Dearborn Historical Museum

Artifacts

Medicine Case

This brown leather case from Dearborn contains bottles of medicine from Parke, Davis & Company and tablets in tiny corked bottles. Parke, Davis and Co. was founded in 1860 in Detroit by Dr. Samuel P. Duffield and was once the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. c. 1920s

Medicine Bag

This leather kit bag comes equipped with 87 glass vials, with cork stoppers. Doctors making house calls could prescribe remedies right out of their travel-size bags. c. 1900s

Medical Instrument Case

This rosewood case comes with a key lock and has brass corners. A full examination of the medical instruments that are contained within this case can be found in the panels below. c. 1890s

Densimeter

Used to locate the specific gravity of fluids. c. 1890s

Bone Clips

For clipping bones, made of nickel-plated steel. c. 1890s

Pliers

Used in routine dental procedures such as tooth extraction. c. 1890s

Bone Amputation Saw

Part of surgical set, rusted and used in small bone amputation. c. 1890s

Lancing Scalpel

Used in incision and drainage procedures. c. 1890s

Amputation Scalpel

Also known as a Liston amputation knife. c. 1890s

Suture Threader

For stitching together a wound or surgical incision. c. 1890s

Surgical Clamp

Used to hold various materials together or back during medical procedures. c. 1890s

Trocar

Used for draining fluids from a body cavity. c. 1890s

Bone Amputation Saw

For large bone amputation procedures. c. 1890s

Dissection Kit

A selection of surgical tools used in dissection. Six of these tools have black gutta-percha handles, and three have inscribed file-type lines for gripping. c. 1890s