AN IMPROVED RESPIRATORY APPARATUS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davies, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn,
in tho County of Middlesex, and No. 28, Saint Enoch Square, in the
City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED RESPIRATORY APPARATUS."-A communication from abroad
Albert Gelibort of Paris
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Davies at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th
April 1864.
I. GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, and No. 28, Saint Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVED RESPIRATORY APPARATUS," (a communication to me from
abroad by Albert Galibert, of Paris,) to be as follows:-
A respiratory apparatus which would allow of a prolonged stay in liquids
or in deleterious gases has long been sought, and different ingenious systems
have been devised, but they are for the most part complicated and expensive,
and only act mechanically by the aid of auxiliaries, and in no case allow of a
direct communication between the atmospheric air and the lungs of the
operator.
In order to remedy these various defects, the Inventor has devised an
apparatus which is of extreme simplicity, very moderate expense, without any
mechanism, and capable of being used by any one without any assistance.
The apparatus is composed, firstly, of a small piece of wood or ivory having

page_text: the form and dimensions of the human mouth when open, and pierced with
with two holes. Secondly, of two india-rubber tubes, which are affixed to this
mouth-piece, so that each tube corresponds with one of the holes, the other
end of the tubes communicates with the pure atmospheric air. The length of
these tubes is determined by the conditions under which the apparatus is to
be used. Thirdly, of a nose-clip,-intended to prevent the introduction of any
liquid or gases into the nasal passages.
The manner of using this apparatus is as follows:-The operator compresses
the nose by applying the clip, and then inserts the mouth-piece into his
mouth, holding it lightly with the teeth, he then closes one of the openings
with his tongue, and commences to draw breath through the other, pro-
longing the inspiration as long as possible. He then carries the tongue to
the latter, and breathes out or exhales through the former, and so on
alternately. A few minutes practice will suffice to cause any person un-
accustomed to the apparatus to move his tongue instinctively from one hole
to the other and back again alternately as required.
When it is required to use this apparatus in such situations where pure
atmospheric air cannot be reached without having tubes of inordinate length,
it is preferable to use an air reservoir (made of the entire skin of a goat, for
instance,) fastened by straps or otherwise to the back of the operator, one of
the aforesaid tubes communicating with the upper part, and the other with
the lower part of the reservoir; the latter serves for the inspiration of pure
air into the lungs from the lower part of the reservoir, and the former for the
expiration of the vitiated air back into the upper part of the same. The
reservoir is filled with pure atmospheric air when required by means of
bellows, and will contain a sufficient quantity of air to last a man for about
half an hour.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davies in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
October 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
and No. 28, Saint Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the 27th year of Her

page_text: reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Davies, Her special license that I, the said George
Davies, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said George Davies, my executors, administrators, or 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 RESPIRATORY APPARATUS," (being a communication to me from
abroad by Albert Galibert, of Paris,) upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Davies, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and
scal of one of them, 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 George Davies, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, and on reference being had to the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, that is to say:--
A respiratory apparatus which would allow of a prolonged stay in liquids
or in deleterious gases has long been sought, and different ingenious systems
have been devised, but they are for the most part complicated and expensive,
and only act mechanically by the aid of auxiliaries, and in no case allow of
a direct communication between the atmospheric air and the lungs of the
operator.
In order to remedy these various defects the Inventor has devised an
apparatus which is of extreme simplicity, very moderate expense, without
any mechanism, and capable of being used by any one without any assistance.
The apparatus is composed, firstly, of a small piece of wood or ivory having
the form and dimensions of the human mouth when open, and piércéd with
two holes. Secondly, of two india-rubber tubes, which are affixed to this
mouth-piece, so that each tubo corresponds with one of the holes; the other
end of the tubes communicates with the pure atmospheric air. The length
of these tubes is determined by the conditions under which the apparatus is
to be used. Thirdly, of a nose-clip, intended to prevent the introduction of
any liquid or gases into the nasal passages.

page_text: The uses which may be made of this respiratory apparatus are very
numerous, the principal of which may be enumerated as follows:-
Firstly, as an apparatus permitting of the extinction of fires at their
beginning, as it is very portable, and a quarter of a minute suffices to adjust
the same.
Numerous experiments have demonstrated that a person can stay
without danger a very long time in the most intense smoke, and in a very
high temperature.
Secondly, for marine purposes, beside the use that could be made of it in
case of fire, it will be useful in the stopping of leaks and exterior repairs.
Thirdly, for descending into wine or beer vats, or other similar vessels.
Fourthly, as an apparatus for the diver, well sinker, miner, or other
similar purposes.
Fifthly, for entering and staying without danger in places charged with
deleterious gases, especially that used for lighting purposes.
Sixthly, for carrying on without danger to the health of the workmen such
trades or occupations as are unbealthy or dangerous.
Seventhly, for entering and staying without danger any required length of
time in the suffocating gas of cesspools.
Eighthly, for taking ordinary or medicinal baths, because it permits a
complete immersion during the whole time of the bath, which exercises thus
an equal temperature and an equal pressure on all parts of the body.
Vapor baths also will be rendered more efficacious by its employment,
because the patient being able to breathe the external atmosphere, the body
can support a much higher temperature.
Such being the nature and object of the said Invention for "An Improved
Respiratory Apparatus," I will now proceed to describo more in detail the
manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect, and in order that the same may be distinctly understood I
have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have
marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with
those in the following explanation thereof, that is to say :-
In the annexed Drawing Figures 1, 2, and 3 represent longitudinal and
transverse sections and plan view of the mouth-piece A; this piece, which is
made of wood, bone, or ivory, is provided with two tubular projections a and a',
to which are adapted the india-rubber tubes c and c¹, of a length determined
by the application which it is proposed to make of the apparatus. The tube c,
for example, serves for inspiration, and the tube c' for expiration; they com-
municate, both of them, with respirable atmospheric air.
The manner of using this apparatus is as follows:-The operator compresses

