AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATING APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING LOCAL ANAESTHESIA.
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Otto Möcke, of Leipsic, Germany, for an Invention
of "AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATING APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING LOCAL
ANAESTHESIA.' A communication from Ladislaus Leo von Lesser, Doctor
Medicinae, of Leipsic, Germany.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Otto Möcke at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th August 1881.
OTTO MÖCKE, of Leipsic, Germany. "AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATING APPARATUS
FOR PRODUCING LOCAL ANAESTHESIA." A communication from Ladislaus Leo von
Lesser, Doctor Medicinae, of Leipsic, Germany.
This Invention consists in applying, by means of good conducting surfaces, of
hollow vessels to the part of the body to be numbed, a low temperature being
obtained by the evaporation of certain fluids (as, for instance, ether). These hollow
vessels are shaped so as to conform to the part of the body to which they are to
be applied in the following manner :-For numbing small portions of the outer
skin the chamber or hollow vessel is made flat on the sides, convex at the top, and
concave at the bottom. It is composed of good conducting sheet metal, and
contains two sets of tubes, independent of each other, but projecting from the
front of the chamber. These tubes are branched off inside the chamber and run
closely along its bottom and top, being provided with numerous small perforations
on their whole length. Through the back wall of the chamber run also two tubes
perforated at their inner ends, and coupled to india-rubber pipes at their outer
ends. The outer ends of the tubes at the front end are also coupled to india-
rubber pipes, one of which is connected with one of the pipes at the back end by
means of a glass-tube, while the other leads to an air vessel and to a pair of bellows
or equivalent contrivance.
For putting the apparatus in operation ether is first introduced into the chamber
through a funnel attached to one of the pipes at the back of the chamber, and the
level inside observed by means of the said glass-pipe. Afterwards a current of air
is forced through one set of perforated pipes so as to produce evaporation and
refrigeration inside the chamber near its concave or convex surface.

page_text: For using the opposite surface of the chamber the pipe containing the air vessel
and bellows is attached to the second set of tubes, while the glass-pipe is connected
'with the first set of tubes.
For refrigerating the jaws or teeth a saddle shaped metallic vessel is used which
fits over the outer and inner surface of the jaw. This vessel contains also perfo-
rated pipes connected with two flexible tubes which lead to the washing apparatus.
The latter consists of two bottles half filled with ether, and closed with a cork,
through which pass two pipes, one ending near the top and the other near the
bottom of the bottle.
The longer pipe is connected at the top with the refrigerating saddle, and the
other with a three-way cock, which communicates on one side with a blow-off
pipe and on the other with bellows. If a current of air is forced into the
bottle by the bellows it drives out the ether into the refrigerator, and from there
into the second bottle, the air contained in the latter being thereby forced out
through the blow-off pipe. When the first ether-bottle is nearly empty the air
enters the lower end of the longer pipe and passes through the refrigerator, thereby
causing a rapid evaporation of ether.
For making microscopic sections of tissues the refrigerating box may be nearly
rectangular in section. The inlet pipe terminates inside the chamber in a rose near
the bottom of the latter, and the outlet pipe near the top. This box is also con-
nected with the said washing apparatus by means of flexible tubes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Otto Möcke in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd February
1882.
OTTO MOCKE, of Leipsic, Germany. "AN IMPROVED REFRIGERATING APPARATUS
FOR PRODUCING LOCAL ANAESTHESIA.' A communication from Ladislaus Leo von
Lesser, Doctor Medicinae, of Leipsic, Germany.
In order to produce an absence of pain in minor operations, more particularly
on the fingers or toes, the application of intense cold to the members in question
has proved to be successful. Hitherto pieces of ice, freezing mixtures of ice and
salt, metal plates which had been for a long time subjected to the cold produced
by such mixtures, or a continued numbing of the parts with ether spray, as pro-
posed by Mr. Richardson, have been employed for producing the required effect.
Still ice cannot be obtained everywhere, at all seasons of the year, or sufficiently
pure. It is also too perishable to bear keeping for any length of time or transport
to a distance. Ether spray cannot be absolutely confined to the exact spot to be
acted upon; it requires a disproportionately large expenditure of ether; it fills the
chamber in which the operation is being performed with an unpleasant amount of
fumes of ether, and. is dangerous as regards fire. It cannot be employed for the
face or in the mouth; in the one case because it affects the eyes, in the other
because it affects the lungs.
The apparati shewn by the Figures 1-12 of the accompanying Drawing are
based on the principle of applying, by means of good conducting surfaces of hollow
vessels, to the part of the body to be numbed a low temperature obtained by the
evaporation of certain fluids (as, for instance, sulphuric ether). These hollow
vessels are shaped so as to conform to the part of the body to which they are to be
applied in the following manner :-
A refrigerating box for numbing portions of the surface of the skin in the case
of painful minor operations, as illustrated by Figs. 1-4.
Fig. 1 represents an anaesthetic apparatus, the principal part of which is the
ether chamber A, B, C, D, shewn in vertical longitudinal section by Fig. 2, vertical
cross section by Fig. 3, and horizontal section by Fig. 4. This chamber, composed
of good conducting metal plates, closed on all sides, is only flat at the ends, the
top is convex, the two sides are slightly concave, and the bottom is seen to be
very concave. In the interior of the box are the two sets of tubes A, A', and B, B',
independent of each other, but projecting from the front end at A and B
respectively; and, moreover, provided with triforked tubes attached to the rising
and descending arms'; these tubes are carried very closely over the bottom and
under the top, accommodating themselves to the concave and convex form of the
top and bottom. At A, A, A¹, and B¹, B', B', these horizontal tubes are closed,
but they are perforated throughout their entire length on their outer surfaces with
sieve-like holes, by which a current of air forced in at A and B is caused to flow
out in a series of fine jets against the top and bottom. The bent tubes C and D,
the short arms of which point upwards and downwards, are also perforated with
small holes, and serve for the double purpose of allowing the air introduced at A
and B to escape, and of filling the chamber.
If the vessel A, B, C, D, be provided with india rubber tubes, as shewn in Fig. 1,
that is to say, at A with an india rubber bellows E and windchest F, and at C
with a funnel H, whilst the other two tubes B and D are connected with each
other by means of a third piece of tubing in the middle of which the glass tube G
is inserted; ether can be introduced through the funnel H by temporarily removing

