Means for Applying Electricity through Jets, Streams, or Sprays of Fluids and Vapours for Therapeutic and other Purposes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Mar., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Dec., 1891-Accepted, 23rd Jan., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Means for Applying Electricity through Jets, Streams, or Sprays of
Fluids and Vapours for Therapeutic and other Purposes.
1, HENRY NEWMAN LAWRENCE of 35 Fitzroy Square, London, W., Electrical
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to means for applying electricity for therapeutic and other
purposes and consists in providing apparatus and machinery suitable for applying
to the body or portion thereof water, medicated fluids, steam & other vapours or
any fluid or semifluid conductors of electricity with electrical conductors and
electrodes in such a manner that currents of electricity may pass through jets,
streams or sprays of such fluid or gaseous conductors and be thereby brought to
influence the body electrically either by including the body or portion thereof in
the circuit so formed or otherwise.
With this object I provide any of the known forms of apparatus or modifications
or combinations thereof by which water, medicated fluids, steam or other vapours
may be administered to the body either externally or internally with electrical
conductors and electrodes connecting the same to the poles or terminals of an
apparatus or machine capable of generating or transforming electrical currents
either continuous, intermittent or alternating in nature or of generating a static
charge in such a way that the circuit is completed through the body or portion
thereof.
I sometimes find it convenient to attach threads or fibres of suitable material to
or near the nozzle or other extremity of the distributing apparatus in such a way
that they assist in promoting a continuous stream or streams of the flowing fluid or
vapour and so enable the electricity to flow more readily. These threads or fibres
may themselves be used as the main conductors of electricity when sufficiently
moistened by the fluids or otherwise.
By this means any form of electric current or charge may be administered to the
body or parts thereof in conjunction with the application of water, medicated fluids,
steam or other vapours in such a way that each or any of these fluid conductors
becomes practically the electrode which carries the electricity to the part or parts
of the body treated.
One of the many methods of applying my invention is in connection with the
well known fluid or vapour distributor or a syringe where I connect the nozzle or
rose or perforated cap. which for the purpose must be wholly or partially made of
metal or other conductor of electricity, with one pole of an electric generator and
place the other pole by means of a suitable electrode on or in some portion of the
body so that when the apparatus is put in action the jets or streams of. fluid shall
complete the circuit and cause the electricity to pass into or through the body or
portion thereof.
It will be readily understood that my invention may be applied to many other
forms of apparatus for administering fluids or vapours to the body or portion
thereof.
Dated this 23rd day of March 1891.
H. NEWMAN LAWRENCE.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Means for Applying Electricity through Jets, Streams, or Sprays of
Fluids and Vapours.for. Therapeutic and other Purposes.
I HENRY NEWMAN LAWRENCE of 29 Finborough Road, South Kensington,
formerly of 35 Fitzroy Square, in the County of Middlesex, Electrical Engineer
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
My invention relates to means for applying electricity for therapeutic and other
purposes, and consists in providing apparatus and machinery suitable for applying
to the body, or portion thereof, water, medicated fluids or steam or other vapours
or any other suitable fluid or vapour conductors of electricity with electrical con-
nections and electrodes in such a manner that currents of electricity may pass
through jets, streams or sprays of such conductors and be brought thereby to
influence the body electrically either by including the body in the main circuit so
formed or otherwise.
With this object I provide any known or convenient form of apparatus, (or
modifications or combinations thereof) by which water, medicated fluids, steam or
other vapour or any fluid or gaseous conductors of electricity may be administered
to the body, either externally or internally, with electrical conductors and electrodes,
connecting the same to the poles or terminals of an apparatus or machine capable
of generating or transforming electrical currents either continuous, intermittent or
alternating in nature, or of generating a static charge, in such a way that the
circuit is completed through the body or a portion thereof.
