IMPROVEMENTS IN HARNESS AND SADDLES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Dexter Curtis, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, United
States of America, at present residing at 34, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HARNESS AND SADDLES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Dexter Curtis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd September 1871.
I, DEXTER CURTIS, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, United States of
America, at present residing at 34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HARNESS AND SADDLES," to be as
follows:-
=
This Invention relates to improvements in those parts of the harness
(particularly to the upper part of the collar) of horses or other animals
which are liable by pressure or friction to produce sores or abrasion of
the skin; and my improvements consist in lining or covering such parts
as the collar, saddle, or other parts of the harness which come in contact

page_text: with the skin of the animal with zing or its alloys, which metal is well
known to have a healing and hardening effect upon the part of the skin
to which it is applied.
When the collars are open at the top part I insert a pad or filling
piece made of or lined with zinc, which rests on the neck of the
animal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Dexter Curtis in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DEXTER
CURTIS, of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, United States of America, at present
residing at 34, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Dexter Curtis, Her special licence that
I, the said Dexter Curtis, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Dexter Curtis, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN HARNESS
AND SADDLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Dexter Curtis, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 Dexter Curtis, do hereby declare
nature of the maid Tunaation

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to improvements in those parts of the harness
(particularly to the upper part of the collar) of horses or other animals,
which are liable by pressure or friction to produce sores or abrason of
the skin; and my improvements consist in lining or covering such parts
as the collar, saddle, or other parts of the harness which come in contact
with the skin of the animal with zinc (or its alloys), which metal is well
known to have a healing and hardening effect upon the part of the skin
to which it is applied.
When the collars are open at the top part I insert a pad, cap, or
filling piece made of or lined with zinc, which rests on the neck of the
animal.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed shows a perspective view
of the form and construction of the pad or cap a for the upper part of a
horse's collar, which I prefer to employ in carrying out this part of my
Invention; and Figure 2 is a transverse section thereof. This pad or
cap a is formed by rivetting or otherwise securing two curved plates of
zinc together in such manner as to leave a space for the circulation of
air between them, by which arrangement the under plato in contact
with the neck of the animal is kept cool. The ends of the under plato
are bent up slightly, so that the pad or cap a may rest firmly upon the
neck without chafing, cutting, or galling it, the medicinal or curative
properties of the zine having a healing effect upon any old sores or
wounds which may have been caused by the use of ordinary collars, so
as to speedily heal the same. Loops are stamped or formed on the
upper plate for securing the pad by straps to the upper part of the
collar.
Figure 3 shows a zinc collar pad a', suitable for being applied to
a collar which is not open at the top; and Figures 4 and 5 show the
pad a' applied to a collar. If desired the collar and harness may be
formed in three parts combined together and lined with zinc, the upper
part being made of wood bent to suit the shape of the neck, and lined
with zinc so as not to spring together and pinch the neck. The sides
made of wood or other suitable material may be lined with zinc and
hinged to the upper arched portion and secured below by a strap or
clasp. The whole of the inner surfaces of the collars of horses or other

page_text: animals which come into contact with the skin may also be lined with
zinc in accordance with my Invention.
Zinc may also be advantageously applied according to my improve-
ments to the inner surfaces of saddles and other parts of harness which
come into contact with the skin, so as to prevent galling or chafing
thereof, or for producing a healing effect upon existing sores or wounds.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention and the
manner of performing or carrying the same into practice, what I claim
as my improvements in harness and saddles is, the application of zinc
(or alloys of zinc) in the form of a pad or cap to the collars of hores
and other animals, and as a lining to other parts of harness and saddles
which come in contact with the skin for the purpose of preventing the
chafing or galling thereof, and for the cure of existing wounds or sores,
substantially as herein-before described and shown in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof I, the said Dexter. Curtis, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
DEXTER. CHRTIS