page_text: the bellows; at the same time by holding the glass tube G in a proper position the
level of the ether may be readily ascertained. When the apparatus is prepared in
this way it is for the special purpose of cooling the concave bottom, for the current
of air forced in by the bellows flows out through the sievelike holes at A¹, A¹, A¹,
in a finely divided form, and the ether will be incited to evaporate most rapidly
close to the bottom; hence this will be most cooled, whilst the air which is
saturated with ether will escape at C, H. In this form the apparatus is used for
operations on the fingers, toes, or nose, &c. If however the apparatus is to be
used in the case of operations on hollowed surfaces of the body to which the back
of the vessel fits more conveniently, then the bellows is attached at B, the funnel
at D, and the openings A and C are connected with each other. In this case the
slightly concave side walls of the vessel may also be used for cooling vertical
portions of the surface of the body.
Figs. 5-7 illustrate an apparatus for refrigerating the teeth and jaws, in order
to perform painless operations (extraction) on the teeth.
The refrigerator A, B, C, D, is as shewn formed in the shape of a saddle, in order
that the limb C may fit the outer surface of the jaw, and the limb D (which is
somewhat longer than C) may fit the inner surface. The inlet tube A is so forked
inside the vessel that along the inner surface of each limb passes a tube, either C
or D, closed at the ends. The sides of the tubes C and D are perforated throughout
their entire length and over half of their circumference with sieve-like holes, so
that the fluid forced in at A may spurt out partly above and partly below; but
in the main sideways against the inner sides of the vessel, escaping by the outlet
pipe B; A and B are connected by means of india rubber tubing with the washing
apparatus, shewn at Figs. 8 and 9, in the following manner :-
In each of the bottles E and E¹, which are half filled with fluid ether, two tubes
are inserted through an air-tight stopper, one of which, e or el, opens close to the
bottom of the bottle, whilst the second tube, for f' opens into the space above the
liquid. The outer cnds of the tubes e and e¹ are connected with the tubes A and B
of the refrigerating saddle, whilst the outer ends of fand f¹ can by means of the
three way cocks h, h¹, be made to communicate either with the blow-off pipe m,
which opens outwards, or with the bellows tube n. When the cock h connects f
and n, and the cock ' connects f¹ and m, and if a current of air be forced by
means of.the aforesaid bellows A in the direction of n, it passes through into the
space above the fluid in the bottle-E, forcing the-fluid-ether-through-c,-A, C,-and-
A, D, into the refrigerator, thence through B and e' into the bottle E', whilst the
air in the latter must escape through fand m. If this circulation be continued by
means of the bellows until the bottle E is nearly empty and the lower end of e is
no longer covered with the liquid, then the air of the bellows forces its way
through e into the refrigerating saddle, passes out through C and D, causing a rapid
evaporation of the ether, more especially in the direction of the inner walls of the
saddle, and thereby cooling that portion of the jaw which is in contact with them.
Of course, in the meantime the air which has produced its effect escapes through B
and C into the bottle E¹, passes through the fluid ether and can then escape at
f¹, m. In the same way it is evident that if the three way cocks h and h¹ are
turned the other way, so that e is connected with B' and e' with A the fluid ether
connected in E' is driven back the same route as before through the saddle to E,
and thus its refrigerating powers may be continued as long as may be necessary.
In order to minimise the refrigerating powers of the exterior walls of the saddle,
and thus to cause as little inconvenience as possible to the tongue and the mucous
inembrane lining the cheek of the patient, the exterior walls are covered with
vulcanised india-rubber.
The saddle may be divided into two independent side pieces connected by means
of india-rubber tubing instead of making it of a continuous piece.
For freezing portions of organs of which it is desired to make microscopic
sections (microtomy),
The refrigerating box, illustrated by Figs. 10, 11, and 12, may be used. The

page_text: inlet pipe A, which terminates in a rose, is introduced immediately above the
bottom, whereas the outlet pipe B open at both ends is introduced just below
the cover. If this box be connected like the box, Figs. 5-7, by means of tubes,
with the tubes e and e¹ of the washing apparatus, and the bellows be set in motion
after the organic tissue to be treated has been laid upon the cover of the box, or
in the case of preparations in spirits of wine, has been painted with a solution of
caoutchouc, the preparation is frozen by the abstraction of heat, and is thereby
rendered suitable for making the most delicate sections.
1. The construction of the refrigerating apparatus, consisting of the refrigerating
box A, B, C, D, and the washing apparatus E, E¹.
2. The process of freezing living and dead tissues by bringing them in contact
for a lengthened period with hollow vessels constructed of some good conducting
metal, into which vessels are introduced volatile liquids, the evaporation of which
lowers the temperature of the walls of the said vessels below the freezing point.
The whole substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Otto Möcke, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twentieth day of February, A.D. 1882.