18th Century Spring Lancet- Mansfield, CT
During the earliest days of the Revolutionary War, men were organized across 13 colonies to form the Continental Army. This also included 1400 medical professionals with experience ranging from apprentice to established physician. Despite this new precedent in military medicine, many doctors still performed procedures, like bloodletting, that had dangerous implications.
Influential doctors John Hunter and Benjamin Rush championed bloodletting as a cure or preventative treatment for inflammation (fever, hypertension, etc.) Physicians were trained to drain the blood using lancets- a small scalpel for cutting superficial vessels. But opinions varied as to how often bloodletting should be done in a single day. Hunter recorded 210 ounces of blood over a six day period, while Rush would repeatedly drain blood within 72 hours.
Physicians preferred the spring lancet for its ability to control the depth and pressure of the incision. Although these devices were originally invented in Germany, it is unclear if spring lancets were imported or regional produced in the U.S. The example above may have been a one-of-a-kind spring lancet made by Benjamin Hanks and given to Justus Storrs. The Hanks family were well known for their mechanical silk production, but Benjamin continued his career as a clockmaker. When the Connecticut Line formed within the Continental Army, Storrs signed up to be a surgeons mate and may have brought his own tools in preparation for battle.
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