The Story Before antibiotics and modern dental care, dentists had little choice but to remove a patient’s diseased tooth. The toothkey was developed in the early 18th century for tooth extraction. It consisted of a straight metal shaft with a handle of wood, bone, or ivory set at right angles to the instrument. The working … More Fox’s Toothkey (From the Collection #33)
The Story Advice manuals as a distinct form of literature began appearing as early as the 17th century. William A. Alcott (1798-1859) was a prolific 19th-century advice writer and proponent of vegetarianism with a keen interest in civil, social, moral, and religious reform. He wrote numerous manuals and guides addressing marital, domestic, cultural, financial, and health and … More The Young Husband (From the Collection #31)
The Story Cataracts are an opacity of the eye’s crystalline lens, found behind the pupil. This opacity stops rays of light from reaching the retina, causing blindness. The first recorded cataract surgeries occurred as early as 600 BCE. Couching, a process in which the cataractous crystalline lens is displaced inside the vitreous cavity of the … More Von Graefe’s Cataract Knife (From the Collection #32)
The Story For several thousand years urine was a, if not the, primary body fluid used in medical diagnoses. Physicians relied on their senses to assess patients’ urine and identify their ailments. Most commonly they studied its colour, smell, and amount of sedimentation. Taste could also be employed, but was used less frequently. Uroscopy began … More Urinometer (From the Collection #34)
