Description

 The classic 19th-century sick siphon is essentially a hollow tube that acts as a straw. Silver appears to have been the most commonly used material. We have one up on Fleaglass. This one has a couple of unusual  features. For one thing it is fabricated from Ebonite (also known as “Vulcanite”: a hard rubber made by means of vulcanization). It’s most unusual feature  is its mechanism. Internally, it has  a valve consisting of a tiny Ebonite rod that drops down, closing off the flow, when the feeder is held vertically, When the slide on the tube is closed, the user can, through suction, lift the rod and get liquid flowing into the mouth. When the slide is opened the rod drops down, closing off the flow. Presumably, this allowed the user, or  caregiver, to stop the flow without removing the device from the mouth. Why this is more efficient than simply removing the syphon from the mouth probably accounts for great rarity of this device.