CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VAPOUR AND HOT-AIR BATHS,
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PIERRE
JACQUES FERIER, late of Paris, in' the Kingdom of France, but now residing
at No. 5, Paul's Chain, St. Paul's Church Yard, in the City of London,
Jeweller, send greeting."
WHEREAS I did by Petition humbly represent unto Her most Excellent
Majesty Queen Victoria, that I had, by a communication made to me by
a certain foreigner residing abroad, become possessed of an Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VAPOUR AND HOT-AIR BATHS,"
and Her said Majesty being willing to encourage all useful Inventions, did
issue Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at-Westminster, the First day of August, in the third year of' Her reign,
whereby Her said Majesty did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, thé said Pierre Jacques Ferier, my exors, admors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Pierre Jacques Ferier, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Pierre Jacques Ferier, my exors, admors, or assigns; should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend the said Invention within that part of Her said
Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her
Colonies and Plantations abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said Pierre Jacques Ferier, particularly to describe

page_text: and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and
to cause the same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
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
Pierre Jacques Ferier, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are described and
ascertained in manner following, reference being had to the three Sheets of
Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
The several Figures drawn on Sheet 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed
represent part of the said improvements applied in the construction of a
vapour bath for producing and distributing the vapour of water.
Figure 1 is an external view; Figure 2, a horizontal plan; and Figure 3,
a section of the said bath; the remaining Figures represent parts of the
bath detached, and will be more particularly referred to herein-after. E,
Figures 1, 2, and 3, is a compound vessel, consisting of an external cyliu-
drical vessel 1, 1, see Figure 3 in particular, open at the bottom, and a
double internal cylindrical vessel 2, 2, 3, 3, which is brazed to the vessel 1, 1,
at its upper edges, the three forming together an annular space or reservoir
F, F, serving the purpose of a boiler or generator, in which is placed the
water from which vapour is to be generated, and a space G, G, G, surrounding
that generator, in the manner of a flue or chimney, see Figure 3.
The upper
part of the compound vessel E is closed by a moveable cover j, which is
made to fit close at the upper edges of both of the external cylinders, and of
the internal cylinder or tube 3, 3, so as to prevent the escape of vapour
from the generator, except through the passages intended for that purpose.
The compound vessel E is mounted on a stand D, D, B, B, the lower
part of which B, B, forms a cup or tray, in which is placed a lamp A,
which will be herein-after more particularly referred to. Holes are formed at
d, see Figure 3, all round the neck of the cylinder or tube 3, 3, below the
cover J, to allow the vapours formed in the generator to pass thence into the
space G, in the manner shewn by the arrows, Figure 3. His a tube, fitting
steam-tight over the upper end of the tube 3, 3, and terminating at its upper
end in a ball f, from which branch out three nozzles, over which are fitted
corresponding pipes K, K, and l. In the tube H is fitted at i a valve, of the
kind called by mechanics a throttle valve, which, when in the position shewn
by the full lines, Figure 3, closes the passage through the tube H, but allows.

page_text: a free passage through such tube when turned round on its axis 6 by the
handle 7 into the position shewn by the dotted circle; the mode of making
and fitting, and the operation of a throttle valve, are so well known as not to
require any further description. To the cover J of the compound vessel E is
fixed a nozzle 5, over which is fitted a bent tube O, for the purpose of con-
ducting the vapour formed in the generator F into a hollow tin vessel or
box M. The upper part of the said vessel is perforated with a number of
holes e, e, see Figure 2, to allow the vapour introduced into it to escape, and
it is also furnished with a bent tube P, the use of which will be presently
explained. The vessel M is mounted on a wooden frame N, forming together
therewith a footstool, the object of which will also be pointed out herein-after.
And note, that the edges of the frame stand up high enough above the
vessel M to prevent the feet when placed thereon from coming in contact
with the metal of the vessel M. The lamp A is adapted to burn spirits of
wine or naptha; it is furnished with four wicks b, b, (see the three principal
Figures, Sheet I., and also Figures 4, 5, and 6,) and also with a small conical
tube or funnel in the centre at c, the cover of which is perforated with a small
hole; the tube c serves the double purpose of the filling tube, to pour in spirit
to the lamp, and of a safety tube, to allow the escape of the spirit and flame in.
case the spirit should take fire inside the lamp. A cover Q, see Figures 4, 7,
and 8, is provided to cover up the whole lamp when the apparatus is out of
use, or being moved about, to prevent the evaporation of the spirit.
Having now explained the various parts of the vapour bath shewn in
Sheet I., I will describe its operation and the mode of using it. Suppose it is:
intended to use the said bath for the purpose of taking a vapour bath sitting,
the generator F being first. filled about half or two-thirds full of water, the:
cover J is put on, and then the other parts of the bath being put together in'
the manner shewn in Figures 1 and 3, except that the throttle valve.is.set
open before beginning to work, the lamp is lighted; the flame of the four
wicks striking upon four points of the curved bottom of the generator F, and:
circulating all round it in the flue G, G, G, will raise the water in due time
to the point of ebullition; as soon as the lamp is lighted, and the apparatus.
so prepared for working, a common chair is placed over the vessel E, and the
patient takes his seat on it, placing his feet on the raised wooden rim of the.
frame of the vessel or perforated footstool M.; he should of course be enveloped,
in a covering of oiled silk, or some other similar steam-tight covering of the kind:
ordinarily used in taking a vapour bath, such covering being kept out so as to.
form a chamber by hoops, or some other similar ordinary, arrangement o
framework, and extending over the chair and the perforated footstool, so as to..

