Antique medicine |
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Cataract needle (?) |
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Needles can only be interpreted as medical instruments if they are found in connection with other instruments that are clearly used for medical purposes. Basically, needles with oehr used for suturing wounds are distinguished from needles without oehr. The thickening of the needle, the Milne (*) at the top suspected "round the tip", this thickening was of course on the handle so that it was firmly in the hand. In a grave in Reims, whose ointment punches and collyrines clearly characterize the tomb as the last resting place of an eye species, found a set consisting of 9 needles made of steel, which were interchangeable - so in principle similar to the scalpels, their knives were also interchangeable. You have to distinguish hollow needles from solid needles. The latter are likely to be star needles used to force the clouded lens out of the optical axis of the eye. Hollow needles indicate that one tried - although without much success - to suck the lens out of the eye (sucking with the mouth?), A technique that the Arabs later tried and soon gave up again, as inconclusive ...
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