, and I load
it with more or less weight according to the pressure of the steam required;
This cylindrical part of the cover is either accurately fitted, by grinding or
otherwise, within an external cylinder having no holes in it, or else it may be
made to rise and fall in a circular channel, made by forming the sides of the
external cylinder double, as shewn in Figs. 24 and 25, and filling or partly
filling that channel with water or water impregnated with common salt.
i, Fig. 26, is the cylindrical, perforated, and moveable part of the vessel, loaded
with weights at k, and which weights have holes in their centres, which retain
them in their places upon the wire stem 1, which is affixed upon the top of the
part . The place of the perforated vessel i within the basis O is shewn in
Figs. 15 and 16, it resting upon the two feet underneath it. When I wish
to supply two baths from one steam boiler I cause the steam to pass through
a forked or branched pipe, similar to that shewn in Fig. 13.
Having thus described the mode of preparing the vegetables forming my
medicaments, the construction of the steam boiler, and the manner of directing
the steam or vapour immediately upon the prepared vegetables, and also the
construction of my improved tent or vapour bath, I shall next proceed to
observe, that this improved method of exhibiting vegetables as medicine, by
applying the volatile parts of them through the agency of steam or vapour to
the whole cxternal surface of the body, and causing them to be inhaled at the
same time by the lungs, and thus received into the circulation, produces bene-

page_text: ficial effects both in acute and chronic diseases not to be obtained by the
ordinary modes of medical treatment now in use. In mcdicating the bath,
the same regard is to be had to the properties of the vegetables, as in the
exhibition of medicines to the stomach, and the rules of prescription under
certain modifications are the same. When a physician is called to a patient,
he judges of the cause and nature of the disease and prescribes the kind and
quantity of agents he thinks most likely to relieve it; precisely on the same
principle is my improved vegetable vapour bath prescribed, with due regard to
the state of constitution and babit of body of the patient at the time. I have
reason to believe that, besides the agreeable stimulus of heat, one effect of the
bath is to relieve irritation and diffuse equable excitement over the whole
system. Now, if it be conceded that a great proportion of diseases depend
upon undue excitement and unnatural irritation goading the system into
improper action, the agency of the bath in the cure of them is at once appa-
rent, and a guide is afforded to the quantity and frequency of its application.
Having then charged the perforated vessel with the requisite vegetable or
vegetables, I direct the steam or vapour from the boiler upon them until the
heat in the bath is sufficient to raise the thermometer from 93° to 110°, accord-
ing to the degree of heat the patient may require, and the steam or vapour
holding in suspension the physical properties of the vegetables conveys them
at once to the whole external surface of the body, whilst they are also inhaled
by the lungs, and their medical properties being thus at once carried into the
circulation, produce far greater benefit and with less chance of doing injury
than when received in the ordinary mede into the stomach. The usual time
of patients remaining in the bath is from fifteen minutes to half an hour,
according to the nature of the disease and constitution of the patient. I havo
found, in the course of my experience with the bath, that I can eradicate most
of the diseases the human frame is afflicted with, and without the aid of
minerals or the employment of vegetable poisons. I do not mean or intend
hereby to claim as my Invention any of the various parts of the apparatus
described which may have been already known or in use; what I claim is,
the adaptation of the various parts to my particular object of administering
vegetables as medicine by the agency of steam or vapour to the whole external
surface of the body of the patient, whilst they are also inhaled by the lungs
and received into the circulation. And I also more particularly claim as my
own Invention the perforated vessel into which the herbs or vegetables are put,
and its application to the specific object of extracting, for the puposes above
mentioned, the more or less volatile properties of plants, according to the
peculiar construction of the vessel for the occa-ion which requires it, and the

page_text: bigher or lower degree of pressure and temperature which the steam or vapour
within it is thus allowed to attain. The construction and adaptation of the
three-wayed cock, by which the steam or vapour can either be conveyed at
once into the basis of the tent, or be made to pass into the perforated vessel
and become impregnated with the medicinal qualities of the vegetables. And,
lastly, the perforated metallic cover of the basis, by which the steam or vapour
is equally distributed throughout the tent.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Whitlaw, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-six.