page_text: envelope the whole apparatus as well as the body of the patient. The vapour
which is generated in the annular space F, F, passes through the holes d into
the interior of the tube 3, 3, and thence up through the pipe H (the throttle
valve being kept open) into the ball f, whence it is distributed by the pipes
K, K, upon the parts of the body to which those pipes are directed. The
same passage H and pipes K, K, serve as the chimney and passages to carry
off the heated air rising up from the flue G, G, G, so that the heated air mixes
and escapes with the vapour, and thus contributes to keep up the temperature
of such vapour after it has quitted the generation F, independently of the
effect of such heated air upon the heating surfaces of the said generator. A
part of the vapour generated in the generator will pass away through the
pipe O into the perforated footstool M, and rise up through the holes e, so
as to envelope and bathe the feet of the patient; and a portion of such vapour
so introduced into the footstool will ascend through the pipe P, which may
be directed by the patient, so as to pour the stream of vapour issuing there-
from upon any part of his legs; the pipe P also has the effect of carrying
off the hot vapour from the footstool M fast enough to prevent the said
footstool from acquiring and giving out to the feet of the patient too great.
a heat. It must be observed that although the pipes K, K, and P are fitted
on their respective nozzles closely, they are not fastened thereto, but are
fitted so that they can be turned round freely thereon, in order to give the
patient the power of governing the direction of the flow of vapour therefrom.
The nozzle is not in general intended to be used in the apparatus when it is
applied in the manner above described, and is therefore shewn in the Drawing
covered by a cap; but, if necessary, a third tube such as K may be fitted on
the nozzle to apply a third stream of vapour to the body of the patient.
The throttle valve i gives to a certain extent the means, if required, of
regulating the quantity of vapour drawn off from the generator by the different
distributing pipes, so as neither to allow the vapour to accumulate to too. great
a density in the generator, nor to be drawn off faster than it can be generated
by the quantity of heat applied. When the bath has been in operation long
enough, the lamp is easily extinguished by shutting the throttle valve entirely,
for then the vapour formed, having no other exit, rushes down through the
flue G upon the flame of the lamp and extinguishes it. The shape and length
of the pipes K are (as shewn by the Figures) such as that their curved ends
shall project out beyond the edges of the seat of a chair and turn upwards in
a direction towards the sides of the body of the person sitting on such chair.
The shape of the bottom of the generator F should be, in order to obtain the
greatest advantage from the heat of the flame of the wicks b, a curve, so as to

