IMPROVEMENTS IN SURGICAL APPARATUS OF INSTRUMENTS FOR CLOSING CERTAIN NATURAL OPENINGS OF THE BODY
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Imray, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SURGICAL APPARATUS OF INSTRUMENTS FOR CLOSING
CERTAIN NATURAL OPENINGS OF THE BODY."-A communication from
abroad by Gabriel Borin, of Lyons, France.
Sealed the 1st December 1874, and dated the 9th October 1874.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said John Imray at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration,
on the 9th October 1874, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN SURGICAL APPARATUS OR INSTRUMENTS FOR CLOSING CERTAIN NATURAL OPENINGS
OF THE BODY," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the
same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been communi-
cated to me from abroad by Gabriel Borin, of Lyons, France.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Imray, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, 5
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to
say:―
1
This Invention relates to a light, compact, and easily applied appa-
ratus or instrument for closing certain natural openings of the body
for surgical or medical treatment, as for example, for closing the female
vagina, or the nipple, or for closing the preputium in males, the said
apparatus or instrument being of the nature of a forceps applied to the 1
lips or external parts of such openings.
The forms and dimensions of the apparatus are varied to suit the
parts to which they are applied, the construction and mode of action
remaining the same as that which will now be described.
An instrument, according to this Invention, for closing the vagina is 2
represented to its full size in Figures 1, 2, and 3; Figure 1 showing an
end view of the instrument when it is opened out, Figure 2 an end
view when it is closed, and Figure 3 a side view. It is a kind of
forceps having two arched blades a, a, at the end of shanks b, b, which
are hinged to a staple piece c. A screw d works through the staplo 2
piece c, so that by turning it a band e is caused to slide along the
inclined edges of the shanks b, and thereby to bring together the
blades α, so as to pinch the lips of the vagina between them.
Figures 4 and 5 shew respectively an end and a side view of a
similar instrument applicable to the nipple, the blades of the forceps 3
being, in this case, hollowed out to a rounded form, so as to pinch the
nipple between them.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I claim, the use for closing certain natural 3
openings of the body of an apparatus operating as a forceps on the lips

page_text: or external projecting parts of such openings, the closing of the forceps
being effected by a screw, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Imray, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, this Ninth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.