Civil War Era Trephine
date: label: date made
content: c. 1850s-1860s
label: date made
content: 1850s-1860s
notes: label: Description
content: Brass trephine with ebony handle.
label: Description
content: This instrument was part of an amputation surgical set which belonged to Lt. Col. William Irvin Wolfley, Surgeon in Chief of the 62nd Ohio Infantry. Dr. Wolfley was attached to DeRussey's Division of the Army of the Potomac, and was in charge of the convalescent camps along the Potomac from Chain Bridge to Alexandria, Virginia. This overall set has sixty instruments, the majority of which were manufactured by Jacob H. Gemrig of Philadelphia, twelve instruments made by Otto & Reynders whose shop was at 64 Chatham Street in New York City, and one by Codman and Shurtleff of Boston, Massachusetts. Sets containing different instruments from different manufacturers was common. If an instrument broke or was lost it was simply replaced.
label: Description
content: This instrument is a trephine, an instrument which was typically used to bore a hole in the skull. Trephination has a long history and was practiced in places as far ranging as Peru, China, Greece, Zimbabwe, and Egypt. The procedure was performed for a variety of reasons; it was often used to treat head wounds but it was also used to treat epilepsy or what was believed to be possession.
label: Description
content: This trephine consists of a wooden handle that was then attached to a rotating cutting metal circle. The trephine would have been used in conjunction with a scalpel, bone brush, and a Hey’s saw. The rotating metal circle would have been used to create the hole in the skull after the patient had been sedated.
label: Description
content: By the time of the Civil War, trephination was declining as a practice but it was still performed. It could be used to great effect especially in the case of a depressed skull fracture. The procedure came, however, with a high level of risk; over half of patients who underwent this procedure did not survive. In cases where the procedure was successful, patients frequently went on to live a fairly normal healthy life.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: used
content: United States: Virginia
topic: label: associated subject; web subjec
content: Surgery
label: associated subject; web subjec
content: Surgical instruments
label: related event
content: Civil War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Health & Medicine
label: See more items in
content: Civil War Surgical Sets
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Elizabeth F. Wolfley, Eleanor Wolfley Bisell, Caroline Wolfley Shannon and Elizabeth Wolfley Harman
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.112986.01.03
label: accession number
content: 112986
label: catalog number
content: 112986.01.03
label: catalog number
content: M-02999
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Trephine
label: Object Name
content: trephine
label: Object Name
content: surgical set
label: Object Name
content: trephine set
label: Other Terms
content: Trephine; Cutting Tool
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal, steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal, brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood, ebony (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall, trephine: 1 in x 4 3/8 in x 1 in; 2.54 cm x 11.1125 cm x 2.54 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall, trephine handle: 3/4 in x 3 5/8 in x 3/4 in; 1.905 cm x 9.2075 cm x 1.905 cm