Antique Doctor Kits

[Misson]

I found a ship's doctor kit, complete with provenance dating it to the early/mid 1800s on eBay. It's too pricey for my collection and it's a little too far from GaOP, but it's still really neat. It gives a small insight into how ship's surgeon's kits were designed. Check it out here.

[Dutchman]

mission,

have you run across the home physiks book- i thinks thats what its called, i don't have it sitting in front of me. printed in the early 1730's? granted its towards the end of the era, but still full of usefull things and common practices of the day.

as far as the kit, looking at some of the names on the bottles, i wonder whats in the unmarked ones! the box itself is just as interesting. it doesn't look too hard to reproduce. the hard part would be finding the flat recessed handles.

-dutch

[Misson]

I already have a small medicine box; Mary Diamond's father made up the one you see below in my signature in the lower left corner. I do want to eventually make a proper ships surgeon's chest, but descriptions suggest to me that it would be much, much larger than that. John Woodall's period manuscript (The Surgeon's Mate) recommends over 280 different items for making pills, salves and potions, most of which would be housed in the chest. I've also read that the chest was sometimes used to hold up one end of the operating table in the "operating room" (often located in the Orlop deck) during action, which suggest to me that it would be large, like a seaman's chest. So that's my next personal medicine chest goal...

I just saw the one on eBay and thought it was neat and decided to share it.

As for books, I have not come across that particular title, although I got access to a database that had loads of books from period available for download and currently have 15-20 surgery titles in pdf form. I do have two volumes specifically related to sea surgery and I plan to make my way through those. The problem is that I am finding them very slow reading because of type-styles, occasionally poor copying, arcane wording, odd lettering (two "v"s to represent w, "f"s to represent s's and so forth) and just general language variants. However, new info is always welcome. What are the general contents of the home physick's book?

[Dutchman]

ok off to find woodal. thanks, another project . . . . wow a chest big enough to prop an end of a table. thats huge for a ship. if its packed like the shipwrights list its got tons of things that never see the light of day.

had to call williamsburg to get the title as my cover page is long since gone. Yes, i was way off on the title.

_every man his own doctor -or- poor planters physician, originally published in 1733.

It covers cures for fits to snakebites. most all include bleeding of some sort. it's a colonial rendition of the readers digests home doctors series.

somewhere i ran across a description of 17th century CPR. it involves placing tubes in orifices and lots of blowing.... better you than me! i'll see if i can't find it in my collection of goodies. amazingly, the victim survived and the author had dinner with him three years later.

on an unrelated note. i went to the dentist two days ago. he saw one of our shows last summer and has been collecting some goodies for me. i got a dozen ceramic crowns that he could not use and a few extracted bovine teeth (he does vet dentistry as well)- roots and all. i feel a shipboard extraction coming on!!! i guess i should go more often.

[Misson]

I spent the better part of a month looking for Woodall's book. You can buy it for $5000 at a rare bookseller's on-line. The only place I found it for download was on a database called Early English Books Online. And the only place I found that was at large universities. So I joined my alma mater's alumni club to get access to their computers. (Large universities have become really fussy about who can access their computers around here.)

[Mary Diamond]

Very nice find, Mission! Yes, if I recall correctly from our initial research, I believe the square bottles came into use after GAoP ~

[Misson]

I have actually found a resource for medical bottles, but I have yet to contact him. I want to find out what we be most appropriate to period and if there is a place to buy bottles that are good replicas (or close).

Hey, I found an on-line medical antique dealer on eBay. Very nice stuff, mostly civil war (which seems to be all the rage on eBay). If you've more money than I to spend on this hobby, it might be a good place to shop. Very well preserved antiques, overall.

http://www.sawbonesantiques.com/

[Misson]

Here's a neat little apothecary chest that the seller identifies as being from 1830. Those inset brass fixtures sure were popular then.

http://tinyurl.com/2dn3we

It has a nice scale with weights in it's own drawer as well.

During period, the apothecary folks had their own guild. In fact, there were three guilds - the physicians, the barber-surgeons and the apothecaries. The physicians were primarily theorists who saw patients and recommended treatments, the barber-surgeons did all the dirty work and the apothecaries provided medicine. On a ship, however, there were rarely (if ever) physicians or apothecaries so the barber-surgeon assumed all the duties. If nothing else, being a sea surgeon provided tremendous opportunities for learning medicine.

[Misson]

Very nice find, Mission! Yes, if I recall correctly from our initial research, I believe the square bottles came into use after GAoP ~

Aha! I have found evidence to the contrary.

The reference is from John Moyle's book Chirurgus Marinus: or, the Sea Chirurgion first published in 1693. This quote which uses that reference is actually from John Keevil's Medicine and the Navy 1200-1900: Volume II – 1640-1714:

“Omitting nothing practical, [John Moyle] advised the novice to buy square glass containers, ‘for those will fit the partitions in your Chest better than others’, and to wrap them in tow if the chest was not lined with baize; in conclusion, he added, ‘And let your Surgery Chest be fast lashed that it may not over-set in bad weather by the rowling of the Ship.” (Keevil, p. 158)

[Mary Diamond]

Very well done! That is helpful in many regards ~

[Misson]

What is tow in modern terms?

[Patrick Hand]

What is tow in modern terms?

Its a by-product of making linen. it looks like unraveled rope.

You can still get it from some Sutlers for cleaning your musket the old fashioned way.

