Object Details
- Description (Brief)
- This long ebony and ivory instrument is known as The Lebenswecker or "Awakener of Life". The cap to the instrument protects about thirty steel needles which punctured the skin causing inflammation or irritation. Afterwards oil would be applied to the wounds. Counter irritation is an old technique but was popularized in the nineteenth century by the Prussian Carl Baunscheidt and his Lebenswecker.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of American Pharmaceutical Association and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
- 19th century
- ID Number
- 1991.0664.0990
- accession number
- 1991.0664
- collector/donor number
- SAP 1078
- catalog number
- 1991.0664.0990
- Object Name
- lebenswecker
- Physical Description
- ebony (overall material)
- ivory (overall material)
- steel (overall material)
- Measurements
- overall: 26.3 cm x 3.5 cm; 10 3/8 in x 1 3/8 in
- Related Publication
- Urdang, George and Ferdinand William Nitardy. The Squibb Ancient Pharmacy: A Catalogue of the Collection
- Davis, Audrey B., and Toby Appel. Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Medicine
- European Apothecary
- Art
- National Museum of American History
- Subject
- Pharmacy
- Record ID
- nmah_994424
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ab-0ff6-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
