All About Pocket Knives

I have checked all my reference materials and I have checked on the interwebs but I can find absolutely nothing on this pattern or the maker. The maker is J. Reynders & Co. Closed length is almost 3¾ inches and handles are horn. I feel sure it is some sort of either medical or veterinary tool.
I'd bet it dates to the mid to late 1800s. Civil War maybe?
I'd welcome any comments or info.

Thanks,
Ray

I think you're right.

https://books.google.com/books?id=vOxkj ... 22&f=false


http://whitney.med.yale.edu/gsdl/cgi-bi ... stbkAAGBAB

There are a lot more if you Google the name

Even this from the very pages of AAPK

viewtopic.php?t=23129

Thanks, Bob. I have to admit, I failed to do my search here on AAPK. I used Bing rather than Google and maybe this shows the advantage of Google over Bing.
I sure appreciate your help on this.

Ray

I believe that instrument is called a gum lancet.It is likely pre-1870 because I think that was when they started making surgical instruments from all steel so the could be sterilized in an autoclave.

Thank you, Ray. That is another piece of very good information.

Ray

knife7knut wrote:I believe that instrument is called a gum lancet.It is likely pre-1870 because I think that was when they started making surgical instruments from all steel so the could be sterilized in an autoclave.

I got the following from an ebay bidder. He says the tool is a tenaculum. I got the definition off the net.
"te·nac·u·lum [təˈnakyələm]
NOUN,, a surgical clamp with sharp hooks at the end, used to hold or pick up small pieces of tissue such as the ends of arteries."
Here is a link to my listings. I don't have many right now but am adding a couple every night. https://www.ebay.com/sch/eyewifeb/m.htm ... 7675.l2562


Ray

I think it is a tenaculum but the above definition varies from that given in "Stedman's Medical Dictionary" : "a sharp pointed wire hook set in a handle: used for picking up the end of a divided artery ---"; i.e. there is no "clamp" feature.
A lance is a blade rather than a sharp point. When you lance an abscess you need to make a hole big enough that it will not close over before all pus has drained.
kj

I stand corrected For some reason I always seem to get the two terms confused;it is indeed a tenaculum.

knife7knut wrote:I stand corrected For some reason I always seem to get the two terms confused;it is indeed a tenaculum.

No harm done, Ray. I didn't know c'mere from sick'em on this and we got some discussion going on it.
Incidentally, the eBay bidder who corrected my listing is a 40 year collector of antique medical and scientific instruments. It looks like he will get it on the cheap as he is the only bidder thus far.

Ray