AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TREATING OR PREPARING ANY PART OF THE HUMAN BODY. REQUIRING TO BE SURGICALLY OPERATED UPON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF TOTALLY OR PARTIALLY BENUMBING THE SENSE OF FEELING AT THE DESIRED PART OF THE HUMAN BODY."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Blundell, of No. 29, New Broad Street, in
the City of London, Surgeon Dentist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR TREATING OR PREPARING ANY PART OF THE HUMAN BODY.
REQUIRING TO BE SURGICALLY OPERATED UPON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF TOTALLY OR
PARTIALLY BENUMBING THE SENSE OF FEELING AT THE DESIRED PART OF THE
HUMAN BODY."
APPARATUS FOR TREATING OR PREPARING ANY PART OF THE HUMAN BODY.
REQUIRING TO BE SURGICALLY OPERATED UPON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF TOTALLY OR
PARTIALLY BENUMBING THE SENSE OF FEELING AT THE DESIRED PART OF THE
HUMAN BODY."
Sealed the 9th February 1855, and dated the 25th, November 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Blundell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th November 1854.
I, WALTER BLUNDELL, of No. 29, New Broad Street, in the City of London,
Surgeon Dentist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TREATING OR PREPARING ANY PART OF THE HUMAN BODY
REQUIRING TO BE SURGICALLY OPERATED UPON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF TOTALLY OR
PARTIALLY BENUMBING THE SENSE OF FEELING AT THE DESIRED PART OF THE HUMAN
BODY," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements upon a former Invention
-secured-to-me,-the-said-Walter-Blundell,-on-the-1-1th-day-of-August-1854,

page_text: under the Patent Law Amendment Act, No. 1758. Now, whereas I have
since found that the mode of operating, as set forth and described in the
Provisional Specification of such said Invention, is in certain cases limited in
its application, I propose, therefore, by this present Invention to remedy this,
and to enable the freezing mixture to be applied with equal effect in all cases,
and this I effect in the following manner and by the following means, that is
to say-Instead of allowing the freezing mixture employed to pass direct
from the vessel which contains it into the flexible .bag, which is to be applied
to the part to be benumbed, and to circulate through the same, as set forth in
the Provisional Specification of the said former Invention, during the whole
of the operation; or in other words, instead of applying the freezing mixture
in its intensely cold state at the commencement of the benumbing operation,
the novel and peculiar feature of this present Invention consists in causing
the freezing mixture to enter, and pass through a vessel containing warm
water or other heating medium or liquid before entering the aforesaid
flexible bag. By these means, the temperature of the freezing mixture, as it
enters the warm water, will be raised to that of the water, said water being
displaced by the pressure of the column of freezing mixture, which is above;
it is thus forced from the warm water vessel into. the aforesaid flexible bag
through flexible tubes attached to the said bag and warm water vessel, and
from thence by a cock into. a receptacle employed for keeping up the
circulation, as before stated with reference to the former Invention. And as
the said freezing mixture continues to enter the warm water, the temperature
thereof and of the freezing mixture will be gradually reduced, and in like
manner and in the same ratio the intensity of the freezing mixture will be
gradually increased as it passes into the flexible bag, the temperature of the
fluid therein at the commencement of the benumbing operation being at
about blood, heat, and becoming gradually lowered to that of the freezing
mixture.. And I would observe, in conclusion, that as the length of time
necessary for effecting_such_said gradual change of temperature will vary
according to circumstances, it is sufficient for the purpose of explaining
this Invention, to state that, this may be governed by the operator opening
the induction and eduction cocks more or less.
-

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by.the said Walter Blundell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th May. 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WALTER
BLUNDELL, of No. 29, New Broad Street, in the City of London, Surgeon
Dentist, send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Walter Blundell, Her special licence that 'I, the said Walter
Blundell, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Walter Blundell, 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 APPA-
RATUS FOR TREATING OR PREPARING ANY PART OF THE HUMAN BODY REQUIRING TO BE
SURGICALLY OPERATED UPON, FOR THE PURPOSE OF TOTALLY OR PARTIALLY BENUMBING
THE SENSE OF FEELING AT THE DESIRED PART OF THE HUMAN BODY," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Walter Blundell, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Walter Blundell, 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 thereof (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to certain improvements upon a former Invention
secured to me, the said Walter Blundell, on the Eleventh day of August,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, under the Patent Law' Amend-
ment Act, No. 1758. Now, whereas I have since found in practice that the
mode of operating, described in the Specification of my previous Patent, is not
only_limited-in-its-application, but-calculated-in-many instances to produce an
unpleasant sensation to the patient, arising-from-the-comparatively-sudden
application of cold to the part which is to be operated upon, I propose, therefore,

