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Caution: Evaluating pocket surgical cases or kits is very, very difficult because there is no absolute description of the instruments that will be found in the leather container.  The contents vary greatly from maker to maker and within any given maker.   It's almost as if the makers produced them to order, but we have evidence of specifications from the catalog lists and drawings seen below.

Presented here is a list of instruments from the post-Civil War, c. 1880's, Tiemann & Co. catalog to show the types of instruments one could expect to find in a given leather pocket surgical case or kit.  One should not infer that the instruments in the catalog at this point are exactly like those used during the Civil War, but is is likely many of the same designs were still in use and represented the type if not the exact instruments.

Also, see drawings of various types of pocket surgical kits or cases from 1870's Tiemann and Snowden.

The only time you may see all metal handled scalpels in a pre-sterilization kit is in a post-mortem dissection kit or minor surgical set as they were used for cutting cartilage .

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Last update: Monday, July 22, 2024