IMPROVEMENTS IN BATHING DRESSES FOR THE TREATMENT OF SKIN AND OTHER DISEASES
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Dumas, of No. 15, Passage des Petites
Ecuries, Paris, in the Empire of France, Proprietor, for the Inven-;
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BATHING DRESSES FOR THE TREATMENT OF
SKIN AND OTHER DISEASES."
Sealed the 21st August 1868, and dated the 27th February 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Dumas at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th February 1868.
I, FRANÇOIS DUMAS, of No. 15, Passages des Petites Ecuries, Paris,
in the Empire of France, Proprietor, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BATHING DRESSES FOR
TREATMENT OF SKIN AND OTHER DISEASES," to be as follows:-
It is essential that this dress be made of some waterproof material; it
is composed of trousers and vest, which may if necessary divide (as
shewn, Fig. 3 of the annexed Sheet of Drawing) with a hood (c), the
front of which will be of glass in order to permit the bather to see exterior
objects, or without a hood. This dress is provided with a funnel (E),

page_text: which may be placed right or left, or on any side at the will of the
bather; it will also be provided with a breathing tube (T). This tube as
also the hood will however be really useful for vapour baths only.
Fig. 1 represents a dress having only one opening, which may be in
front, behind, or at either side, and be fastened by bands, screws, or
buttons; Fig. 2 represents a dress in its entirety; Fig. 4, a dress which
possesses the advantage that it may be enlarged or contracted at pleasure
like that shewn, Fig. 1, by means of screws, buttons, or otherwise.
The Drawing shows also various apparatuses for administering local
baths. Fig. 8, leg; Fig. 9, arm; Fig. 10, loose sack; Fig. 11, vest;
Fig. 12, trousers.
Fig. 5 shews the funnel E by which the liquid composing the bath is
introduced, and Fig. 6 the hood c intended for vapour baths only.
At the end of each of the hands and feet is a cock R, by which the
liquid is run off when the bath has been taken, so that it may be used
several times, an important advantage when the bath is composed of a
valuable liquid.
It will be understood that my style of bathing dress may also be
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said François Dumas in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th August 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANÇOIS
DUMAS, of No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, in the Empire
of France, Proprietor, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said François Dumas, Her special licence
that I, the said François Dumas, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said François Dumas, 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

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BATHING DRESSES FOR THE TREATMENT OF SKIN AND OTHER DISEASES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said François Dumas, 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
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 François Dumas, 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, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawing
hereunto annexed and forming part of this my Specification, and to
the Figures marked thereon:-
My improved bathing dress which I term the "scaphandre-baignoire,"
is intended for baths for skin and other diseases, vapour baths, and baths
generally.
The apparatus is made of any suitable impervious or waterproof
material, and is composed of one or several pieces, buttoning either in
front, behind, or at the side by means of straps or bands, or a system of
screws, buttons, or keys. The apparatus is surmounted by a hood, to
which it is attached by means of a collar closing hermetically. This
hood is intended to envelop the head, and is also of a water and vapour
proof material. It carries in front one or more pieces of transparent
material through which the bather may see.
It also carries on one side
a funnel, and on the side where the face is to come a breathing tube
the funnel may be placed in any suitable part of the dress. The
extremities of the apparatus may be provided with small tubes and corks
or stoppers, or with cocks for running off the liquid contained in the
dress. The dress is made to suit the height of the bather. The dress
may terminate at the wrists, and if required at the ankles of the indi-
vidual using it. Dresses or coverings may also be made for local baths
for arm or leg, for example, as shewn, Figs. 3 and 4 of the Drawing.
Separate trowsers may also be made if required up to the arm-pits, as
at Fig. 7, the vest or jacket, Fig. 5, then completing the dress.

page_text: The "scaphandre-baignoire
"
or impervious bathing dress, whether
used for taking complete baths or only local ones, affords the great
advantage of requiring only a relatively small quantity of liquid, and
of permitting the use of the same liquid for several baths, which is
important when an expensive liquid is used for the bath, as is the case
in some medicinal baths.
On the Drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation, and Fig. 2 a section of a
complete bathing dress made according to my Invention; Fig. 3, appa-
ratus for arm; Fig. 4, apparatus for leg; Fig. 5, jacket or vest; Fig. 6,
hood, and Fig. 7, trowsers. The parts coloured blue represent the liquid
contained in the apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said François Dumas, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of August, in the
year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.