Images(3)

Bleeding-Set

Date1750-1850

MediumBrass

DimensionsObject/Work: 70 x 53 x 45 mm

ClassificationsScience/Medicine

Terms

Object numberC13415

DescriptionA silver mounted, red leather case, containing a set of three colourless cupping glasses, a mechanical skin cutter known as a "scarificator" and a set of spare blades. Made by Joseph Laundy, 2 St Thomas' street, Borough.

A scarificator is a series of protractable blades operated by a lever, which creates a series of parallel cuts. The knob on the side adjusted the cutting depth. The scarificator was designed in the 1700s as a more humane and controlled instrument for bloodletting.

Cupping was an ancient medical practice used to draw blood to the surface of the skin. The cup was placed on the patient's skin with some tow or lint lit inside it, which produced a vacume and sucked the skin into the cup. This was thought to be therapeutic.

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