By Laetitia
Seemingly nightmarish, medical tools from the 1800s are
something that you’d think would only come from the wildest imaginations.
However, many of them, when you learn what they are used for, lose their
nightmarish qualities, and you can actually see similarities between modern
tools and their ancestors.
Given the opportunity to return to Lang Pioneer Village, I
was excited to say the least. One of my most vivid childhood memories involves
wandering the streets of the village, awestruck at the history surrounding me.
It was like Disneyland, but even better, because it was real.
Poking through the archives, I stumbled upon a pair of
forceps, and due to their strange shape and similarity to modern tools, was
fascinated. After taking a couple of pictures and spending time researching, I
discovered that they are the bullet removing forceps. A subcategory of hemostats,
they were used to control bleeding and remove bullets. They became popular
particularly in North America during the American civil war.
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| The 'toothed' edge of the clamp allowed a firm grasp on tissue, however, the cupped end allowed grasping of the bullet for removal |
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| Scissor-like operation made them easy to manipulate in surgery |
The second tool I found was odd, to say the least. Its purpose unknown to the staff at Lang, it was surrounded by speculated uses. Due to its odd shape, it took much research to discover what it could possibly be. It was discovered to be a bullet probe, used by doctors to locate and manipulate the position of a bullet in surgery to allow removal.
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| Bullet probe |
The tool had interchangeable heads, allowing the doctor to determine the best possible size and shape for the situation and bullet in question.
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| Interchangeable 'heads' of the probe, which could be stored in the handle |
The use of the bullet probes first really became popular
during the American civil war, and the tool likely migrated north. Some were
designed particularly for use with lead bullets, as the heads were made of
porcelain, which would be left marked by the lead for more precise
understanding of the location of the bullet.
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| Porcelain-tipped bullet probe |
The final tool I discovered was the one that seemed the most innocuous, but upon research was revealed to be possibly the scariest instrument; the “tonsil guillotine”. Used to complete tonsillectomies, these had a sharp, changeable end that could be used to sever the infected tonsils. This appears to be the reusable part of a push blade tonsil guillotine, which was first invented in 1827 by doctor Philip Syng Physick.
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| Partial tonsil guillotine |
Tonsillectomies can be traced all the way back to 1000 BC, however became much more popular in the 1800s. Unlike today, only part of the tonsil were removed. This frequently led to further obstructions and problems. However, towards the close of the 1800s, doctors discovered ways to handle post-operative bleeding and the complete removal of the tonsil became much more popular. Today, some of the tools used during tonsillectomies are believed to be modeled after the tonsil guillotine.
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| A complete tonsil guillotine Source: http://object-ivity.com/collection/function/cutting/tonsil-guillotine-2/ |
Medicine in the 1800s certainly wasn’t what it is today, however it was revolutionary for its time. A shift into modern ideals and scientific reasoning, it, being the procedures, tools and doctors medicine was comprised of, is the reason that medicine is what we know today. Without the discoveries and inventions of the medical field in the 1800s, we would not be as cutting edge as we are today.
Laetitia is a grade 11 student at Trinity College School and guest writer for the Museum.