Medicine Through Time Gallery: Bleeding - Hell?
Artificial leeching
A variety of unusual "mechanical leeches" were made in the 19th century. These were spring loaded devices made to simulate a leech’s bite in order to bleed a patient. The spring was tightened and by a turning motion the cuts were made just as a leech would. The top of the device is then pulled back to evacuate the blood by suction. These devices were cumbersome to use and not popular for very long.
