AN IMPROVED CLINICAL THERMOMETER
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Joseph François Hubert Foveaux, of
No. 62, Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Surgical Instrument
Maker, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED CLINICAL THERMOMETER,”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Joseph François
Hubert Foveaux at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 29th November 1872.
I, HENRY JOSEPH FRANÇOIS HUBERT FOVEAUX, of No. 62, Strand,
in the County of Middlesex, Surgical Instrument Maker, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED CLINICAL
THERMOMETER," to be as follows: :―
Clinical thermometers have hitherto been made of a cylindrical form,
and from their tendency to roll upon any smooth or inclined surface
upon which they may be placed are constantly being broken. I pro-
pose to obviate this defect by making these thermometers with one or
more flat sides, or by forming a projection at the end of the mercury
tube if it be preferred to retain its cylindrical shape, or again, by placing

page_text: upon any part or parts thereof a projection or projections which will
arrest the rolling of the instrument.
The construction which I prefer is a single flat surface to form the back
of the thermometer, the front being semicircular or of any curve, and
I give preference to this make because it combines with the safety from
rolling due to the flat surface the advantage of making the index appear
more prominent.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Joseph François Hubert Foveaux, in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 27th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
JOSEPH FRANÇOIS HUBERT FOVEAUX, of No. 62, Strand, in the County
of Middlesex, Surgical Instrument Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Joseph François
Hubert Foveaux, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Joseph
François Hubert Foveaux, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Joseph François Hubert Foveaux,
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 Invention for
"AN IMPROVED CLINICAL THERMOMETER,' upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Henry Joseph François Hubert Foveaux, 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
"

page_text: 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 Henry Joseph François Hubert
Foveaux, 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 :-
. Clinical thermometers have hitherto been made of a cylindrical form,
and from their tendency to roll upon any smooth or inclined surface
upon which they may be placed are constantly being broken. I obviate
this defect by making these thermometers with one or more flat sides,
or by forming a projection at the end of the mercury tube if it be
ferred to retain its cylindrical shape, or again, by placing upon any part
or parts thereof a projection or projections which will arrest the rolling
of the instrument.
pre-
The construction which I prefer is a single flat surface to form the
back of the thermometer, the front being semicircular or of any curve,
and I give preference to this make because it combines with the safety
from rolling, due to the flat surface, the advantage of making the index
appear more prominent.
I obtain the flat back and curved front in the ordinary manufacture
of the glass mercury tube, and the tube may in like manner be produced
with several flat sides.
In the case of cylindrical mercury tubes I obtain the required projec-
tion or projections either in the manufacture of the tube and of one piece
therewith, or I fit the tube with a cap or collar of metal, vulcanite, or
any material which I may find suitable, making the cap or collar with
a triangular, rectangular, or any shaped periphery, or such projection
or boss as I may find most suitable for arresting any tendency to roll.
It will be evident that there can be no fixed limit to the extent of the
projection at a right angle or obliquely from the mercury tube, and that
it might be prolonged in the line of the axis of the tube sufficiently to
form a handle if desired.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is or may be performed, I desire it to
be distinctly understood that I do not limit myself to the number of flat
surfaces which may be given to my clinical thermometer or to any mode

page_text: of obtaining these flat surfaces, nor to the shape or position of any pro-
jections or projections which I may apply thereto, nor to any material
for forming these projections, or to any precise method of fixing them
thereupon, the basis of my Invention being that the thermometer while
being used shall have attached to or forming part of it a means of
preventing any rolling of the instrument when laid aside by the operator,
and I claim as secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent,―
Firstly. The use of clinical thermometers having one or more flat
surfaces.
Secondly. The use of clinical thermometers having one or more
projections as herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Joseph François Hubert
Foveaux, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh
day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-three.
HENRY JOSEPH FRANÇOIS HUBERT FOVEAUX. (L.S.)