Accession No

3128

Brief Description

boxed set of Southey’s Tubes, by Arnold and Sons, English, 2/2 19th century

Origin

England; London; Smithfield

Maker

Arnold and Sons

Class

medical

Earliest Date

1866

Latest Date

1900

Inscription Date

Material

hide (shagreen leather); cloth (silk, velvet); metal (silver, [pewter], brass); ivory; paper; wood

Dimensions

box length 100mm; breadth 67mm; height 30mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Loan changed to donation from 07/10/2008. On loan to museum from 1984 to 07/10/2008.

Inscription

‘ARNOLD
& SONS
SMITHFIELD
LONDON’ (inside lid of box)
‘ARNOLD & SONS’ (x2) (on guard)
‘Southeys Tubes’ (MS label on outside of box)

Description Notes

Fitted wooden box covered with shagreen leather, lined with purple silk and velvet; brass fastener. Ivory handle with clamp; 8 pewter (?) cannulas; 2 silver aspirators (?) with sharp diamond shaped tips; silver guard; paper label on lid of box: ‘Southeys Tubes’ in longhand.
Tray for canulas lifts out, but there is nothing in the base.

Complete.

References

Events

Description
A trocar is used to drain fluids in the body. The trocar is a strong, steel spike which is used with a cannula and would have been plunged through the wall of the chest or abdomen. The trocar would then be removed and the fluid would flow out through the cannula.

A special modification of the trocar and cannula is a Southey’s tube set , often consisting of a 3cm long trocar and an ivory handle which houses up to four delicate silver cannulae. The latter were used to drain fluid from, for example, swollen legs in people with heart failure. The feet would be placed in a bowl to collect the fluid.

Today we have drugs (diuretics or water tablets) which perform the task of removing large collections of fluid in the body.

FM:40086