Jas. Townsend sells it, but they say it's unspun flax....

http://jas-townsend.com/product_info.php?p...products_id=364

[Misson]

mission,

have you run across the  home physiks book- i thinks thats what its called, i don't have it sitting in front of me. printed in the early 1730's? granted its towards the end of the era, but still full of usefull things and common practices of the day.

I found something like this today, I believe. This one looks pretty basic, but has some nice slice of life home remedies in it. It is from 1633:

Helps for suddain accidents endangering life: By which those that live farre from physitions or chirurgions may happily preserve the life of a poore friend or neighbour, till such a man may be had to perfect the cure. Collected out of the best authours for the generall good by Stephen Bradvvell. physition

From the introduction (printed as it reads):

"Times footman ranne not so fast on their sandy arrands, as mischances in full careers rush upon us. All the Ioyes we possesse by day (if they hold it out) vanish with the day. All our Gloryes are Sunne-beames but of a waterish shining. Our Clocks of Health seldome goe tru; those of Death, more certaine than beleeved. We are the owners of no content but sleepe; and yet even that blessing is subject to distraction: for our very Dreames doe often prove Diseases, and affright us." (p. A2-A3)

It's like prose poetry about illness. I think I will enjoy reading this book, stupid 'f's' for 's's' and all.

Oh, this one is rich (from the table of contents)...

"Chap. X. The Biting of a MaddeDogge"

Ay, Captain?

[Misson]

What is tow in modern terms?

Its a by-product of making linen. it looks like unraveled rope.

You can still get it from some Sutlers for cleaning your musket the old fashioned way.

Jas. Townsend sells it, but they say it's unspun flax....

http://jas-townsend.com/product_info.php?p...products_id=364

Ah! Thanks large, Pat!

[Misson]

*Sigh* Now it's gotten too expensive:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...:MEWA:IT&ih=003

You know, a year ago, if you'd have showed me this auction, I'd have laughed at you.

[Capt. Sterling]

*Sigh* Now it's gotten too expensive:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...:MEWA:IT&ih=003

You know, a year ago, if you'd have showed me this auction, I'd have laughed at you.

Mission save and print out a hard copy of the saw... I would but I am out of ink and won't have time to breath let alone purchase any before Port Washington. Get a hold of Maddogge and car pool over to the event and join us for the weekend. Bring the hard copies and we shall talk to Mr. March about making a copy for you... he can make just about anything...

[Capt. Sterling]

Actually, I'm going with Michael and Jennifer and I have another saw I'd rather duplicate if Mr. March is willing and interested. (You'll have to introduce him to me.)

The saw I covet: http://antiquescientifica.com/saw_amputati..._wb_overall.jpg

Bring a hard copy of the picture... Thanks

[Calico Jack]

Aye, with the reactions I get from the audience at the museum, I want a penile syringe for the next "big purchase" for my personal props collection. The men all wince, the women all giggle, cruelly. The actual mast splinter gets good reactions, too. Better even than the capital saw.

Similarly, spent musket shot, spattered against soft wood or bone. A new and unused ball for "in" and a spent ball for "out." Good visceral reactions, and the splinter and ball at almost no cost.

[edit: Added note, a turn-of-the-nineteenth-century chest, for comparison:

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/740-DOCTO...sspagenameZWDVW ]

[Raphael Misson]

Aye, with the reactions I get from the audience at the museum, I want a penile syringe for the next "big purchase" for my personal props collection.  The men all wince, the women all giggle, cruelly.  The actual mast splinter gets good reactions, too.  Better even than the capital saw.

Similarly, spent musket shot, spattered against soft wood or bone.  A new and unused ball for "in" and a spent ball for "out."  Good visceral reactions, and the splinter and ball at almost no cost.

I don't know why I didn't see this post before, but those are great ideas for explaining surgery! The splinter is the most undervalued threat to a period seaman -it's been suggested in the various books I've read that far more seamen died of complications from splinters than ever died of cannon fire itself - but I never thought about explaining it.

Apropros of nothing I found this on eBay today:

It's for automatically injecting stuff through a syringe. Ok, it's not even remotely period, but it looks like the consummate surgeon's weapon. I can just envision myself carrying it, a la Sean Connery, except in period gear...

Yep...too bad I look nothing whatsoever like Sean Connery...yep. And I'd probably get dizzy walking like that in period gear. Or even in a tuxedo. Yep.

[Capn Bob]

I keep offering to use me fleam at work to provide free medical care, but no one seems interested. They just look at me and shudder. Why?

[Mission]

You can't just jump into a thing like that these days. You have to explain the many and varied benefits of phlebotomy, the humoural theory and the various temperaments, the results of successful cupping (mention how the Chinese still use it for strange and mystical ends - that's usually a big seller) and the multiple cases you've personally witnessed where bloodletting has produced nigh miraculous results. The, when they're all confused with this onslaught of data and info, hit 'em on the head with a mallet. (Works every time for me. Ask Captain Jim.)

[Captain Jim]

Uhmmm...Whaaa...? NErf gibble sopnee...MALLET! AAAAUGH! MALLET!

[Matusalem]

In memory of NORBERT FELICIEN MIGNERON, PHYSICIAN WHO DIED FEB 23 A.D. 1764, AGED 95 YEARS & 8 MONTHS AND ONE DAY.

[Mission]

Now here's something we hope you'll really like! (From this eBay auction.)

It's an 18th C. device used for the self-administration of enemas. Whoop!

[Cannibal Chrispy]

I do like your Rocket J. Squirrel quote. For what must shurely be a squirrelly water rocket of sorts. And thanks for the photos of the antique "mess" kits. lol

Edited April 7, 2009 by Cannibal Chrispy