page_text: cause such flame as it were to lap round the sides of the generator. The
curve shewn in the section, Figure 3, is a portion of a circle, and that will
answer the purpose very well, but a parabolic form will be still better. And
I will observe, finally, as regards this apparatus, that a vapour bath of the
proportion shewn by the Drawings Sheet 1, and burning spirits of wine, is
calculated for administering a vapour bath of the ordinary heat and duration,
but as the quantity and temperature of the vapour produced by any such
apparatus will obviously depend on many minute circumstances affecting its
operation, it will be proper for a person intending to use such an apparatus to
acquaint himself by a few preliminary trials with its power before taking a
bath therewith. If, instead of a bath of vapour of water simply, it is required
to administer an aromatic vapour bath (videlicet) (a bath of vapour generated
from water mixed with herbs or other vegetable or animal substances, or with
a preparation of any such substances), the necessary substance or preparation
for obtaining the particular aromatic vapour desired will be introduced into
the generator with the water, and the mode of using the bath will be in no
other respect different from that already described. In order to administer a
vapour bath to a patient in bed with the apparatus above described, the
tube H, with its ball f and distributing pipes, are removed, and so of course
are the perforated footstool and its supplying pipe O, the nozzle 5 of such pipe
being covered up by a suitable cap, see 7, Figure 9, Sheet 2; a bent pipe
T is then fitted on the tube 3, 3, see Figure 9, Sheet 2, and to that one or
more lengths of pipe, not shewn in the Drawing, are fitted, extending to the
bed of the patient to convey into it the vapour generated in the generator F.
In order to prevent the bedding from being injured by the heat of the pipe
thus introduced into it, the said pipe should be made to enter the bed through
a piece of other pipe of considerably larger diameter, so as to leave a vacant
space all round the vapour pipe, and, if necessary, the outer or projecting pipe
may be clothed also with some non-conducting substance. It is sometimes
required to take a bath in which a full stream of vapour is directed on some
one part of the patient's body exclusively. In order to apply the apparatus
herein-before described to administer such a bath, it is arranged in the manner
shewn in Figure 11, Sheet 2 (videlicet) :-The perforated footstool and its
pipe O and the pipes K, K, are removed, but not the pipe H and ball f. The
nozzle 5 and K, K, are covered up by their caps r, r, and 7, see Figure 11,
Sheet 2, and to the nozzle la bent-tubes (see Figure 11, Sheet 2,) is fitted,
by which a stream of vapour may be directed to the part affected. In using
the apparatus in this way, the patient need not in general be enveloped in an,
oil silk covering, and the vessel E, with its lamp and other parts, may be set

page_text: on a table. Of course, if requisite, additional pipes may be fitted on the
nozzles r, r; in other respects the operation and mode of using the apparatus,
Figure 11, require no further description. Sometimes it is required to ad-
minister what is called a fumigating bath immediately under the seat of the
patient. To use the apparatus, Sheet 1, for this purpose it is arranged in
manner shewn in Figure 12, Sheet 2 (videlicet):-The pipe H and its ball f
and distributing pipes are removed, and instead thereof a pipe H, Figure 12,
Sheet 2, is applied over the tube 3, 3, the upper end of which pipe H is
furnished with a rose, spout, or cover pierced full of small holes z, and then the
apparatus so provided being placed under the seat of the patient, the vapour
formed in the generator will issue forth from the pierced spout z and be
projected against the parts requiring the bath in a shower of vapour after the
manner of a shower bath; the chair used with the apparatus should of course
be one with a cain or otherwise perforated seat.
Figure 10, Sheet 2, represents a combination of parts constituting an
improvement in the construction of hot-air baths. A lamp, such as the lamp
A, is used in this apparatus as well as in the former, and such lamp is applied to
heat the volume of air contained in a bell-shaped vessel U, U, placed over it,
resting in a frame B, B, and having fitted on its upper end a pipe V. This appa-
ratus is destined more particularly to be used to give a hot-air bath to a patient
in bed, and is shewn accordingly in the Drawing furnished with the conducting
pipes X, X, for carrying the hot air collected in the vessel U into the bed; but
of course if it were requisite to give sitting bath of hot air, and apply the hot
air directly to the body of the patient, in the manner herein-before described
for the vapour bath, such effect might be produced by applying over the upper
end of the vessel U, at u, u, Figure 10, a pipe and distributing ball and pipes
such as H, f, and K, K, in the Figures, Sheet 1.
The several Figures in Sheet 3 represent the mode of applying certain
apparatus in combination with one or other of the apparatus described
in reference to Sheets 1 and 2, for producing a compound apparatus adapted
for administering a compound vapour or hot-air bath, videlicet, a bath
composed of vapour of water or of hot air mixed with some other vapour,
such as, for instance, sulphurous acid gas and sulphuretted hydrogen.
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent the apparatus which is to be used in
such combination when a bath is required in which sulphurous acid gas is
to be mixed with the vapour of water or with hot air. B 2 is a generator,
supported in the same manner as the vessel E in Sheet 1; and A, A, is
a spirit lamp, of the same kind as the lamp A, Sheets 1 and 2. The shape
of the generator B 2 is, however, different from that of the vessel E; it

