Ah, the country doctor with his black bag. Always on call, always on horseback, always at bedsides. But how much real doctoring was he able to do? What did he carry in that doctor’s black bag?
Asking Grandma Google (smile) and finding a list on a British website, Steampunk Forum, I share it with you:
The Gladstone, or General Doctor’s Bag, generally had less than you might imagine. The Doctor of 1880-1900 did not regularly carry that much in the way of actual medicine beyond what he expected to use on the specific patient.
You would normally find the following:
Ear Trumpet or Stethoscope
Folding Magnifying Glass
Lancets
eyedropper;
thermometer;
Small kit of Scalpels
Small selection of forceps and tweezers and scissors
A small sewing kit, using “catgut” sutures
Syringes and needles kit for injections
Syringe for Lavage
sevveral sizes of Speculum
Ear “spoon”
Small kit of Probes
Possibly one or more “cupping” devices
Alcohol lamp
Possibly small glass bottles or jars and/or slides to collect samples,
perhaps several leather straps to use as tourniquets or restraints
Small number of opiate or morphine based ampules.
or ampules for “Cocaine and Adrenalin Solution”
Antiseptics and Antibiotics were not available until after ca 1900 or later.
Surprisingly you would not find bandages and the sort of things you see in a modern EMT kit. Bandages were far to bulky for a Doctor to carry, and he would rely upon the patient’s family to provide them. Cleanliness was optional, and Sterility was unheard of. Even up until the 1890’s Doctors had to be vigorously encouraged to wash their hands between patients, and few bothered with alcohol sterilization.
