Description

Dr Potain vacuum cleaner in its case - Antique medical instrument

Late 19th century - 1870-1895

The name of the instrument manufacturer has faded on the felt.

However, the box comes from the Hôpital de la Charité in Paris, as indicated by the inscription on the top of the box, from the Bouillaud ward of the hospital.

The hospital no longer exists, having been demolished around 1935 to make way for the new medical school in Paris.

This instrument was used to evacuate liquids, notably for pleurisy, an inflammation of the pleura, the membrane surrounding the lungs, which often contains liquid in the pleural cavity.

It could also be used to evacuate urine from a retained bladder, or gas from an intestine strangled by a hernia. But it could also be used to inject liquid.

(Source: conservatoire du patrimoine hospitalier de Rennes).

Includes:

-A steel pump with two spigots at the end.

-A hollow metal rod with a double conduit branching into two branches, each fitted with a tap.

-Trocars of different gauges, cannulas and blunt punches.

Case dimensions: 27.5 x 12 x 5.5 cm: in good condition, lined inside with purple velvet.

The words CHARITE and SALLE BOUILLAUD are marked on the top of the box and Aspirateur du Dr Potain on the felt inside.

Box sheathed in black grained leather with heat-stamped fillets on top. Push-button lock. Typical of the casket production of the 1870s/1895s.

non-functional