Twelve-blade brass scraificator with oval blades; stars on body indicate correct reorientation of parts after blade change.
Number Of Parts
1
Provenance
Acquired from the Academy of Medicine; source: Dr. J.R. Langstaff.
Dates
1780
1860
circa 1780-1860
Material
metal: yellow
Permanent Location
Storage Room 0010
0010-D6-5
Temporary Location
On exhibit “Custodial to Curative Care: Rockwood and the Evolution of Mental Health Treatment” at Museum of Health Care, 30 June 2023.
Unit Of Measure
centimeters
Dimension Notes
Length 4.5 cm x Width 4.0 cm x Depth 7.0 cm
Condition Remarks
Tarnished
Copy Type
Original
Research Facts
An instrument for making superficial cuts in the skin; especially: one containing several lancets moved by a spring.
By the 19th century, the scarificator was an essential tool in the practice of bloodletting. First developed in the early 1700s as a more humane and efficient bloodletting instrument than lancets and fleams, scarificators had multiple blades that shot out with the press of a spring-loaded lever creating an instantaneous series of parallel cuts in the skin of the patient. Scarificators could be square or round in shape, but by 1790, octagonal boxes such as this one was favoured in Britain and North America.