A NEW KIND OF COVERING FOR THE EARS MADE OF INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA, OR OTHER MATERIALS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Joseph Henry Marville, of 2, Rue St. Appoline,
Paris, France, Merchant, for the Invention of "A NEW KIND OF
COVERING FOR THE EARS MADE OF INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA, OR OTHER
MATERIALS."
Scaled the 28th July 1863, and dated the 4th February 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Joseph Henry
Marville at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th February 1863.
I, LOUIS JOSEPH HENRY MARVILLE, of 2, Rue Ste. Appoline, Paris, France,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW
KIND OF COVERING FOR THE EARS MADE OF INDIA-RUBBER, GUTTA PERCHA, OR OTHER
MATERIALS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in forming a covering for the ears, and enveloping
internally and externally the whole of the cartilage of the organ of hearing, and.
which will fill up all the sinuosities. This ear covering may be made of
india-rubber, gutta percha, or other materials, and should be of the same color
as the flesh, and may be furnished with silk or other material, so that it may
be soft when in contact with the ear; it can have one or several small holes
for ventilating, in order to avoid too great heat. The ear coverers can be
manufactured of various sizes, according to their different applications, and

page_text: should be composed of very soft materials; they will be very useful for sick
persons for lessening noise and preventing cold, and also for travellers, sailors,
soldiers, agricultural labourers, and others.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Joseph Henry Marville in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd August 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
JOSEPH HENRY MARVILLE, of 2, Rue Ste. Appoline, Paris, France, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Louis Joseph Henry Marville, Her special licence, that I, the said Louis
Joseph Henry Marville, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Louis Joseph Henry Marville, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "A NEW KIND OF COVERING FOR THE EARS MADE OF INDIA-RUBBER,
GUTTA PERCHA, OR OTHER MATERIALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Louis Joseph Henry Marville, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Joseph Henry Marville, do
hereby declare the nature of my said. Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to, be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The apparatus, the subject of my Invention, usually made of india-rubber,
is moulded exactly to the external shape of the ear. The size of the auricle
of the ear varies considerably with different individuals, as well as its shape,
which is very irregular, but which may nevertheless be generally described as

page_text: an oval, the greater diameter of which would be vertical, and the larger end
turned upwards. Curved in various ways, pressed from the outside inwards, this
oval extends to the adjoining parts. My coverings for the ear present all the
projections and hollows of the external face of the ear, which are from top to
bottom. Firstly, the "helix," or rim species of half-circular fold, commencing
about the centre of the auricle, above, the auditory passage and in the centre
of the "concha;" secondly, the groove of the "helix" species of furrow, more
or less deep, which begins in the "concha," follows the entire course of the
"helix," and is separated therefrom by a sloping cut (incisura auris); thirdly,
the "anthelix," eminence starting from the slope of the ear above the
"concha," and bifurcating to form the "scaphoid" hollow or dip of the
"anthelix; fourthly, the "tragus," small nipple placed in front of the orifice
of the auditory passage, which it appears to hide; fifthly, the "antitragus,"
other nipple smaller than the preceding, opposite which it is placed at
the back of and beneath the "anthelix;" sixthly, the "concha," deep cavity
presented by the "auricle," bounded at the back by the "anthelix," divided
into two equal parts by the "helix," bounded in front by the "tragus" and
at the bottom by the "antitragus ;" seventhly, and lastly, the "lobe," soft and
rounded eminence, which terminates the lower circumference of the "auricle."
As regards the inner face of the "auricle," the ear cap or covering could
not so rigorously follow its inclination backward, its eminences and its hollows
disposed inversely to those appearing on the external face, because this part
submits to the modifications incumbent to the use to which it is destined. A
border, more or less broad, turns over on to the back of the auricle, and serves
to hold the apparatus on to the organ it is to cover. Amongst the diseases of
the auricle which may be prevented and often alleviated by the use of my
ear caps, I would cite contusions or compressions ending easily in ecchymosis,
bloody tumours, and other affections; sores or solutions of continuity of the
soft parts of the auricle produced by some cause acting mechanically; chil-
blains of the ear or chronical obstruction of the cellular tissue, often very
painful, liable to ulcerate, and produced by the action of cold; congelation,
which easily and not unfrequently occurs by reason of the slight thickness of
this organ and its natural isolation; accidental phlegmasy, erysipelas, ecsema,
cystis demoides, sero-sanguineous tumours, and other diseases. In all these
cases my ear cap or cover may be used with advantage, either as a prophy-
lactic means to keep in direct contact certain topical remedies, or, lastly, to
bring back the organ to its natural state.
The use of my apparatus will in a great measure prevent otites, neuralgia,
and rheumatism of the ear, and it may be used, firstly, to oppose the intro-

page_text: duction into the ear of any foreign matter or body, which may either result in
a slight inconvenience, sharp pains, or even convulsions; secondly, to preserve
the delicacy of the skin of this region, delicacy upon which depends that of
hearing so precious as organ of relation...
In conclusion I desire it to be understood that the ear cap of my Invention
follows entirely the external shape of the organ it is to protect, that its dimen-
sions are variable, and that it may be made of india-rubber, gutta percha, or
any analogous material which will lend itself to this purpose.
In witness whereof, I; the said Louis Joseph Henry Marville, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
LOUIS JOSEPH HENRY MARVILLE. (L.s.)