A PORTABLE VAPOUR BATH
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Anthony Noedl; of Upper Saint Martin's
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A PORTABLE
VAPOUR BATH."
Sealed the 6th October 1854, and dated the 11th April 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Anthony Noedi
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th April 1854.
I, CHARLES ANTHONY NOEDL, of Upper St. Martin's Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A PORT-
ABLE VAPOUR BATH" to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a new form of construction of vapour bath, pro-
duced by combining together certain parts and things, and operating therewith
in the manner herein-after stated; and an important feature in this Inven-
tion consists, firstly, in the facility with which such vapour bath can be applied
and conveyed to the person to whom it is to be administered; secondly, in the
simplicity of its construction; thirdly, in the inexpensiveness of the apparatus
which constitutes such said bath, and of the ingredients employed therewith;
and, lastly, in so applying the vapour to the patient, as that it is confined to
and only surrounds his body, and does not therefore in any way deteriorate the
surrounding atmosphere which the patient inhales during the operation; and
this alone constitutes an important improvement upon vapour baths as here-
tofore constructed, and by the use of which, persons are compelled to inhale
air or vapour heated to a temperature of about 150 degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer.

page_text: To construct a vapour bath according to this Invention, I proceed as
follows: The lower part thereof consists of a vessel containing spirits of wine,
which surrounds a cotton wick; upon the aforesaid vessel a light framework
fits for supporting another vessel or vapour bottle, in which water is placed,
the upper part of such said bottle being left open for the escape of steam.
In using this apparatus, the operator places the same underneath a chair;
he then sets light to the spirits of wine, and when he finds steam emerging from
the vapour bottle he then seats himself (undressed) upon the chair and enve-
lopes his body and the chair and apparatus with a blanket, or other available
and suitable covering, and in a short time the vapour, coming into contact with
his body, will throw him in an excessive perspiration; he then sponges himself
with cold water, and finally dries himself with a cloth; all of which operations
can be conducted without any assistance, and in a speedy, simple, and cleanly
manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Anthony Noedl in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
ANTHONY NOEDL, of Upper Saint Martin's Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Anthony Noel, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Anthony Noedl, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Anthony Noedl, my executors, administrators, 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 Inven-
tion for "A PORTABLE VAPOUR BATH," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Charles Anthony Noedl, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Anthony Noedl, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say):-
My Invention consists in a new form of construction of vapour bath, pro-
duced by combining together certain parts, and operating therewith in the
manner herein-after stated; and important features in my said Invention are,
firstly, the facility with which such vapour bath can be applied and put into
communication with the person to whom it is to be administered; secondly,
in the simplicity of its construction; thirdly, in the inexpensiveness of the
apparatus which constitutes such said bath, and of the ingredients employed
therewith; and, lastly, in so applying the vapour to the patient, as that it is con-
fined to and only surrounds his body, or other part to which it is to be applied,
and does not therefore in any way deteriorate the surrounding atmosphere
which he inhales during the operation; and this alone constitutes an important
improvement upon vapour baths as heretofore constructed, since, by the use of
such baths, persons are compelled to inhale heated atmospheric air or vapour
of a temperature of about 150 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, which has
been found very injurious to health. But in order to explain my said Inven-
tion as completely as possible, I now proceed to describe the best means I am
acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect, reference being had
to the illustrative Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and
letters of reference marked thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the bath, as it would appear when ready for use.
Figures 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, exhibit the several parts of the apparatus detached
from each other. In each of the foregoing Figures I employ similar letters of
reference to denote corresponding parts, in so far as such parts appear or can
be seen at each of the Figures respectively.
At Figures 1 and 2, A, A, is a metal mug or vessel, constructed as follows:-
It will be seen, upon referring to Figure 2, that the vessel A is formed with
a perforated piece of metal B, which rests upon a projecting rim soldered to
the inside of said vessel; the use of the aforesaid perforated plate B is, that
when the vessel A is filled with water and heated, the same may be ren-
dered available for warming poultices or other things requiring either to be
heated or kept warm; or said plate may be employed for placing any aromatic
or other substance upon, so that as the heat passes through the same it will
give off a pleasant odour, or so as to produce any desired medicated vapour.

