The next time you hear someone hark
on about the 'good old days', simply
mention two words: 'early' and
'medicine'. Nothing divides the world
of today from that of the pre-modern
age than the incredible advances
made in medicine and surgery seen
in the past 200 years.
Before the modern era, to be
seriously ill was to enter a world of
almost unimaginable pain, misery
and often grotesque medical
ignorance. The diseases were bad
enough, but the treatments were
often far worse.
www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/
broughttolife

British 18th century bleeding bowl:
Bloodletting was once used to treat
just about every illness. This bowl
has a scale marked in fluid ounces to
measure how much blood had been
let out of the patient. And as barbers
were once surgeons, the running
blood was marked by their red-
striped poles
This terrifying era has been brought
to life with a new online exhibition,
courtesy of the Science Museum in
London, in which more than 2,500
objects from medicine's dark past
are on display.
The surgical instruments, documents,
medical teaching aids and scientific
equipment form part of the much
larger collection amassed by Sir
Henry Wellcome (1853-1936), a vast
array of objects dating from antiquity
to the 20th century.

2..LITHOTOMY CRUTCH: 19TH
CENTURY
The removal of bladder stones was
one of the most terrifying procedures
in the pre-anaesthesia age, in which
the patient would be trussed up like
a chicken, held down by this device
with their ankles around their ears
while the surgeon sliced into the
delicate tissues between their legs to
remove the offending stone

3..,THREE WAX LEGS SHOWING ULCERS
CAUSED BY SYPHILIS: GERMANY,
18TH CENTURY
Would these gruesome wax models
showing the effects of syphilis on the
legs make you think twice about
having sex? That was their intention
when they were made in 1910.
Painter Leonce Schiffmann used
them for a touring anatomy
exhibition in the Twenties. Doctors
and public health officials claimed
that the spread of this sexually
transmitted disease would be halted
only when the public knew about its
consequences and means of
prevention

5..GERMAN AMPUTATION KNIFE
This 18th century instrument allowed
a skilled surgeon to remove a leg,
above the knee, in less than a
couple of minutes - though without
anaesthetic it must have seemed like
an eternity to the patient. As
techniques became more refined,
shorter, straighter knives were used
to allow the surgeon to peel back a
flap of skin to close the wound over
the stump. Small pincers were used
to trim and smooth the edge of the
sawn-off bone, to prevent the
serrations tearing into the healing
flesh

Now what could this be?

BRITISH ANTI-MASTURBATION
DEVICE, LATE 19TH CENTURY
In the West, until quite recently,
masturbation, particularly among
males, was thought to rob the body
of vital fluids and energy. This model
was worn as a codpiece and was
designed to be worn under clothes.
.
I 'm sure Nigerian ladies would mind if these device was created with locks specifications for their promiscuous boyfriends.

ARTIFICIAL EYES JUGUM PENIS
These were likely to be carried by an
eye specialist or artificial eye maker
to help them find the best match to
the patient's remaining eye. In the
1940s, glass was replaced by plastic.
Many artificial eyes ended up in
railway lost-property offices

17TH CENTURY BOW-FRAMED
AMPUTATION SAW
The best surgeons became rich and
liked to spend a lot of money on
beautifully made, highly decorated
instruments, such as this ebony-
handled, gold-inlaid device.
Unfortunately, all this intricacy
provided an ideal environment in
which germs could flourish. Few
surgeons bothered even to wash
their instruments between operations

FRENCH 16TH C BULLET EXTRACTOR
DOMESTIC ENEMA MACHINE: 1830s
Special instruments for removing
bullets came into use in the early
1500s as firearms became more
sophisticated. Extractors like this one
have a hollow rod which contains a
screw that can be lengthened or
shortened by turning the handles to
remove the bullet