From the March 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Each month, we visit Dr. Blaufox’s Museum of Historical Medical Artifacts to take a look back at the medical equipment that cleared the way for what patients encounter in doctors’ offices and operating rooms of today. Some equipment may be recognizable, while other featured inventions have since become obsolete or have had their usefulness discredited.
The picture and description appear courtesy of Dr. M. Donald Blaufox, M.D., Ph.D, from his website: www.mohma.org.
Category: Bleeding and Cupping Pre 19th Century Instruments
Estimated Date: 1800
Name: Horn Cup
This Horn Cup has a diameter of 3” at the wide end and 1.5” at the narrow end. The narrow end is closed off with a piece of leather or parchment that is tied in place. The piece is a companion piece to a bleeder that was acquired with it. Cups were usually made of glass and those made of metal or horn are less common. The cup was applied after heating the air in it so that it created a suction on the skin. Later cups had an outlet for a rubber bulb to create suction or a syringe. The cups could be applied to the dry skin or after an incision was made for bleeding. The technique dates back about 3000 years and was thought to remove toxins from the body.
