AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TREATING OB 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 OB 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 8th December 1854, and dated the 11th August 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Walter Blundell at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th
August 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 consists in the use and employment of an apparatus con-
structed upon the principle of an ordinary refrigerator, and the principal
features of novelty in this Invention consist in causing the liquid of any

page_text: known freezing mixture to flow or circulate through a bladder attached to the
apparatus, said bladder being employed in the manner and for the purpose
herein-after stated. It would be well here to observe that I am aware of a
mode having heretofore been employed for benumbing the sense of feeling at
any desired part of the human body, for the purpose of facilitating surgical
operations and rendering them less objectionable than heretofore, and such
benumbing operation has been partially effected by the application of a cold
fluid to the part to be benumbed, for the purpose of absorbing the heat from
such part. The objection to this mode of operating is, that as soon as the
temperature of the cooling fluid becomes raised to that of the part to which it
is applied, it ceases to produce any further effect until a fresh quantity of
cooling fluid is applied, and therefore only partially benumbs the part, and
does not, therefore, effect the desired object. And I obviate this objection
and render perfect the benumbing operation by so arranging and constructing
the
part
which contains the cooling fluid, as that the said fluid is kept con-
tinually circulating through the same, and therefore has the effect of carrying
off the heat from the part to which it is applied as fast it is absorbed by the
fluid, and thereby produces the desired benumbing effect most perfectly. Tho
nature of this Invention will, however, be more fully ascertained by the
following description of the apparatus which I employ for effecting the above-
mentioned purposes.
DESCRIPTION OF THE APPARATUS.
I construct a vessel of gutta percha or other light waterproof material, into
which I place salt and ice, or other known freezing mixture, the ice resting
upon a perforated or inner false bottom, placed at a convenient distance from
the lower part or outer bottom of the 'said vessel, thus forming a chamber, into
which the freezing mixture passes as it becomes liquified, and there is a cock
affixed to the bottom of the aforesaid vessel for regulating the discharge of the
liquid contents thereof, which pass through a piece of vulcanized india-rubber
tubing, one end of which is securely fixed to the aforesaid cock, and the other
and opposite end of said tube is securely fixed to a small silver pipe'; one end
of this pipe is soldered to a circular. flat piece of silver, the under side whereof
has a screw or thread formed thereon, upon which fits a silver ring, and to this
ring a piece of bladder (by preference the bladder from a rabbit) is securely
fastened and made water tight in any convenient manner.
In some cases,
however, I propose employing a piece of metal instead of the above-mentioned
bladder, and upon, the upper side of the before-mentioned circular piece of

page_text: silver there is soldered one end of another short silver pipe, similar in all
respects to that before mentioned, and to this last-mentioned pipe one end of a
piece of vulcanized india-rubber tubing of smaller diameter than that before
mentioned is affixed, and to the other and opposite end of said tubing a small
silver cock is securely affixed, said cock being employed for discharging into
any convenient receptacle the liquid from the vessel containing the freezing
mixture. The mode of using this apparatus is as follows: Supposing it; for
example, to be used by a dentist, the operator opens the large cock and fills
the bag with the freezing liquid; he then applies the bag to the tooth to be
extracted, and pressing it against the gum at such part, holds it there, and
opening the small cock slightly, allows the freezing fluid to flow or circulate
through the bag, and thus carry off the heat from the particular part of the
gum to which it is applied as fast as it is absorbed by the liquid, and it is this
peculiar mode of absorbing the heat continuously which effects the perfect
benumbing of the part to which it is applied; and thus constitutes this Invention.
It is to be understood that the coldness of the fluid in the bag will depend in
a great measure upon the velocity with which it passes through the bag,
which may
be easily regulated by the operator pressing the tube between his
thumb and fingers. The shape and size of the bag will also depend upon
the purpose for which it is required, and must be constructed accordingly.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Walter Blundell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th February 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 Eleventh day of August, 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

page_text: vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF 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 consists in the use and employment of an apparatus con-
structed upon the principle of an ordinary refrigerator, and the principal
features of novelty of my said Invention consist in causing a liquid, cooled by
ice, or any known freezing mixture, to flow or circulate through a piece of metal,
bladder, oil'd silk, membrane, or other material of suitable character, attached to
the apparatus, said piece of metal or bladder or other material being employed
in the manner and for the purpose herein-after stated. It would be well here
to observe that I am aware of a mode having heretofore been employed for
benumbing the sense of feeling at any desired part of the human body, for the
purpose of facilitating surgical operations and rendering them less objectionable
than heretofore, and such benumbing operation has been partially effected by
the application of a cold fluid to the part to be benumbed, for the purpose of
absorbing the heat from such part. The objection to this mode of operating is,
that as soon as the temperature of the cooling fluid becomes raised to that of
the part to which it is applied, it ceases to produce any further effect until a
fresh quantity of cooling fluid is applied, and therefore only partially benumbs
the part, and does not, therefore, so perfectly effect the desired object. And I
obviate this objection and render perfect the benumbing operation by so
arranging and constructing the part which contains the cooling fluid, as that
the said fluid is kept continually circulating through the same, and therefore
has the effect of carrying off the heat from the part to which it is applied as
fast as it is absorbed by the fluid, and thereby produces the desired benumbing
effect most perfectly.
In order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible, I now

page_text: to pracucal enect, rererence being to the mustrative Drawing nereumo
annexed, and to the numeral figures and letters of reference marked thereon
respectively, as follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of an apparatus constructed
according to my said Invention, shewing the general arrangement and disposi-
tion of the parts when ready for use. Figures 2 and 3 are detached parts of
the apparatus drawn to an enlarged scale. 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 a metal vessel or refrigerator, constructed with an inner case B
and false bottom C; the space between the inner and outer case I fill with char-
coal, wool, or other substance which is a good non-conductor of heat, and at the
centre of the false bottom C, I form a hole and insert and connect a short piece
of tube a therein, and upon the said tube I place and connect a perforated
tube of metal D, so that when the salt and ice or other freezing mixture is
placed within the vessel A, the liquid portion thereof only shall pass into the
space which is below the false bottom C, from whence it passes by a cock E
into and through a piece of elastic tubing F, one end of which is affixed to
said cock, and to the other end of such said tubing I connect one or other of
the pieces exhibited at Figures 2 and 3, that is to say; if the apparatus is
required to be used in performing dental operations, I employ the piece
exhibited at Figure 3, the construction of which is as follows:-I form a hollow
piece of metal G into a kind of horse-shoe shape, so as to cover or press against
the tooth and gum, and the parts G, I coat or cover with any substance which
is a good non-conductor of heat. I also form apertures at opposite sides of the
piece G, into which I insert and fix pieces of rigid tubing i, k, and to one of
these pieces of tubing I connect the aforesaid long tube F, and thus I establish
a communication between the pieco G and the vessel A; and to the piece k I
affix another piece of elastic tubing H, same being furnished at its opposite end
with a cock I, for discharging (into any convenient receptacle, as at K,) the
liquid as it passes from the vessel A through the piece G. I would remark
that in order to effect a more perfect adaptation of the parts g, g, of the piece G
to the inequalities of the tooth and gum, propose to line such part either
with gold, silver, or other suitable metallic foil, or a semi-fluid amalgam, and
with the apparatus thus constructed I operate in the following manner :-
I

page_text: The operator first opens the cock E, so as to fill the piece G with the cooled
liquid; he then applies the part g of the piece G to the tooth which is to be
extracted, and pressing it upon the tooth holds it there, and then opens the
cock I slightly, so as to allow the cooled liquid to flow gently through the
piece G (at the commencement of the benumbing operation), so as to absorb
the heat gradually from the tooth and gum at such part, and continues opening
the cock I at such intervals of time as he finds it desirable, so as to encrease
the velocity at which the cooled liquid passes through the piece G, and con-
sequently encreasing gradually the intensity of the cold at such part; thus it
will be seen that as the cooled liquid flows through the piece G, it will be
.continually absorbing the heat from the region of the tooth, the liquid passing
off by the aforesaid cock I into any convenient receptacle; and it is this
peculiar method of absorbing the heat continuously, as above stated, which
effects the perfect benumbing of the part to which it is applied. It is to be
understood that the degree of coldness of the fluid in the piece G will depend
in a great measure upon the velocity with which said fluid passes through the
said piece, which may.be easily regulated by the operator pressing the tube F
between his thumb and fingers. And in applying my said Invention for the
purpose of benumbing in the performance of surgical operations generally, I
employ in lieu of the piece G before mentioned, pieces of ivory, bone, or metal
L, L, of the shape exhibited at Figure 2, or of other convenient form, to which
I affix a piece of bladder M or other material (and I have found the bladder
of a rabbit answer well), and I connect the pieces L, L, respectively to the
tubes F and H, so that in using the same, the bladder M or other material,
when filled with cooled liquid, is applied to the part to be operated upon, the
size of such said bladder or other material being proportioned to the part to
which it is to be applied. It will, therefore, be found desirable in practice
to have these parts of the apparatus formed of different sizes, and I also
in some cases prefer employing this bladder or other material, instead of
the piece G for dental operations. And I would here remark that as in
practice I have found the above mode of benumbing the sense of feeling
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, to remedy this by constructing the
apparatus upon the principle contained in a subsequent Provisional Specifi-
cation of a Patent, applied for by me, the said Walter Blundell, on the

page_text: Twenty-fifth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four,
and numbered 2,494.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention of
an improved mode of treating and 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, and in
what manner the same is to be and may be performed, I would remark, in
conclusion, that what I claim is, the use and employment of an apparatus
constructed as above described, or any modified form thereof, so long as the
same principle of construction is maintained, i.e., the continuous flow of a
liquid, cooled by ice or any known freezing mixture, into and through one or
more picces of metal G, or bladder M, or other material, shewn at Figures 2
and 3, so as to effect and maintain continuous absorption of heat from the
part to which it is applied, for the purpose of benumbing the sense of feeling
at such part, as above more particularly described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Walter Blundell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
0 Witness,
J. RICHARD QUINTON,
1, Pavilion Colonade,
Brighton.
WALTER BLUNDELL. (L.B.)