Specification of Charles William Graham : obtaining casts of anatomical and other subjects.

  • Graham, Charles William.
Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of Charles William Graham : obtaining casts of anatomical and other subjects. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Grahams Improvements in Making Pathological, Qc. Representations. NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Charles William Graham, do hereby declare that the nature of the said In¬ vention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:— 5 The Invention has for its object the Manufacture of Representations in relief of Pathological, Anatomical, Zoological, Geological, Botanical and Mineralogical Subjects, and arranging them for use, and consists of certain means and materials hereafter described for obtaining casts, which may be painted to represent the natural objects from which the same have been taken 10 writh great exactness, the composition and materials used offer strength with lightness and impermeability to moisture, and are not liable to be injuriously acted on by varied temperatures or by climate. Hence the study of pathology and anatomy may be facilitated as subjects; these branches of science may be cast and painted from nature, and numerous copies obtained at comparatively 15 small cost, representing the various stages of a disease with great exactness. The Invention is applicable not only to representations of anatomical subjects, but also to those of zoological, geological, botanical, and mineralogical subjects. And in order that the Invention may be most fully understood and readly carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted 20 with for carrying it out. In the first place, accurate moulds are to be obtained from the subject intended to be copied or represented in relief; this I believe to be best accomplished by means of plaster of Paris and although persons accustomed to take moulds in plaster of Paris will readily perform that operation where 25 the subject or thing to be copied is of a hard and resisting character, yet as the taking of casts from delicate and tender surfaces (such as are some¬ times required to be copied, particularly in pathological and anatomical pursuits) is a matter of some difficulty, I will shortly explain the means resorted to by me in such cases. The surface of the diseased part which is to be 30 copied is, by means of a camel’s hair pencil, to be very slightly covered with sweet oil, and in cases when the surface is too weak for such process, or partially fluid, such as ulcerous parts, the same are first covered with a fine skin, such as is used by goldbeaters; over this skin the oil is brushed lightly, and then, by means of a camel’s hair brush, I apply plaster of Paris mixed very ^ fluid, and tinted with yellow ocre, applying only a very thin coat, and allowing the same to set, a second coat of plaster of less fluid is then applied, and when that is set a third or thick coating of plaster is applied. I would remark that it will be found that when the plaster has arrived at a certain degree