page_text: the nose by applying the clip p (see Figure 9), and then inserts the mouth-
piece A into his mouth, holding it lightly with the teeth, he then closes one of
the openings (a, for example,) with his tongue, and commences to draw
breath through the other (or a¹), prolonging the inspiration as long as
possible. He then carries the tongue to the latter, and breathes out, or
exhales through the former, and so on alternately. A few minutes practicó
will suffice to cause any person unaccustomed to the apparatus to move his
tongue instinctively from one hole to the other and back again alternately as
required.
When the apparatus has not been used for some time the operator should
tako care to blow forcibly through both tubes, in order to drive out any dust
or other foreign body that may have been introduced therein.
For certain works (those carried on in excavations, for instance,) wliere a
slip of earth might flatten one of the tubes, and paralyze the employment of
the respiratory apparatus, I replace the india-rubber tubes by tubes c' of the
same material, but furnished with an interior coil of wire r, as shown in
Figure 8. These tubes will support and resist a great pressure without risk
of deterioration, and as they are only made of a certain length, they are to be
united by means of metallic sockets without weakening the tubes, ..
When it is required to descend into wells of great depth, or into mines, or
to use this apparatus in such situations where pure atmospheric air cannot be
reached without having tubes of inordinate length, it is preferable to use an
air reservoir, (made of the entire skin of a goat, for instance,) fastened by
straps or otherwise to the back of the operator, (as shewn at Figures 4, 5,
and 9,) one of the aforesaid tubes communicating with the upper part, and
the other with the lower part of the reservoir; the latter serves for the
inspiration of pure air into the lungs from the lower part of the reservoir, and
the former for the expiration of the vitiated air back into the upper part of
the same.
The reservoir is filled with pure atmospheric air when required by
means of bellows, and will contain a sufficient quantity of air to last a man
for about half an hour. Figure 4 shows a longitudinal section of a leather
vessel made of the skin of a goat, to which are adapted suspending straps;
and Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of the same. The leather vessel or
bottle B is prepared in the same manner as those used in certain countries to
contain oil or wine, and has connected to it by the two fore feet the india-
rubber tubes c, c', which are united at their other ends to the mouth-piece A,
above described. The tube c, which corresponds to the inspiration aperture a,
descends when the vessel is filled with air to within a short distance of the

page_text: bottom of the latter, whilst the tube c' suspended by a cord is kept at the
upper part thereof. The straps D and D¹ serve for carrying the vessel on the
shoulders, and the waist belt C confines it to the body, as shown at Figure 9.
The vessel (as abovo stated) contains quite as much air as would be
required to last for about half an hour's work, a sufficiently long time for
any work or examination to be effected in places filled with pestilential or
suffocating gases or vapors. The workman inhales and exhales in the same
manner as when breathing the external atmosphere, he is free in all his move-
ments, and can easily handle his tools or implements without any more fatigue
than when at ordinary work. If it should happen when descending into a
dark well or other place that the lamp cannot be kept alight for want of air,
a small branch tube from the vessel may be connected to the lamp, which will
thus be supplied with air as long as the workman is required to stay. The
small quantity of air absorbed by the lamp will only reduce by a very
insignificant fraction the time which the air will last. To keep the leathern
vessel B perfectly air-tight (which is absolutely necessary for assuring the
success of the apparatus), the skin must not be pierced, but at those places
where it is desired to connect the straps a small round piece of wood, grooved
on the circumference like a pulley (as shown at H, Figure 6,) must be
introduced into the vessel, and the skin is to be tied tightly over it by a cord
or ligature h passing round the groove, and the straps or other appurtenances
are then to be screwed, or otherwise fixed to the pieces of wood H. The
extremities of the legs, the neck, and the tail are furnished with similar pieces
of wood covered with an impermeable varnish. To fill the skin or vessel a
pair of bellows S (see Figure 7) is to be employed, being actuated by the two
hands, which are passed through the straps s, s¹. The mouth-piece A (from
which the tubes c and c¹ communicate with the interior of the skin or vessel)
is for this purpose introduced into the conical piece t, which forms a part of
the body of the bellows. A few minutes suffice for filling the vessel entirely,
and it may be kept full by pinching the tubes c and c¹, so as to close all
communication with the external atmosphere.
Having now particularly described the nature and object of the said Inven
tion for "An Improved Respiratory Apparatus," together with the manner in
which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect,
I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim as the Invention (communicated
to me by the above-named Albert Galibert), the respiratory apparatus above
described and illustrated in the annexed Drawings, whether the same is
employed with simple tubes communicating with the atmospheric air or with

page_text: a reservoir of air, for descending into places where a great length of tubes
would be an obstacle.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Davies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
GEORGE DAVIES. (L.S.)