Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and TechnologyDavis, Audrey B.
History
Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology
Davis, Audrey B.
National Museum of History and Technology; Phlebotomy -- History; Phlebotomy -- Instruments -- Catalogs
Charriere's company later employed the coiled springs in the making of a
circular scarificator. The circular scarificators, associated particularly
with French manufacture, were the most elegant of nineteenth-century
scarificators and a fitting complement to the Charriere cupping sets.[149]
They were generally not sold by British and American surgical supply
companies, but a number of them appear to have reached the hands of
American physicians.
In America, there were five patents on scarificators, of which the
Smithsonian possesses three patent models. The most significant American
patent was that of George Tiemann in 1846. Tiemann's scarificator had a
flattened base and an ebony handle, which contained a coiled spring. The
blades were moved by a rack and pinion mechanism, and triggered by a knob
at the end of the handle. The advantages claimed by the inventor were ease
in handling, ease in cleaning, and the diagonal cut of the blades that
allowed the blood to flow more freely and the wounds to heal more readily.
Tiemann & Co. was still selling their patent scarificator as late as 1889
for a price of $7.00.[150] The Smithsonian possesses a marketed version in
addition to the patent model.
The two other patent scarificators in the Smithsonian collection were both
invented by Frederick M. Leypoldt of Philadelphia. The first, patented in
1847, was similar in external appearance to the common scarificator. The
novelty consisted of a new arrangement of the cocking lever and cantilever
spring that allowed use of a lighter and cheaper casing. Although the
patent model was made of brass, Leypoldt claimed that with his
improvements in the internal mechanism, the case could, with safety, be
made of tin.[151]
Leypoldt's second patent, issued in 1851, was for a scarificator with a
greatly simplified inner mechanism allowing for a substantially smaller
and lighter case. The cocking lever was placed horizontally in the casing
and engaged the blade rods through a rack and pinion mechanism. According
to Leypoldt, this scarificator was more convenient, more portable,
cheaper, safer, and more reliable than the common scarificator.[152]
Leypoldt probably marketed his scarificators, there being in the
Smithsonian collection other bloodletting instruments with his name, but
he did not form a major surgical supply company as did George Tiemann.
[Illustration: FIGURE 16.--Advertisement for phlebotomy and cupping
instruments. Note the rubber cups. (From George Tiemann & Co., _American
Armamentarium Chirurgicum_, New York, 1889. SI photo 76-13542.)]
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