ANIMAL-TRAP
A flat wooden base with a spring-actuated wire jaw.
The trap is set by pulling the wire jaw back against a coiled spring and holding it with a locking-bar hooked under a catch on the hinged bait trigger. The mouse touches the trigger to reach the bait, which sits in a recessed opening. The slightest downward pressure releases the locking-bar, and the spring drives the jaw down against the base. A V-shaped bend at the front of the jaw grips the animal and prevents it from being forced outward.
“The spring is of sufficient strength to force the jaw violently against an animal, and the front end 8 of the jaw which is approximately V-shaped is bent downward at an angle to the body of the jaw beyond the base, to form a grip to prevent the animal caught from being forced outward, and to hold the same securely.”— William C. Hooker, from the specification
And the world beat a path to his door.