1. This is a page from a book by JH Savigny (1798). He was an expert at making surgical instruments and wanted to help other people to make them.

2. wooden handles that could be attached to different blades? A special blade for cutting circular holes in the skull? A pair of forceps for lifting away discs of bone that have been cut from the skull? A tool for lifting or holding back flesh, muscles, or organs that are in the way? A saw blade for cutting through large bones eg in legs? A saw blade for cutting through thin bones eg fingers? A large knife blade for cutting through flesh? Instruments for removing bullets that have gone deep into the body Imagine you are assisting a surgeon. Can you find …

3. These instruments are from a portable surgery kit. It was designed so that a surgeon could carry it with him in emergencies or on a battlefield.

4. This image is from a book called “Illustrations of the great operations”. It was published in 1821. The man has undergone an operation called trepanning or trephining – the removal of bone from the skull. This was done as he had fractured his skull in an accident. The surgeon had to remove sharp pieces of bone that might injure the patient’s brain. Which instruments from the previous slide do you think the surgeon might have used in this operation? To see the surgeon’s instruments again, click here.click here. This diagram shows how the skull had been cracked in the accident. These are the different fragments of the man’s skull that the surgeon removed. Don’t be surprised to see a black person in an English book from 1821. Historians think there were at least 10,000 black British people by that time.

5. To return to the image of the operation, click here.click here To move to the final task, click hereclick here

6. This man was operated on in 1821. What difficulties and dangers would the patient have faced as part of his operation in those days?

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