page_text: The vessel A is also furnished with a cock at C for drawing off hot water when
necessary.
At Figures 1 and 3, D is a dome-shaped cover, the lower edge of which fits
tightly into the upper part of the vessel A, and the cover D is furnished with a
cock E for regulating the quantity of steam emitted from the vessel A. At
Figures 1 and 4, F is a spirit lamp, to which is affixed a skeleton frame G
for supporting the vessel A, as at Figure 1; as also the vessel exhibited at
Figures 6 & 8, and hereafter described. H is the wick of the lamp. I is a
screw cap, serving the two-fold purpose of an extinguisher and a stopper, to
i is a hole for
prevent evaporation of the spirit when the bath is out of use.
filling the lamp with spirit, said hole being fitted with a suitable screw
stopper.
MODE OF OPERATING.
In using a bath thus constructed, the operator places the same underneath
a chair; he then sets light to the wick of the lamp, and when he finds steam
emerging from the vessel A, he then seats himself (undressed) upon a chair,
and envelopes his body and the chair and apparatus in a blanket or light cloak
(as at Figure 7) made for that purpose, or other available and suitable cover-
ing; and in a short time, the vapour coming into contact with his body, will
have the effect of exciting profuse perspiration; he then sponges himself with
cold water, and finally dries himself with a cloth; all of which operations can
be conducted without any assistance, and in a speedy, simple, and cleanly
manner.
I would here remark, that in applying the above-mentioned bath to a person
in bed I proceed as follows:-In order to prevent the flame of the lamp from
setting light to the bed clothes, I propose employing a box of the construction
exhibited at Figure 5, where a, a, b, b', are the sides of the box, which are
formed of perforated zine; the side 6' is hinged to the side a', and thus serves
as a door. c, c', are the ends of the box, which are formed solid. d is a handle.
And as a further protection against fire, I propose employing pieces of wood a,
shewn detached at Figure 7, which fit on to the top of the box, and are con-
nected together by pins a, taking into holes b; these pieces are larger than the
top of the box, as shewn by dotted lines at Figure 5; and thus I prevent the
bed clothes (if used in bed) from coming into contact with the sides of
the box. I also propose employing, when necessary, a frame, to prevent
the bed clothes from touching any particular part of the body, and I form
said frame in such manner, as that when out of use it can be folded up
and thereby rendered portable.
I would remark, that the size of the box should be such as to contain the

page_text: lamp and vapour bottle, exhibited at Figure 1, and which when placed therein
may be applied to a person when in bed without fear of accident.
And in cases where it is required to excite perspiration by the application of
dry heat, instead of employing the vapour from heated water for that purpose,
as before mentioned and described, the same may be effected in the following
manner and by the following means, that is to say :-I remove the vapour
bottle A, before mentioned and exhibited at Figures 1 and 2, and substitute in
lieu thereof a case or cover D', of the construction shewn at Figures 6 & 8,
where a, a, denote holes for the admission of atmospheric air to support com-
bustion of the flame of the lamp, and b, b, are holes for the escape of vitiated
air. The use of the above cover is more particularly to prevent the flame
impinging against the sides of the box A, and thus to protect the bed clothes
or other covering from being burnt; and I further propose employing a
button z, shown by red lines at Figure 6, for the purpose of spreading or
deflecting the flame of the wick, as heretofore practised in the construction of
lamps; and I form the surface of such said button dished or concave, and
thereby render such part available for the reception of mercury, when it is
required to administer mercurial remedies.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention of an improved bath,
and in what manner the same is to be and may be performed, I would remark,
in conclusion, that I do not claim the exclusive use of any of the separate
parts, matters, or ingredients above mentioned and referred to, except in so
far as the same may be employed in combination and for the purposes of my
said Invention, which I hereby declare to consists in, and I claim, the com-
bining together of certain parts, so as to constitute a portable vapour bath, in
the manner and for the purposes substantially as described, set forth, and
represented.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Anthony Noedl, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
CHARLES ANTHONY NOEDL. (L.S.)
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Patent Agent,
4, Trafalgar Square.