Techniques and tools used in bleeding patients, plate in Traité complet de l’anatomie de l’homme : comprenant la médecine opératoire, avec planches lithographiées d’après nature, J. M. Bourgery and N. H. Jacob, Paris, 1832–1854
Courtesy National Library of Medicine
Dr. Benjamin Rush employed bleeding, purges, and doses of mercury in his treatments for yellow fever. He may have used tools like these to open his patients’ veins and bleed them in “copious” amounts.
