SPOON FOR ADMINISTERING MEDICINE
The Silver Isis Medal was presented to Mr. G. Gibson, 71, Bishopsgate Street, for a Spoon for administering Medicine, which has been placed in the Society's Repository.
In administering medicine in an open spoon to fractious children or to insane persons, part of it is often lost from the struggles of the patient. To remedy this inconvenience, and thus to bring the quantity of medicine given to greater certainty, Mr. Gibson has invented a covered spoon, represented in fig. 12, Plate I.
The bowl of the spoon is covered, except just at the extremity w, where there is an orifice for the discharge of the fluid ; in the cover is a flap t, with a hinge, which is opened in order to pour in the medicine; the handle v is round and perforated, opening externally, and also into the bowl. In order to use it, the medicine is to be poured into the bowl, and the spoon is so to be held in the hand that the thumb may cover the hole at the end of the handle, and two of the fingers may press against the disk u, so as to have a firmer hold; the spoon is then to be thrust sufficiently far into the patient's mouth, the thumb is to 'be withdrawn, and the pressure of the air will immediately force the medicine out of the spoon into the patient's throat.
Source: Transactions of the Society - Royal Society of Arts - 1828
It frequently happens that children cannot be persuaded to take medicines; and instances have occurred, and one of them within my own knowledge, in which the little invalids have fallen victims to the disease, from a reluctance to employ force in administering the medicines to a sick child. To enable medicines to be given, in such cases, with as little force as possible, the author suggested a Medicinal-spoon, which is now very generally employed for administering medicines to children*; and it answers equally well for insane persons, when they refuse to take food or medicines. It consists of a spoon (a), with a
hollow handle (d), opening at the top (e), and also into the bowl of the spoon, which is covered with a hinged lid (c), but is open at the apex (b). The spoon is made in the form of a wedge, in order to force the teeth apart when resistance is made to its introduction into the mouth; and it is rounded at the corners to avoid injuring the tongue and gums. When any fluid is poured into the spoon, and the lid shut down, the pressure of the atmosphere upon the fluid, at the opening (d), near the apex, prevents it from running out of the spoon, as long as the orifice at the upper end of the handle is firmly compressed by the thumb of any person; but as soon as the thumb is removed, the fluid is projected with considerable force from the spoon. When the spoon is to be used, the head of the child must be steadied by an attendant, who should also compress the nostrils, which obliges the mouth to be opened for the facility of breathing. The spoon (a) is then introduced into the mouth of the child by another person holding it in one hand, in the manner represented in the cut (b c), and at the same time keeping down the arms of the child with his other hand. The back of the spoon is then to be gently pressed upon the tongue, and the thumb (c) being removed from the opening of the
handle, the air rushes in, and projects the medicines into the gullet, whence it is instantly conveyed into the stomach. It is scarcely necessary to say that this Spoon should be regarded only as the last resort, and should not be employed until the Physician has endeavoured in vain to persuade the little patient to take the medicine by rendering it more palatable, or has substituted another for it.
* The first spoon of this description was made according to the author's directions by Mr. Gibson, a silversmith in the City, who, two or three years afterwards, claimed it as his own invention, and received, as a reward, the gold medal of the Society for the encouragement of Arts; since which time it has been sold as Gibson's Medicinal-spoon. The author mentions this fact, not to obtain for himself any merit for the invention, but to shew the shameless claims which are sometimes set up; and the manner in which Societies, established for the public benefit, are often imposed upon.
Source: The Domestic Management of the Sick-room, Necessary in Aid of Medical Treatment for the Cure of Diseases - Anthony Todd Thomson M.D., F.L.S. - 1841
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