According to the ancient theory of the four humours, illnesses are caused by an imbalance in the bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, light bile and dark bile). The balance between the humours can supposedly be restored using purging therapies (bloodletting, enemas, laxatives or emetics). Diverting procedures such as the later Kneipp therapy, on the other hand, are supposed to transport inflammatory substances, blood, waste products and energy to the surface of the skin or redistribute them around the body.
The theory of the four humours attempted to systematically identify and explain the different physical conditions of human beings – which was a step forward compared to the idea that illnesses were sent by God. The theory of the humours was already seen as outdated in the 17th century, but it continued to act as a brake on medical progress for a long time because it seemed so cohesive and logical.
Purging therapies such as cupping and skin-irritating procedures such as acupuncture are still used today in naturopathy, a form of alternative medicine – albeit with a different medical understanding.
Workshop of Samuel Goldschmidt, Berlin
Glass, metal, hard rubber, approx. 1870/1880
University of Zurich medical collection
MHSZ 17914
The tip of the vaccination lancet has turned blue from being sterilised over an open flame. It is screwed into the glass tube with the tip facing inwards. In this way, the secretion obtained using the vaccination lancet (e.g. infected lymph) can be kept sterile during transport and used to “inoculate” a healthy person as a protective vaccination.
Metal, wood, early 19th century
University of Zurich medical collection
MHSZ 17914
As long ago as the High Middle Ages, people were already being “vaccinated” in India and China. Inoculation, as it was then called, involved using a knife or lancet to draw material from a pustule on the skin of a person who had just recovered from smallpox and then introducing it to a healthy person’s body so that they would develop immunity.
Brass, steel, 18th century
Wilhelm Fabry Museum, Hilden
00634
According to the theory of the four humours, whenever there was too much of a particular humour in the body, it needed to be removed. This bloodletting lancet is fitted with a lever that controls the blade. The practitioner would have placed the lancet on the patient’s skin and then pressed the trigger to release the blade, making a quick half-centimetre incision in the skin.
Brass, steel, wood, leather
Denmark, 18th century
Wilhelm Fabry Museum, Hilden
00632
This bloodletting lancet from Denmark was stored in a precisely padded case. On the lid, the advice ‘Do not trust it stings’ warns of the device's sharp blade.
Tin, bronze, around 1800
Wilhelm Fabry Museum, Hilden
00625
The air in the cupping glass is heated so that when it is placed on the skin a vacuum is created, stimulating blood flow. In the past, the effect was heightened by scratching the surface of the skin (“bloody cupping”).