A FRENCH TREPANNING SET
Lot 62

A FRENCH TREPANNING SET

LESEUR, LATE 18TH CENTURY

Closed29 September 2011

Price Realised

GBP 7,500

More Information

How to sell

A FRENCH TREPANNING SET
Leseur, late 18th century
signed on the drill LESEUR also with a punched maker's mark of a crown over an A, drill-heads, perforators, elevators, lenticulars with turned wooden handles, in fitted case.
13.5in. (34.5cm.) long in case

Specialist note

Trepanning is the neurosurgical practice of drilling or scraping a circular hole into the human skull in order to treat intracranial illness. The method is typically used to relieve pressure on the brain and is believed to be known as the earliest recorded surgical practice after trepanation holes were discovered on prehistoric skulls. Trepanning was historically used to treat everything from migraines to seizures, and is still used as a treatment for epidural and subdural hematomas.