page_text: consists of a bell-shaped vessel, the lower part of which is in form a flat
pan e, e, (as shewn by dotted lines in Figure 1,) surrounded by an outer
cylinder a, a, which forms a sort of flue or hot-air chamber underneath it to
collect and concentrate upon it the heat produced by the lamp. A, f, is a tube
opening into the generator B 2, through which the materials to be operated
upon are introduced into such generator. To produce sulphurous acid gas,
sulphuric acid is poured into the pan e, e, upon a layer of sawdust previously
introduced therein, and when the bottom and sides of the pan become heated
by the lamp to a sufficient temperature, sulphurous acid gas or vapour is
disengaged; the vapour thus generated passes up into a pipe 9, which rises and
then turns down a little, as shewn by the Drawing. Now, when such a bath
is to be administered in the bed of the patient, the apparatus Figure 1, Sheet 3,
will be used in combination with the apparatus, Figure 9, Sheet 2, but that appa-
ratus instead of a distributing pipe T will be furnished with a distributing pipe
shewn at h, h, Figure 1, Sheet 3, which has a short tube 8 brazed into it. The
apparatus, Figure 1, Sheet 3, is placed behind the apparatus, Figure 9, Sheet 2,
and the small pipe 9 is inserted in the pipe 8 passing through the same and
through the great pipe h as far as i, where it terminates. The two apparatus
thus combined are set to work together, forming thus one compound vapour
bath. The operation is as follows:-The sulphurous acid gas, generated as
aforesaid in the vessel B 2, passes through the pipe g into the large pipe h,
which is filled from the generator F with vapour of water, the pipe g
terminating, as aforesaid, at i, Figure 1, Sheet 3. Until that point the
sulphurous acid gas is kept separate from the vapour of water that fills
the pipe h, but on leaving the pipe 9, i, the said sulphurous acid gas
mixes with the vapour of water and flows on with it through the con-
tinuations of the pipe h, h, (not shown in the Drawing, Sheet 3,) into the
bed of the patient. There is a small waste cistern j at the lowest part
of the pipe 9, see Figure 1, Sheet 3, into which will drop such particles
of the sulphurous acid gas as become condensed in their passage along the
pipe g, and a very small hole must be pierced in such waste cistern to admit
atmospheric air. And note. Although in general the apparatus, Figure 1,
Sheet 3, should, when used for administering a bath of the kind above.
described, be combined with the apparatus, Figure 9, Sheet 2, as above
described it may be sometimes found advisable to dispense with the use
of the pipe h8, and to convey the vapour of water from the apparatus;
Figure 9, Sheet 2, by its pipe T carrying the sulphurous acid gas from the
apparatus, Figure 1, Sheet 3, immediately by the pipe g into the bed, the
combination of the two vapours taking place there instead of in the pipe ;>

page_text: the apparatus will of course for that purpose be provided with additional
lengths of pipe g. If, instead of mixing the sulphurous acid gas with the
vapour of water it is desired to take a bath composed of sulphurous acid gas
mixed with dry hot air, then such compound hot-air bath will be composed
of a combination of the apparatus, Figure 1, Sheet 3, with the apparatus,
Figure 10, Sheet 2. For this purpose the pipe g, Figure 1, Sheet 3, is
replaced by a pipe j, Figure 3, and that pipe j is laid direct into the bed of
the patient side by side with the conducting pipe X of the hot-air bath,
Figure 10, Sheet 2. To take a bath of sulphurous acid gas sitting, whether
in combination with hot air or with the vapour of water, the tube K,
Figure 4, Sheet 3, is fitted on to the apparatus B 2, Figure 1, instead of the
tube 9, and that tube K being introduced under the covering which sur-
rounds the patient will deliver its stream of gas to mix with the vapour or
hot air which the patient is taking from one or other of the apparatus,
Sheets 1 and 2. m is a staple, which may be screwed to the floor to keep
the tube K steady.
In Figure 5, Sheet 3, I have represented an apparatus to be combined
with the vapour bath represented in Figures 1, 2, and 3, Sheet 1, for the
purpose of producing a compound apparatus for giving a bath of vapour of
water and sulphuretted hydrogen combined. The sulphuretted hydrogen may
be obtained from such chemical solutions and acids as are usually employed
for that purpose by chemists; as, for instance, sulphuret of potassium and
acetic acid, or sulphuret of iron and dilute sulphuric acid, the same being
introduced and mixing in a glass bottle 9, 9, as in the ordinary modes of
operating to obtain sulphuretted hydrogen. The bottle q is for that purpose
provided with a funnel and tubes n and p for introducing the acid used, the
tube p passing through a cork s to make gas-tight fitting, and the other
matters may be introduced either previously through the opening s, or the
bottle may be provided with a second neck tube and funnel for that purpose.
As the sulphuretted hydrogen becomes evolved by the action of the chemical
agents contained in the bottle g it rises up through the bent pipe r, which is
fitted into the bottle g through a cork t, and passes up into the short tube 8
of a tube h adapted to fit the tube 3, 3, of the apparatus, Sheet 1, in the same
manner as I have described in reference to Figure 1, Sheet 3, the tube r
terminating at i. The sulphuretted hydrogen thus conducted into the pipe h,
mixes therein, on leaving the pipe r, i, with the vapour of water which fills
the pipe h, and the two vapours then flow on together into the bed of the
patient through the continuation of the pipe h, in the same manner as I have
described in speaking of the bath of sulphurous acid gas. If it is desired to

