IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE INHALATION OF MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE
INHALATION OF MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES."-A communication from abroad by
John Jones, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America.
Sealed the 30th September 1864, and dated the 7th May 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th May 1864.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Méchanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING
THE INHALATION OF MEDICINAL SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel arrangement of apparatus whereby medi-
cinal substances, such as chlorate of potash, in a fine granulated state may be
inhaled with facility for the purpose of treating certain affections of the lungs
and throat.
The apparatus consists of a case with a hinged lid formed with two inclines.
In one of these an opening is made to permit of the insertion of the nose and
mouth of the patient and in the lid a wire screen is fitted. Within the
case is fitted a removable box with a segmental bottom, and in this box is

page_text: mounted a fan with radial wings formed of feathers, bristles, or other suitable
material. The axle of this fan projects through the case and to it is keyed a
winch handle for imparting rotary motion to the fan; holes are made in the
case and box to allow of the free admission of air to the interior. The medi-
cinal substance to be inhaled having been reduced to a dry fine powder is
placed in the box and the lid being shut down the patient places his face over
the opening in the lid, at the same time he rotates the fan by the winch
handle. A current of air is thus put in rapid circulation in the box, and the
powder is caused to mix with it, the patient therefore while breathing inhales
the powder freely, the supply being regulated by the speed at which the fan
is rotated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 7th November 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special license that I, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING THE INHALATION OF MEDICINAL
SUBSTANCES," being a communication from abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an instru-
ment 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):— .
The object of this Invention is to provide a means of administering to the
lungs of persons suffering from phthisis the medicinal substances recommended
by the faculty. My correspondent having noticed the difficulty of conveying
by vapor salts and heavy substances to the cavities of the lungs &c., of
phthisical patients has planned the apparatus which I will now describe for .
administering such substances in a pulverulent state.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents the apparatus as in use, it
being placed upon a table, and the patient inhaling from it the prepared.
powders. This apparatus consists of a box shewn in vertical section at Fig. 2,
and within which is placed an inner box or case; in this inner case is
mounted a rotating fan or distributor for agitating the powder, and keeping it
in suspension in the air, so that the patient drawing air from the box through
an opening in the lid may receive the powder into the lungs. Fig. 3 is an
edge view of the box. A sieve is connected with the cover for diffusing the
powders that rise before they can be inhaled. The same letters refer to the
same parts in all the Figures.
A is the box, or whole exterior of the apparatus; B is the lid, in which the
opening C is made, and to which the person using the apparatus applies the
mouth, and thereby closes the opening air-tight or nearly so; D is an interior
box, generally of tin, having a semi-cylindrical bottom to correspond to the
sweep of the rotary fan; E is an opening at one side of the tin case D to
admit the air which is drawn in by the rotation of the fan; F, outside apertures
admitting air to the interior of the box; H, the wings of the fan made of hair,
feathers, or other light substance; I, the sieve, which is set in the bottom part
of the cover B to diffuse the rising powders, which as the breath is drawn
come up through the sieve with the air. The shape or construction of the
exterior box A- is not essential. It is required to enclose properly the inner
box D and the sieve I. The box D is made to take in or out at will for
cleansing. The revolving fan is also made to take in or out to be cleaned,
or when different preparations are to be used. The crank, therefore, requires
to be connected with the inner box and fan by a screw shank to be screwed
into place after the box D and its revolving fan are put in. One end of the
shaft or cylinder to which the wings H are attached has a journal or pivot.
The fan may be made with few or many wings and these constructed of hair,

page_text: feathers, or any light substance. To put the apparatus in use, the top or
cover is opened and the powders put in. The medicated powders should be
pulverized to the highest degree and superdesiccated, and be kept bottled and
'safe from the absorption of water from the air. When these are put in the
cover is shut down, and the patient' sits before the box as shewn at Fig. 1,
'and placing the mouth and nose in the opening C, so as to close it, turns the
crank with more or less speed according to the nature of the powders in order
to disturb them, and diffuse them in the air, at the same time drawing in the
breath. The expiration of breath may be out of the box or within it, but out
of it is best. By the act of inhalation air is drawn in at the opening E made
in the box D from the outside openings F. Chlorate of potash and other
proper substances may thus be placed in juxtaposition with the ulcers or
inflamed surfaces of the lungs and throat.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improved appa-
ratus for facilitating the inhalation of medicinal substances, as communicated
to me from abroad, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim, the construction and use of the box for containing medicated powders
for respiration, and fitted with a revolving fan for mixing them with the
air to be breathed in the manner substantially as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)