Brass scarificator
Brass scarificator with 12 lancets
Cupping set, in wooden case, by S. Maw, London, 1860-1930
Cupping was a method of bloodletting – a practice once carried out to treat a wide range of diseases and medical conditions. Warm glass cups were placed on the skin to draw blood believed to be harmful to health to the surface of the skin. In wet cupping, the blood was released from the body using a lancet or scarificator (a set of spring-operated lancets). The set was made by S Maw & Son, a surgical instrument maker based in London.