Antique medicine


Uvula forceps

 

 

The uvula forceps was developed for the amputation of the uvula. This procedure was described by Aetius in the first half of the 6th century: before the suppository was cut off, it was extended by means of said pliers.



Several of these pliers were found. The British Museum in London uses a 197 mm long uvula pliers from the 1st to 2nd century. Century: "Uvula crushing forceps".

 



The best known is probably the "Parisian pliers". In 1880, behind the theater in the Av. Des Gobelins, near the Place d'Italie, in the southeast of present-day Paris, a significant find was made. Even if the find of Tabanelli (*) is counted as a grave find, one may announce doubt on this theory. Because of the simultaneously found 75 coins (Tetricus I and Tetricus II, to 274 AD), one may rather assume that the material was buried by its owner when the Franks invaded Paris in 275. In this dispute, the owner was apparently killed. North of the site was the Christian cemetery of Saint Marcel in the 4th century. The Parisian treasure included:
- 1 copper kettle


- 1 ointment stone made of white marble


- 1 cupping head


- 1 box of silvered bronze


- 5 round gilded or silvered bronze rifles containing metal-based (copper oxide) remnants of medicine.

- 5 tweezers


- 2 brackets


- 2 pliers


- 2 spatula probes


- 2 probes


- 3 scalpel handles


- 1 spoon with spout


- 1 fork


- 1 clip (with lancet?)


The find initially went to the private collection Toulouze-Piketty-Taté / Paris and was then lost (**). Now part of the collection of "Mairie de Paris": "Trousse de chirurgien, dernier quart du IIIe siècle après J.-C?".

 


Presented is a uvula forceps, acquired in 1999 in Luxembourg from the estate of a German collector, whose relatives insisted on anonymity. Length 200 mm. In our Roman collection, this instrument is the only one consisting of two joined parts. In this context, let us remind you that even the Romans knew the technique of soldering (brass parts were connected with a liquid metal, such as galmei), seldom screws were used, and in the exhibit shown we find the then common assembly by means of rivets.

 

 

Lit.:

(*) M. Tabanelli, Lo strumento chirurgico e la sua storia, 1958.

(**) E. Künzl, Medizinische Instrumente aus Sepulkralfunden der römischen Kaiserzeit, 2. Aufl 1983 S.74

(***) Th. Meyer-Steineg und Sudhoff, Geschichte der Medizin im Überblick mit Abb. 1922, S. 37.