brass example in its historical collection, documenting its connection to this once-common treatment. These objects record what practitioners believed at the time; their existence does not establish that those treatments worked.
A Real Object, Not an Internet Invention
The Smithsonian also preserves scarificators, including a twelve-bladed model made by Frederick Leypoldt of Philadelphia, who advertised himself as a manufacturer of scarificators and spring lancets.
That detail brings the object closer to home. Someone designed it, manufactured it, sold it, and expected it to be useful.
