LETTERS PATENT FOR "FUNIS CLAMPS," INCLUDING A WORKING EXAMPLE OF THE CLAMP AND PAPERS SUBMITTED TO THE DOMINION OF CANADA BY CHARLES E. ZIEGLER OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA MAY 17, 1938
Ottawa, Canada: Patent Office, 1938. Oblong paper wrappers, 36 x 22 cm., [1], 1-13, [7] pp., plus one printed page of drawings (some damping to bottom margin of the page), to accompany the specifications referred to in the text. Printed letter of patent, No. 373885, on front cover, signed (?) by J.T. Mitchell, Commissioner of Patents for the Dominion of Canada. Typescript description of Dr. Ziegler's invention, printed rectos only, signed by Ziegler on the last page of text. Hole-punched at left margin and bound with green ribbon affixed to the front cover with the red seal of the Canadian Patent Office. Creased vertically to fit into the accompanying printed patent envelope (open at both ends, chipped and worn) noting that the duration of the patent was for seventeen years. Accompanied by a metal working model of the clamp and five silver print images of the device, plus one pencil sketch, printed on stiff card stock, 27 x 37 cm., protected with a tissue guard (torn, some foxing to board and guard).
The funis clamp was a device used to clamp the umbilical cord of an infant at birth. Dr. Ziegler, inventor of a previous version used for this purpose, via his U.S. patent granted in January 1923, here materially changes the device to eliminate the rubber annulus and create a clamp "of simple construction, sturdy, and [which] can be quickly and easily applied to and removed from the cord, which does not deteriorate with use, which can be readily and thoroughly sterilized by boiling...." Item #71018
Dr. Charles Edward Ziegler (1871-1950), writer, teacher, inventor, and surgeon, was known as the "Father of Obstetrics" in Pittsburgh, according to his obituary in the Pittsburgh Press, published on April 27, 1950. He was a graduate of Dickinson College, and the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. The article mentions his invention of "the widely-used umbilical cord clamp bearing his name." He helped refurbish Pittsburgh's Elizabeth Steel Magee Hospital, becoming its first medical director in 1911, and making it into one of the top maternity hospitals in America. He was the author of several articles, including one entitled "The Elimination of the Midwife," published in 1912.
Price: $450.00