Trephination Set
date: label: date made
content: mid 1700s
name: label: maker
content: Pepys, William Hasledine
notes: label: Description
content: This trephination set belonged to Charles McKnight (1750-1791), a physician who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, and then practiced in New York City. Trephining, a surgical procedure entailing boring a hole through the skull, was widely advocated for the treatment of head wounds during this time. This set of tools, or parts of the set, was made by William Hasledine Pepys (1748–1805), a cutler and surgical instrument maker in London. The set contains: two (2) crown trephines with handle; one (1) tweezer forceps; one (1) arrow head perforator; one (1) elevator; two (2) lenticular knives; one (1) tripod; one (1) scalpel; one (1) forceps; and one (1) Sharp's forceps.
label: Description
content: Charles McKnight graduated from the College of New Jersey in 1771, and then studied medicine under Dr. William Shippen, of Philadelphia. He joined the Continental Army before completing his studies. In 1777 he was appointed Surgeon General (Senior Surgeon) of the so-called "flying hospital" of the Middle Department. He moved with Washington's army and was with them during the harsh winter of 1779-80 at Jockey Hollow, New Jersey. After the war, McKnight became one of the original members of the Society of the Cincinnati. He practiced medicine in New York City and served as professor of Anatomy at Columbia College until his death in 1791, at age 41.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Revolutionary War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Rosalie F. Bailey
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1979.0264.02
label: catalog number
content: 1979.0264.02
label: accession number
content: 1979.0264
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Trepanning Set
label: Object Name
content: trephination Set
label: Object Name
content: surgical set
label: Other Terms
content: Trepanning Set; Surgical Set; Trepanning
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood, oak (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric, cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal, steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5.5 cm x 24.4 cm x 20.8 cm; 2 3/16 in x 9 5/8 in x 8 3/16 in
label: Measurements
content: part: drill handle: 3 in x 3 3/4 in x 1 1/4 in; 7.62 cm x 9.525 cm x 3.175 cm