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Author	Topic: Whatzit
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 05-18-2007 11:56 AM [26-1408 01-2648] I felt we could use another round of the Whatzit game.... Here ya go. As usual, if you know please give those who aren't sure a chance to guess first. IP: Logged
wev Moderator Posts: 4121 Registered: Apr 99	posted 05-18-2007 12:21 PM I know, but will let others play first. IP: Logged
argentum1 Posts: 602 Registered: Apr 2004	posted 05-18-2007 01:05 PM Oh, oh, oh, I know what it is. Boy, I feel so superior. I better be right. IP: Logged
Clive E Taylor Posts: 450 Registered: Jul 2000	posted 05-18-2007 02:03 PM Is it part of a gun lock of some sorts ? Looks early, around 1700 ish IP: Logged
dragonflywink Posts: 993 Registered: Dec 2002	posted 05-18-2007 03:28 PM I know too. IP: Logged
FredZ Posts: 1070 Registered: Jun 99	posted 05-18-2007 03:45 PM I too know this object and I must say it is one of the most ornate examples I have ever seen. Fred IP: Logged
bascall Posts: 1629 Registered: Nov 99	posted 05-18-2007 04:15 PM Just a guess. Some sort of medical instrument; something to do with blood letting? IP: Logged
Clive E Taylor Posts: 450 Registered: Jul 2000	posted 05-19-2007 07:10 AM You are right it could be medical - the bottom right projection may be a fleam blade. IP: Logged
FWG Posts: 845 Registered: Aug 2005	posted 05-19-2007 12:43 PM I'm with FredZ - it's by far the most ornate example I've ever seen. Might there have been another piece to cover the blade for carrying? IP: Logged
dragonflywink Posts: 993 Registered: Dec 2002	posted 05-19-2007 02:00 PM May I say, now that they're on the right track? ~Cheryl [This message has been edited by dragonflywink (edited 05-19-2007).] IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 05-19-2007 02:22 PM Tomorrow afternoon I will be traveling so I will have to provide the answer sooner than later. All those who think they know.... now is the time to let us know. Tonight or tomorrow morning I will put up the answer. Thank for playing. IP: Logged
dragonflywink Posts: 993 Registered: Dec 2002	posted 05-19-2007 02:29 PM It's a spring lancet, there's a little spring inside, you cock the blade, then press down on the long end of the piece on top to release and it just snaps into the person being bled. I've only seen them in brass, with little fitted cases. ~Cheryl IP: Logged
Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 Registered: May 99	posted 05-19-2007 03:29 PM Eeeeeew. IP: Logged
dragonflywink Posts: 993 Registered: Dec 2002	posted 05-19-2007 03:39 PM Kinda scary, huh? I'd much rather be bled by a leech shuddering in disgust. ~Cheryl IP: Logged
FWG Posts: 845 Registered: Aug 2005	posted 05-19-2007 04:45 PM Cheryl is of course right, but so is Clive - "fleam" is an old technical term for a lancet, usually of the spring form. I've "dry-fired" a few, and it gives me the willies just to hear that snap and see the flying blade.... IP: Logged
jersey Posts: 1203 Registered: Feb 2005	posted 05-19-2007 06:35 PM Hi! I'd much rather it be a candle trimmer & snuffer combo. It is neat. Jersey IP: Logged
argentum1 Posts: 602 Registered: Apr 2004	posted 05-19-2007 06:53 PM This device probably killed more people than all the musket balls ever fired. I have two and they both are in a fitted leather case. Both are brass but I have seen silver and mixed metals and all have been in fitted cases. One of mine has inked on the inside 'Dr Goodhue from Pa. 1786'. They can be used letting blood flow by gravity; or a small heated glass container with its opening placed over the cut creates a vacuum that sucks the blood out. And who said the Spanish Inquisition ended in Spain. IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2334 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 05-19-2007 10:45 PM I suspect that 200 years from now, some of our medical practices will also seem misdirected. If I recall correctly, blood letting was practiced on George Washington during his final illness. IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 05-20-2007 09:28 AM fleam it is!! Cheryl's (dragonflywink) post on 05-19-2007 02:29 PM is on target. quote: It's a spring lancet, there's a little spring inside, you cock the blade, then press down on the long end of the piece on top to release and it just snaps into the person being bled. I've only seen them in brass, with little fitted cases. I would only add the there were also veterinary flains which had deeper blades and stronger springs to get through an animal's hide. The art of using a flain or lancet for therapeutic blood letting is called phlebotomy or venesection. Modern phlebotomy is really collecting blood samples usually with a Vacutainer or similar blood collection equipment consisting of a plastic hub, a hypodermic needle, and a vacuum specimen collection tube for laboratory analysis. IP: Logged
Clive E Taylor Posts: 450 Registered: Jul 2000	posted 05-20-2007 10:09 AM Do we have any date, origin etc of this piece please ? IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 05-20-2007 02:26 PM Nothing of fact but I would guess 1850 IP: Logged
Clive E Taylor Posts: 450 Registered: Jul 2000	posted 05-20-2007 02:30 PM I would have guessed earlier - 1700 -1760 at latest if English IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 05-20-2007 03:16 PM I don't really know and haven't given it much thought .... What does everyone else think? IP: Logged
Tomyarbro Posts: 2 Registered: Jun 2007	posted 06-13-2007 11:28 AM Just wanted to post a quick followup on the spring lancet (fleam). The item is Swiss in origin. The interior is double marked by the maker. It is actually Aluminum. At the time the item was made this material had a greater value than Platinum. It probably dates early to mid 1800's. You can see all of the many variations that exist here IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2334 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 06-27-2007 06:18 PM A silver cased lancet with the mark of John Adam of Alexandria, Virginia is shown on page 27-B of the July 2007 issue of the Maine Antique Digest. This one has crosshatched engraving on the trigger button and a crosshatched decorative band around one end. It was one of 15 different lancets at the auction and went for slightly more than the Kentucky beaker recently discussed in another thread. IP: Logged
Tomyarbro Posts: 2 Registered: Jun 2007	posted 06-27-2007 10:55 PM If you ever get any engraved silver pieces in your possession let me know. I love the research that goes behind looking into the owners history. That design sounds very typically American. Really great history. IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 10-16-2007 04:15 PM This relates to the fleam. This is a blood bowl. Note the gradation markings on the inside of the bowl. It was used to collect the blood and to determine how much was let. Occasionally one will find what looks like a slightly over sized porridger with similar marking. In such a case it is most likely also a blood bowl. IP: Logged
Kimo Posts: 1627 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 10-17-2007 11:26 AM Thanks, Scott. Could you tell us how big this bowl is? IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 10-17-2007 11:53 AM As I recall this style have been about +/- 5.5 inches. The ones I've seen that also double as a Barber's shaving bowl tend to be larger. These tend to look more like a bowl with a flat plate like rim. The rim often has a cutout. IP: Logged
Scott Martin Forum Master Posts: 11520 Registered: Apr 93	posted 10-17-2007 12:40 PM IP: Logged
Clive E Taylor Posts: 450 Registered: Jul 2000	posted 10-17-2007 02:37 PM AHWT - do we have a date for James Adams of Alexander please ? IP: Logged
ahwt Posts: 2334 Registered: Mar 2003	posted 10-18-2007 12:14 AM Catherine B. Holland in her book “Three Centuries of Alexandria Silver” includes this information about John Adam. Born in Alexandria, Virginia in 1775 and died in 1848, working as a silversmith and jeweler 1796-1848. He learned silversmithing from his father James Adam. He worked in Georgetown where he was called the “professed spoon maker” in 1801 and advertised in Alexandria as early as 1803. He apparently spent the rest of his career in Alexandria. Ms. Holland’s book shows over twenty two objects with John Adam’s mark including a lancet listed as ca. 1810-48. This lancet may well have been the one noted in the Maine Antique Digest. It is found on page 113 on the Holland book. IP: Logged
Clive E Taylor Posts: 450 Registered: Jul 2000	posted 10-18-2007 03:22 AM Many thanks AHWT Clive IP: Logged

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