This rare medical instrument was used during the 19th century between 1814-1893 for phlebotomy or blood letting. It is made of brass and steel and is fully functional. Signed "Stille" on the side which refers to the Stockholm Swedish manufacturer Albert Stille . Rectangular with beveled corners and 12 adjustable knives that fold out into the bottom when a lever on the top is moved forward. On one side a latch that locks the knives. On the top a screw for dismantling the snapper. As found patina.
According to humoral pathology, illnesses were due to an imbalance between "body fluids". Bloodletting removed "bad blood" and has been used for a long time in many cultures using either leeches or various instruments. Commonly used were bloodletting irons or blood-suckers and cow horns or cup glasses. It was important to remove the blood from the right place where "evil" was believed to have originated. Bloodletting therapy was abandoned in Sweden by medical science in the 1850s but has been used in folk medicine by wise old men and women into the 20th century.
