Antique Equipment of many types

Hi:

In an antique mall today in a booth entitled antique hardware I found a wonderful brass syringe that was labeled on the tag as an instrument for spraying dust. . . . Wrong !!!

Stamped into the barrel was Arnold and Sons London. I googled that and found that they were a medical supply outfit years ago. In addition it said John Bell and Croyder Surgical Instruments. That company is still around with drug stores but started in 1789.

I'm convinced my purchase is an enema syringe. The barell is abut 14" long and about 2.5" wide. The very end tube, what would have been inserted is missing. That part was not brass.

Question. Does anyone know about this type of instrument, where they might be traded and where perhaps I could look for missing parts or replacement parts? I would love to discuss with others into antique equipment.

Ron Benton

Hi Ron ...Try searching the Lombardarella collection on Flickr.

Hi Ron here is the link for Lombardarella => https://www.flickr.com/photos/28847572@N06/sets/

I propose you to post pictures of your "discovery" here in your album

Also there's this website that has Lombardarellas first class collection of medical ephemera

There are additional images uploaded to their website since the initial posting above.

www.flickriver.com

Type into their search panel either the word Enema or Lombardarella

Additional narrative following tomorrow as it is now very late here & the ole eyeballs need a rest

Friday evening here there was a British TV program in relation to the brass barrel syringe as explained by @ron_benton . . Which is the very reason why this thread has been resurrected.

More to come late Sat 16/4 or early Sun

🦘

Sometimes what we think are enema syringes, might actually have been manufactured as a device to irrigate wounds, especially internal wounds that needed regular cleaning with some kind of disinfecting solution.

If the nozzle is short and thin, then chances are slim it was really an enema syringe. For those to work properly as an anal syringe, the nozzles need to be long and somewhat thick, otherwise a small thin nozzle can harm the anal muscles upon insertion.

I've bought quite a number of what I initially thought to be enema syringes over the years, but which turned out to be simple devices for irrigating wounds. Still nice stuff though.

But of course, seeing an image would help.