Toward the back of the store we noted lots of luggage and
handbags. I looked through them and found this: Upon opening
this bag I peered inside and much to my delight, found this:
Careful inspection disclosed surgical knives, a tourniquet,
trephining burr (used for boring holes in the head to remove
demons causing epilepsy, insanity, or worse) and a saw – likely
used for amputation. In the corner of the kit, was this sterile
catgut suture dispenser, for No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 catgut
suture, made by Johnson & Johnson, of New Brunswick, NJ, USA.
(Hence the "hint" of my prior post: a "cat's gut"... my
apologies to cat lovers out there ...) The only markings on the
equipment were those of the packages of sutures and bandages
inside. At first I thought the kit was a post-mortum surgical
kit, but the findings of the trephine and the sterile catgut
(why would a mortician need sterile catgut?) made a surgical
amputation kit near the turn of the 20th century more likely.
Although I have not been able to identify whic