706 



PATENTS. 



FIG. 7. BATH-LIFT. 



diurn, warmed and prepared to suit, the case, is 

 poured into the stockings, which are then put on 

 and properly secured about the legs. The wearer 

 may then effect a very thorough foot-bath by 

 walking about the room, or otherwise producing 

 the required friction. For travelers or others 

 whose supply of hot water is apt to be limited, 

 this device would seem to be very convenient. 



A Bath Lift. Few of the ordinary opera- 

 tions of hospital practice are more difficult than 

 that of placing a helpless patient in a bath-tub, 

 an operation very often desirable for the sake of 

 prolonged immer- 

 sion Fig. 7 shows 

 a lift invented by 

 S. A. K. Stmhan, 

 M. I)., of England. 

 It is a light but 

 strong metallic 

 frame fitted with 

 ordinary twine 

 netting upon 



which the patient 

 can stretch him- 

 self, or can be laid 

 with comparative 

 ease, and then, by means of the crank, be low- 

 ered into the bath. One attendant can thus 

 bathe a patient who can with difficulty be han- 

 dled by four under ordinary conditions.. When 

 the bath is over, the patient is easily hoisted out 

 of the water, rubbed dry, and prepared for bed. 

 Such an appliance could readily be fitted to a 

 Oath-tub in a private house. 



Operating table for Veterinary Sur- 

 gery. One of the problems that confront the 

 veterinary surgeon is the difficulty of retaining 

 his subject in an accessible position during an 

 operation. The ordinary method of tricing up 

 a horse or an ox by means of wide abdominal 

 support is open to objections, since the animal, 

 when becoming frightened, can struggle and 

 render it almost impossible to secure him 

 properly. Dr. L. A. Anderson, of Cincinnati, 

 has in use a table and appliances at his hospital 

 on which a heavy animal of any kind can be 

 secured and treated without difficulty or danger. 

 The animal is led alongside an object which he 

 might easily mistake for a fence or the side of a 

 barn ; here he is harnessed, in a somewhat novel 

 method to be sure, but in a way not calculated 

 to arouse his suspicions. Several strong, broad 

 bands are passed around the body, and a similar 

 one loosely about the neck, the animal still 

 standing in a natural and unrestrained position. 

 This done, the operator goes to the other side of 

 the table and operates a crank, gently tilting 

 the supposed fence or barn door first to a slight 

 angle and finally to a horizontal position; and 

 the animal may struggle as he will until he finds 

 that such efforts are futile ; usually the patient 

 subsides as soon as he finds himself approaching 

 a horizontal position. 



Rein Grip. Fig. 8 shows a simple, device 

 that will be of interest to every one who has 

 much driving to do. There are already in 

 use many devices to facilitate the firm grip 

 upon the reins, but most of these require some 

 complicated operation before they can be moved 

 back and forward according to the necessities of 

 the case. Elvin L. Smith, of Mansfield, Mass., 



is the inventor. It consists of two similarly 

 shaped cam blocks of a curved or horn-like 

 shape, held together and pivoted upon two 

 simple curved plates, between which the rein 

 passes. The plates are spaced apart by parallel 

 rods, which serve as pivots upon which the cam 

 blocks are hinged. Each rod is surrounded by a 

 spiral spring, one end of each spring being last 

 to the flange of the bracket plate, and the other 

 end fixed in the cam block. The two springs 

 operate in such a way that their strength is 

 exerted to extend the blocks oppositely, causing 

 the bases of the cams to press on both sides of 

 the rein passing between them. When it is in 

 use the fingers naturally press upon the lateral 

 wings, forcing the butts of the cams together 

 firmly upon the rein, but, by a very slight press- 



FIG. 8. REIN GRIP. 



ure exerted without changing the hand, the free 

 ends of the blocks may be folded into the posi- 

 tion shown above, when the rein is released from 

 the grip and the whole appliance may be moved 

 freely forward or back. The grip may be made 

 to embrace two lines as well as one. 



Luminous Keyhole Escutcheon. It is sur- 

 prising that the use of luminous paint for many 

 purposes has not become more general. One of 

 the most common instances where it can be made 

 useful is perhaps on the doors of closets, chests, 

 etc., kept in d3rk places. John E. Fitch, of 

 Albuquerque, N. M., appears for some reason to 

 have been the first to perceive the advantage of 

 a luminous keyhole escutcheon. The merits of 

 such an invention are so clear that it need not 

 be here illustrated. The device has a concave 

 or recessed back, coated with phosphorescent 

 paint and covered with glass; surrounding 

 the phosphorescent paint is a frame completing 

 the escutcheon and making it ornamental. It is 

 well-known that phosphorescent paint when 

 kept for a long time without an opportunity to 

 renew its luminosity by exposure to the sun 

 leses its normal power of emitting light in the 

 dark. Good paint shows readily in the dark for 

 two or three years, and its renewal at the end of 

 that time is b'v no means difficult. 



