AN IMPROVED MANU- FACTURE OF PROTECTOR, APPLICABLE TO THE CHEST, THROAT, AND OTHER PARTS OF THE BODY REQUIRING PROTECTION FROM THE COLD
Year: 1855

page_text: Sealed the 26th November 1855, and dated the 14th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Dewdney at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
September 1855.
I, GEORGE DEWDNEY, of Fenchurch Street, in the City of London, Jeweller,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MANU-
FACTURE OF PROTECTOR, APPLICABLE TO THE CHEST, THROAT, AND OTHER PARTS OF THE
BODY REQUIRING PROTECTION FROM THE COLD," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to provide a means of generating local heat.
at such parts of the body as are specially susceptible of cold, and thereby of
preventing or removing bronchitis, soreness of the chest, lumbago, and other
like affections. For this purpose I construct a protector, composed of two,
three, or more layers of ribbed silk, sewn or otherwise connected together at
one edge, and cut to a form suited to the part to be protected from the cold,
and to these layers I attach a band or strap for securing the protector to the
body of the patient. The friction of these layers of silk upon each other,

page_text: caused by the movements of the patient, will generate and maintain a gentle
heat, which will be communicated to the part of the body covered by the
protector, and a beneficial effect will soon be perceived by the patient. When
it is found no longer necessary to wear the protector, its use may be discon-
tinued gradually by removing at stated periods, say, one layer of silk from the
protector, and thus reducing its bulk until its action is inappreciable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Dewdney in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DEWDNEY, of Fenchurch Street, in the City of London, Jeweller, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Dewdney. Her special license that I, the said George Dewdney,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Dewdney, 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 MANU-
FACTURE OF PROTECTOR, APPLICABLE TO THE CHEST, THROAT, AND OTHER PARTS OF
THE BODY REQUIRING PROTECTION FROM THE COLD," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Dewdney, 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 George Dewdney, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: The object of this Invention is to provide a means of generating local heat
at such parts of the body as are specially susceptible of cold, and thereby to
prevent or remove the tendency to bronchitis, soreness of the chest, lumbago,
and other like affections. For this purpose I construct protectors, by connecting
together two, three, or more layers of silk in such a manner as will permit of
their sliding or slipping over each other when worn by the patient, and thus
of generating and maintaining a gentle heat, which will be communicated to
the part of the body covered by the protector.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn two forms of protector, which
will suffice to explain the modifications of which my Invention is susceptible.
Fig. 1 represents a lady's chest protector, constructed to be worn with a low
dress; and Fig. 2 represents it as applied to the person. It consists of a
base a, a, of stout silk, provided with armlets for keeping it in position when
worn. Overlying this base a are several layers of silk b, which are temporarily
attached thereto by means of buttons and button-holes, or they may be sewn
thereto, if thought desirable, by a row of stitches running along their upper
edge. The advantage of the temporary attachment is, that the thickness of
the protector may be varied at pleasure; and thus, when no longer required for
sanatory use, the protector, instead of being suddenly thrown aside (which
might subject the patient to a renewed attack of cold), may be removed layer
by layer at different and distant periods, by which means the diminution of
local warmth will be rendered so gradual as to be scarcely, if at all, appreciable.
The layers of silk 6 may be two, three, or more in number, according to
requirement, and being free to slide over each other, as explained, the move-
ments of the wearer will give motion to the layers, and cause their surfaces to
rub against each other, and thus create considerable frictional heat or electricity
which will be imparted to the body.
Fig. 3 represents a gentleman's chest and throat protector. In this example
the layers of silk b, b, are sewn to a band a, which passes round the neck of the
patient, and is secured by a button or otherwise. Above the band is a sort of
frill c, composed of several thicknesses of silk, and intended to form a loose
covering for the throat. The action of this protector will be the same as that
first described. If thought desirable it may be made with detachable layers
of silk b, and it also admits of being made without the addition of the frill c.
A covering simply for the throat inay be made on the principle of attaching
leaves or layers of silk loosely together; and so also may protectors, constructed
and acting upon the principle above explained, be applied to the lumbar
region, or other parts of the body which may require protection or additional

page_text: heat. The shape of the protectors must of course be determined in every case
by the locality to be protected from cold.
Having now set forth the nature and object of my Invention of "an improved
manufacture of protector for the chest, throat, and other parts of the body,"
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
combining of layers or leaves of silk together, in the manner and for the
purpose above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Dewdney, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twelfth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
GEORGE DEWDNEY. (L.S.)