Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology

A museum catalog surveys the long history and varied techniques of bloodletting and describes a national museum’s collection of related artifacts. It summarizes historical debates over how much and when to bleed, notes the roles of practitioners, and traces the rise and decline of general and local bloodletting. The study classifies and analyzes instruments — lancets, spring lancets, fleams, scarificators, cupping glasses, leeches and artificial leeches, and veterinary devices — and includes physical analysis, illustrative figures, and a descriptive catalog of specimens.