page_text: take such a bath as just described on the chair, then the pipe v, Figure 6, is
used instead of the pipe 7; the pipe v may be supported in the middle like the
tube K, Figure 4, by a small bearing staple, screwed to the floor, and the
end y of the said pipe enters the chamber formed by the covering with which
the patient and the apparatus Figures 1, 2, and 3 are surrounded, and mixed
with the vapour contained in such chamber in the manner herein-before
described in reference to the bath of sulphurous acid gas; and the same
directions which I have given for using the apparatus, Figure 1, in com-
bination with the hot-air bath herein-before described, will apply as to using
this apparatus in such combination.
I have described the apparatus in Sheet 3 as applied only for obtaining
sulphurous acid gas and sulphuretted hydrogen; but I wish it to be under-
stood that this part of the said improvements does not consist in the gene-
rating apparatus A and B 2, Figure 1, or q, q, Figure 5, to which I make no
claim, but in the method described of combining such apparatus with the
apparatus, Sheets 1 and 2; and it is obvious that other varieties of compound
baths may be constructed by combining the vapour or hot-air bath, repre-
sented in Sheets 1 and 2, with chemical apparatus of any known kind.
capable of generating vapours of such qualities as to be advantageously
employed for medical purposes in conjunction with the vapour of water or
with heated air, such chemical apparatus being connected or adapted to act
with the said baths, represented in Sheets 1 and 2, by means of suitable pipes
and other parts in a manner similar to that described in reference to the
apparatus, Sheet 3. For instance, a bath for administering chlorine combined
with vapour of water may be made by connecting a chemical apparatus such
as is ordinarily used in obtaining chlorine with the vapour bath, Sheet 1, by
means of such pipes as g or r, and h 8, Figures 1 and 5, Sheet 3.
Again, a mercurial bath may be made by using in the generator B2,
Figure 1, Sheet 3, mercury instead of sawdust and sulphuric acid, and so
in respect to other cases of the kind herein-before alluded to; and I may
observe by way of caution that it will be prudent not to apply the compound
aromatic and chemical baths herein-before mentioned without the direction
of a person of competent chemical and medical skill, as it is not possible to
lay down here any positive directions as to the proper proportions of the
several substances for producing a beneficial effect. The dimensions of the
several apparatus herein-before described will be found by referring to the
scales in the several Drawings, but of course it is not necessary to adhere
to such dimensions strictly, provided due proportions are observed; with
reference to what has been herein-before pointed out as the proper operation

page_text: of the several apparatus, and with respect to the materials of which such
apparatus are to be made, no positive rule can be given, but the same will
be selected at the convenience and discretion of the manufacturer the appa-
ratus, provided they are of a kind to economise heat and resist the action
of the vapours, acids, and other matters to which they are intended to be
exposed.
Having dow described the said improvements in the construction of vapour
and hot-air baths, and the manner of applying such baths, I do hereby
declare that under the said Letters Patent, herein-before in part recited, I
claim the application to the construction of vapour baths of a vessel, such as
the vessel E, herein-before described, in which a boiler or generator and flues
surrounding it are combined in one vessel, and in which the same passages
serve to convey the vapour from the boiler or generator and the heated air
from the flues.
I claim further the application to the construction of vapour baths of a
perforated footstool adapted, as herein-before described, to receive vapour
from the generator, and to distribute such vapour to the feet and legs of the
patient.
I claim the application to the construction of hot-air baths of a lamp to
heat a body of air in a hollow vessel placed over such lamp in the manner
described in reference to Figure 10, Sheet 2.
And I claim, lastly, as applied to the construction of vapour and hot-air
baths, the method, which I have herein-before described, of combining appa-
ratus of any known kind used for obtaining different kinds of chemical vapours
possessing the properties herein-before alluded to with the vapour and hot-air
baths herein-before described in reference to Sheets 1 and 2; and, save as
aforesaid, I do not claim any of the things, apparatus, or modes of operating
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pierre Jacques Ferier, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.
PIERRE JACQUES (L.S.) FERIER.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Pierre Jacques Ferier, in the
presence of

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of January, in
the year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid Pierre Jacques Ferier came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty.