CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON BRIDLES FOR HORSES, WHICH I DENOMINATE THE PHILANTHROPIC BRIDLE
Year: 1818

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I WILLIAM
FINCH, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, gentleman, send Greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, Twelfth day of October, day,
of fifty-eighth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said William Finch,
my exors, adñiors, and assigns, His special licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I; the said William Finch, my exors, adññiors, and assigns,
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed; my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS ON BRIDLES FOR HORSES,
WHICH I DENOMINATE THE PHILANTHROPIC BRIDLE;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso, that if I, the said William Finch, shall not par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my,
hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent and all liberties
and advantages whatsoever thereby granted shall utterly cease, determine, and
become void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, may more
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Finch, do hereby declare that my said Invention of an improvement

page_text: in bridles for horses, which I call a philanthropic bridle, was never before
made to the best of my knowledge and belief.
The principal on which my Invention was founded is as follows, and as is
more fully shewn by the Drawings hereto annexed:-In the the place of
a snaffle bridle bit, or any other bit or bradoon now in use, or in addition
to such bit or bits now in use, I make use of a bit made tube fashion, thereby
to admit, by means of side tubes, connected therewith, as hereafter explained,
the supplying, feeding, or nourishing the horse with water or any other liquor
during his labor either as a saddle horse, or carriage horse, or any draught
horse whatever. The said bit so tube-fashioned may be made of any outward
form, and of any metal, as has been the custom of the trade to make use of.
The bit, made of whatever outward form or of whatever substance, the same
being made in a hollow form or in a tube fashion is the Invention I lay claim
to. The tube or tubes for containing the water or other liquor are connected
to the bit by soldering, by screw, or in any other way to the bit, so that when
joined together the same are as one water-tight tube on each side of the horse's
neck when the same is for the use of coach or draught. horses; and for saddle
horses the same or such like tubes to be made of tin or other metal, with or
without a covering of leather, or other coating, and may be supported by neck
or head straps or collars as may be best approved. The length and size in
diameter of the tubes may be of various dimensions, according to the size
of the horse, or as best approved by the owner to regulate the quantity
of water or other liquor to drop into the horse's mouth, according to the
number of miles the horse travels for a stage. For bits. made without a joint
in the mouth-piece one drop hole only is necessary, and for bits with a joint in
the mouth-piece two drop holes, as near to the centre as can be, for the
purpose of cleansing the apparatus; the bits, either with or without a
joint, are in parts screwed, and to fill the tubes the caps on the tops of each
are made to screw off. The terret on the collar to carry the tubes is so
contrived with rollers as to allow for the to-and-fro motion or side motion
of the horse's head, and may be made of any metal, and with or without
ornaments; and a hollow upright screw pin is fixed on the top of a forewale
of a carriage or draught horse collar to raise or regulate the height of the
tubes, to make a proper fall to the horse's mouth, as it may be required,
agreeable to the height each horse may carry his head; and for a saddle horse,
the tubes to be raised by a neck collar, which lays across the neck of the
horse, as is shewn by the Drawings. In the lower end of the tubes is a
sponge placed, which acts as a regulator to ensure the constant dropping
of the liquor, be the motion of the horse of any speed, slow or quick; there is

page_text: also a check piece or stop valve in the middle of the tube to ease the weight
of the liquor, on the tube being fill'd at starting. The bridle is well adapted
for the use of the military in either saddle or artillery horses.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Finch, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the 28th day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighteen.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the First day of December, in the
year of our Lord 1818, the aforesaid William Finch came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according to the tenor of
the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fourth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighteen.