A multitude of bloodletting devices were developed including the scarifier, the spring lancet and the "Lebenswecker" shown here. The lancet was used in venesection, or the taking of blood from a vein; fortunately, this practice disappeared in the mid 19th century. These blades and needles were typically applied to the skin by barber surgeons, while "cupping" and the application of leeches were sometimes performed by members of the household.

Not surprisingly, patients were sometimes bled to extreme weakness or death. In spite of some opposition, bloodletting was an accepted practice from the time of Galen through the early 20th century.

7. From left to right: Baunscheidt's Lebenswecker, mid 19th - early 20th century; Spring lancet and case, 19th century. Donated by Mrs. Dorothy Ressler. Scarifier, c. 1840-80. Donated by Mrs. D. O. Bovenmyer.

8. Portrait of Galen. Wellcome Portraits of Doctors and Scientists in the Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine: A Catalogue. Ed. Renate Burgess, 1973.

9. Spring lancet and case, 19th century. Donated by Mrs. Dorothy Ressler.

10. Veins of the arm according to William Harvey, Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus. Heirs of Hippocrates, 1980. Hardin Library for the Health Sciences, The University of Iowa.