Observations upon the construction and use of the respirator : an instrument for facilitating respiration, to be worn on the face by persons suffering from coughs, consumption, asthma, and other affections of the chest / [Julius Jeffreys].
- Date:
- 1836
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations upon the construction and use of the respirator : an instrument for facilitating respiration, to be worn on the face by persons suffering from coughs, consumption, asthma, and other affections of the chest / [Julius Jeffreys]. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
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![breath. It must, therefore, pass tluougli a third still cooler layer, and, for the same reason, tlu-ough several. In practice, six or eight will not prove too many for the fullest effect in cold weather. In this series of laminae, each is warmer than the one in front of it, from the exterior one, which is nearly of the temperatm*e of the atmosphere, to the innermost one, which is perhaps within ten or fifteen degrees of the tempera- tiue of the breath. These laminae would not remain one instant of time at so different states as to heat, if they were placed in contact with each other. In order to preserve the progressive difference in their stocks of heat, they must be kept apart; and it will be foimd, that during the short period of one respiration, a very small separation ndll suffice for the purpose. An inten-al for each of one-sixteenth of an inch, including the metal, is more than enough; tlie whole six or eight layers may therefore lie in less than half an inch. Tliese plates having been wanned during an act of expiration, and being each wanner and warmer as they lie nearer the mouth, are enabled to give heat in the most advantageous manner to the fresh air entering from udthout, which takes u]) a parcel of heat in traversing each; since, although it grows more and more warm, it is srue to find every j)late it comes to warmer than itself, which is, of com-se, a relative conchtion necessary for the communication of heat to the air. While these lammsp of metal warm the inhaled air, they lessen also the chyness of it, ^vhich proves irritating to many consump- tive persons. This is effected with the minute deposit of moistiue from the breath, which takes place during expira- tion. The instnunent is so contrived, that most of this is spontaneously drawn off by a small sponge contained in a receptacle below, but a sufficient quantity of moistiue remains to render the air bland. In completing such an instrument, all that remains to be done is to enclose it in a frame suited to its operation and adapted to the part of the face it is to be applied to. It may be kept in its place by elastic bands miited at the back of the head. Such an instrument is the Respiilvtoii, which the inventor has now the honor to introduce to the notice of the profession and the public. So far as he is aware, it has but one defect, which rather concerns the directors of fashion than the phy- sician ; namely, the unusual appearance it will at first present on the face. This may operate, for'a time, to check the use of it abroad during the day, but not after custom has rendered](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21948525_0008.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