I sometimes find it convenient to attach threads or fibres of suitable material to
or near the nozzle of the distributing apparatus in such a way that they may assist
in promoting the flow of fluid or vapour in a continuous stream or streams and
enable the electricity to travel more easily. These threads or fibres may them-
selves be the main conductors of electricity when sufficiently moistened by the spray
or otherwise.
By this means any form of electric current or charge may be administered to the
body or parts thereof in conjunction with the application of water, medicated fluids,
steam or other fluids or vapours in such a way that each or any of these fluid or
vapour conductors becomes practically the electrode which carries the electricity to
the part of the body treated.
One of the many methods of applying my invention is in connection with the
well known fluid or vapour distributor or syringe where I connect the nozzle or
rose or perforated cap, which for the purpose must be made of metal or other con-
ductor, (or if of insulating material must have a metal lining or connection with
which to join up the pole of the generator), with one pole of an electric generator
and place the other pole by means of a suitable electrode on or in some portion of the
body so that when the apparatus is set in action the spray or jet of fluid or vapour
conductor shall complete the circuit and cause the electricity to pass into and
through the subject's body or portion thereof.
In carrying out my invention I provide a douche apparatus with an insulated
stand, seat, platform or electrode connected with the poles of any known form of
electric generator or transformer capable of producing continuous, intermittent,
pulsating or alternating currents, or a static charge, and I so arrange the electrical
conductors and connections that while one pole is brought in direct contact with
the body of the patient or subject operated upon, the other pole is brought to the
same body or portion thereof through or by means of the water or other fluid or
vapour used in the douche, so that the water or fluid or it may be vapour may be
said to form the second electrode, and a current of electricity passes through the
circuit so completed.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Fig. 1 shews by section, and Fig. 2 by end view one form of my apparatus, in
which a is a metallic rose of any suitable construction, connected by its stem a¹ in
ordinary manner to a flexible or other pipe leading to a fluid or vapour reservoir
or supply. is a covering of electrically insulating material applied over the body
of the rose, but leaving the front perforated portion free. This covering c
effectually insulates the hand of the operator and is formed at its front end with a
beading which serves, when the apparatus is in use, to prevent electrical contact
between the rose and the body of the patient, should the rose in any case happen
to touch his body. d is a wire forming a portion of an electrical circuit, and is
soldered or otherwise secured to the rose u. This wire leads to an electric
generator or transformer, or static machine of any suitable construction, the other
end of the circuit being suitably connected by an electrode to any portion of the
patient's body.
In operation the water or other fluid or vapour issues from the perforations in
the plate a² and striking the body of the subject under operation, completes the
circuit, carrying with it electricity from the rose a.
In the drawing I have shewn the rose a as having its neck completely covered
with insulating material e, the face a² alone being free, but in some cases I find it
sufficient to have the insulating material only at the perforated end where contact
with the patient's body may occur.. For instance the insulator may be a thick
rubber band c (as shewn in section Fig. 5 and end view Fig. 6) a portion c¹, of
which, projects beyond the surface of the face a².
Or the whole of the rose may be covered with insulating material, holes being
cut in it to correspond with the holes in the face plate a².
Or the rose itself may be made of insulating material, say bone or porcelain,
in which case the wire d is connected to a metallic lining or band inserted in the
casing a. Or the wire may be connected to the perforated part a² which may be
of metal and let into the portion a, so as to leave a projecting rim of insulating
material beyond the surface a².
•
Fig. 3 shews by section of a portion and Fig. 4 by an end view, a modification of
the arrangement shewn by Figs. 1 and 2. A number of fine hairs or fibres, a
portion of which is shewn at f, are secured to a stud or clip screwed or otherwise
affixed to the centre of the plate a². The force of the fluid or vapour issuing
through the perforated plate serves to carry the hairs or fibres out approximately
at right angles to the face a², and in this position they assist the water or other
issuing stream, or themselves moistened by the stream serve, to convey electricity
from the rose to the body of the subject being operated upon.