page_text: by my present Invention, to remedy this objection, and to enable the fluid cooled
by ice, or any known freezing mixture, to be applied with equal effect in most
cases by the use and employment of an apparatus (which I term a "graduator"),
so contrived and applied that the temperature of the part is gradually decreased
from blood heat, or thereabout, until the desired benumbing effect is produced,
and this I effect in the following manner and by the following means, that is to
sayInstead of allowing the cooled fluid employed to pass direct from the
vessel which contains it into the flexible bag or other apparatus which is to be
applied to the part to be benumbed, and to circulate through the same, (as
set forth in my said former Specification of the Eleventh of August, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four,) during the whole of the operation; or
in other words, instead of applying the cooled fluid in its intensely cold state at
the commencement of the benumbing operation, the novel and peculiar feature
of my said present Invention consists in causing the cooled fluid to enter and
pass through a vessel (which I call a "graduator "), containing warm water or
other suitable heated fluid or medium, before entering the aforesaid flexible
bag, &c. By these means, it will appear obvious that the commingling of the
cooled fluid with the warm will have the effect of reducing the temperature
of the one and raising that of the other, and this in a gradually increasing
ratio; but since the cooled fluid as it passes through the graduator is continually
displacing the warm water or other suitable heated fluid or medium, the effect
will be to convey a gradually cooled mixture to the part to be operated upon.
And I would observe, that as the length of time necessary for effecting such
said gradual change of temperature will vary according to circumstances, it
may be governed by regulating the rapidity with which the cooled fluid is
allowed to pass through the graduator.
And in order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I
now.proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying
the-same-into-practical-effect,-reference-being_had_to_the_illustrative Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked
thereon respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a side view of an apparatus constructed according to
my former Invention with my present improvements applied thereto; Figure 2
is a section of the graduator. At each of the foregoing Figures I employ
similar letters of reference to denote corresponding parts, in-so-far-as-such
parts appear or can be seen at each of the said Figures respectively. At
Figure 1, A is the refrigerator, to the cock a of which the elastic tube B is

page_text: attached. This tube B. leads to graduator C (exhibited at Figure 2), the
construction of which is as follows:-C, C, is a metal vessel (to contain warm
water or other suitable heated fluid or medium), furnished with a lid b, b.
To this lid are attached the worm c, c, and the cock d, d, in connection
therewith, as also the cock e, c, connected to the elastic tube D, leading to
the flexible bag or other apparatus to be applied to the part to be benumbed.
ff, is a cock to connect the tubes B and D when the cooled fluid is not
required to pass through the "graduator." With the apparatus or "graduator"
constructed as above I operate as follows:-The vessel A being charged with
the cooled fluid, and the vessel C with the heated fluid, the flexible bag or
other apparatus, referred to in my former Specification, which is connected by
the tube D to the cock e is applied and closely pressed against the part to be
benumbed. The cocks a, d, e, and G are then opened, and the cooled fluid
from the vessel A passes along the tube B and through the cock d and
worm c into and through the graduator, and from thence through the flexible
bag or other apparatus by the cock e, and finally passes off through the cock G
into the vessel H. As the liquid continues to flow, the temperature thereof
becomes gradually reduced to that of the cooled fluid in the vessel A. The
cock f may then be opened, and the cocks d and e closed, so as to establish a
direct communication between the refrigerator A and the flexible bag or other
apparatus, by which the desired benumbing effect is produced. The speed at
which the liquid flows, and consequent rapidity of diminution of temperature
thereof, may be regulated by opening or closing the aforesaid cocks, or by
pinching the tube between the finger and thumb.
Having thus described the nature and object of my said Invention of "an
improved apparatus for treating or preparing any part of the human body
requiring to be surgically operated upon, for the purpose of totally or partially
benumbing the sense of feeling at the desired part of the human body,
together with the best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into
practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that although I have described
and represented a convenient form of "graduator" for effecting the objects of
my present Invention, I do not intend to limit or confine myself to the precise
form of such said graduator as above described and represented, so long as the
principle thereof be retained; but what I claim is, the use and employment of
a graduator in combination with the refrigerator, (referred to in my former
Specification of the Eleventh of August, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four,) for the purpose of decreasing the temperature of the part to be
operated upon gradually from blood heat, or thereabout, until the desired
benumbing effect is produced, as above particularly described, instead of

page_text: applying the cooled fluid direct from the refrigerator to the part to be benumbed,
as described in the Specification of my former Patant, dated the Eleventh of
August, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, No. 1758.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Blundell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five..
Witness,
J. R. QUINTON,
1, Pavilion Colonade,
Brighton.
WALTER BLUNDELL. (L.S.)