Instead of the fibres being attached to a stud f', as shewn in Figs. 3 and 4,
they may be held in any other suitable manner. For example a split ring may be
passed around the front of the rose and the fibres gripped between this ring and the
side of the rose. Or as in the case of a nozzle, the fibres may be secured to a
cross-piece affixed at either end to one edge of the mouth of the nozzle.
Fig. 7 shews by section and Fig. 8 by end view another form of my apparatus.
In this case a is a nozzle of bone or similarly insulating material, to the inside of
which is affixed by rivets or otherwise a metallic lining or band e to which is
secured one end of the wire d leading to the generator of electricity.
In place of a short band as shewn, the whole of the nozzle may be lined with
metal. Or the nozzle may itself be of metal and covered with an insulating
material such as rubber, similarly to the rose shewn Figs. 1 and 2, in which case
the wire d is connected by soldering or otherwise to the nozzle itself, and the
lining e dispensed with. Or, as in the case of the rose before described, a ring or
band of rubber may be passed around the end of a metal nozzle and so as to slightly
project in order to prevent metallic contact with the body of the subject under
treatment.

page_text: In place of the forms of rose and nozzle shewn in the drawing, I may use any
suitable form of apparatus for throwing a jet, stream or spray, and protected by
insulating material as described.
In describing the drawings I have supposed the wire d to form part of an electric
circuit and to lead to a generator or transformer of electricity, and the subject
operated upon, to rest on or be otherwise connected to a metallic plate or other
electrode, but the wire d may, in cases where a static generator is used, be con-
nected to an earth-plate, and a static charge of electricity be directed through the
fluid or vapour issuing from an orifice. Or the patient or subject operated upon
may be connected to the earth, and the wire d to one pole of the generator.
In some cases such as when a jet, spray or stream of considerable size is used,
and the rose or nozzle may thus be held at some distance from the subject operated
upon, I find it unnecessary to apply any insulating material to the rose or nozzle
notwithstanding that it is made of electrically conducting material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a douche or similar apparatus for therapeutic or other purposes, a rose or
nozzle of electrically conducting material in combination with an electric generator
and circuit, the rose or nozzle forming a means for conveying the electricity to the
fluid or vapour used substantially as described.
2. In a douche or similar apparatus for therapeutic or other purposes, a rose or
nozzle of electrically conducting material, covered or partially covering with
suitable insulating material, in combination with an electric generator and circuit,
the rose or nozzle forming a means for conveying the electricity to the fluid or
vapour used substantially as described.
3. In a douche or similar apparatus for therapeutic or other purposes, a rose or
nozzle of electrically insulating material in combination with an electric generator
and circuit, a metallic connection in the rose or nozzle forming a means for conveying
the electricity to the fluid or vapour used substantially as described.
4. In a douche or similar apparatus for therapeutic or other purposes a rose or
nozzle of electrically conducting material covered or partially covered with suitable
insulating material, in combination with an electric generator and circuit, said rose
or nozzle having secured thereto hairs or other suitable fibrous material, such
fibrous material assisting the fluid or vapour issuing from the orifice to conduct the
electricity to the subject operated upon, or becoming in itself when moistened by
the fluid or vapour, the main conductor of the electricity to the subject operated
upon substantially as described.
5. In a douche or similar apparatus for therapeutic or other purposes, a rose or
nozzle of electrically insulating material in combination with an electric generator
and circuit, said rose or nozzle having a metallic connection, forming a means for
conveying the electricity to the fluid or vapour issuing from the orifice with hairs
or other suitable fibrous material attached thereto, such fibrous material assisting
the fluid or vapour issuing from the orifice to conduct the electricity to the subject
operated upon, or becoming in itself when moistened by the fluid or vapour the
main conductor of the electricity to the subject operated upon substantially as
described.
Dated the Twenty-second day of December 1891.
HENRY NEWMAN LAWRENCE,
Applicant.