Rare Daran 19th Century French Aneurysm Needle Medical Surgical Instrument
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:135635 | Maker: M. Daran, Paris |
18.2 cm long 19th century aneurysm needle (a.k.a. ligature carrier or artery needle) from M. Daran, a very uncommon French manufacturer. Found in Belgium in a wooden chest with 7 other instruments, 3 of which are marked Daran a' Paris, as is this item. All 8 instruments fit perfectly into this chest (#1). Daran was a little known Parisian 19th century surgical instrument maker. Elisabeth Bennion lists 59 French surgical instrument houses in her list of European instrument m...akers on pages 340-41 of her 1979 Antique Medical Instruments, but Daran is not listed among them; Daran instruments would appear to be rare. The internet has only one pictured (trepanation) set (said to be c. 1820), and no individual instruments that I can find. The 1889 Tiemann catalog spelled it "aneurism" needle.
The cross-hatched ebony handle is 9.9 cm long, 11 mm wide and 6 mm thick. Instrument's tip is blade-shaped, blunted, and 4.5 mm wide with a 2 mm diameter circular "eye". Most of the polished steel shaft is shiny with some minor areas of darkening, shown in photos. Some color change at the joint seen from the side (see photos 11 & 12). The shaft is firmly attached with no suggestion of wobble. A beautiful instrument.Ricasso just forward of the attachment is 8 mm wide, 2.0 mm thick along the back. Two pins attach blade to handle. On one side, the cross-hatching of the ebony has minor damage at the pin sites, possibly occurring during assembly or later, see photos 5 & 7. Instrument still shows very impressivelyin the hand. DARAN A PARIS hallmark is strong.This instrument was used to pass a ligature (string, suture) around a vascular structure to tie it. Generally, when this was used, it was not for a transected vessel, as during an amputation or an injury. Rather, It would be used in tying an intact vessel, either above & below an injury, or above an below an aneurysm. The ligature might also be applied only proximal to the aneurysm or injury (as in John Hunter's famous arterial ligation for popliteal aneurysm in December, 1785), in order to diminish flow to the area in question. The instrument might be used by going around the artery empty, then the ligature placed through the eye on the far side of the vessel, then brought back under the vessel by withdrawing the instrument from behind, thus carrying the ligature around the artery. Or, the instrument could be pre-loaded with the ligature in the eye, then passed around the vessel, then the ligature pulled free from the eye on the far side of the vessel, with the now empty instrument being withdrawn. At least both sides of the vessel had to be freed up from surrounding tissues before attempting to pass the instrument around...it would be safest to also free up the back wall also, before attempting to pass this carrier around it. The idea was not to make a hole in the artery's back wall while passing the ligature carrier around the artery, causing a hemorrhage from an area difficult to see.
Originally, I found almost no information on Daran as a 19th centuryinstrument maker, but further research has uncovered the following:
-they were located at #4 RueGit-le-Coeur (a stone's throw from the Cathedral of Notre Dame).
-the company is mentionedtwice in a monograph on speculua by E H Vernhes, published in 1848, asthe maker of two of the devices discussed (Monographie sur le Dioptre ouSpeculum, etc.).
-M. Daran is listed as one of155 makers of cutlery in France in a published list in 1896 (La Coutelleriedepius l'origine jusqua' nos jous).-M. Daran is listed as an exhibitor in the 1850 Exposition Nationale of theProducts of Industry, Manufacturers, and Agriculture, and there listed as therecipient of a honorable mention and bronze medal at this exhibition(Exposition National des Produits de L'Industrie Agricole et ManufacturiersJury Central (Impr. Nationale)). Daran is mentioned as leaving nothing to bedesired in terms of execution of the instruments nor their moderate price.
-Dr. Jacques Daran is listedas a prominent French surgeon, born 1701, died 1784. He had a specialinterest in the treatment of gonorrhea and was apparently known as an earlygynecological urologist. His methods of treatment for gonorrhea in thepre-antibiotic era are published, including the use of specific female speculuminstruments in this process. It is possible (only speculative) that thetwo Darans were of the same family and that the origin and/or direction ofdevelopment of the Daran surgical instrument company may have been related to theneed for various specula by the older Jacques in his treatment protocols.
Read further for specificreferences to M. Daran as an instrument maker:
Nouvelles demonstrationsd'accouchements (New Developments inDeliveries), Jacques Pierre Maygrier, 1840 (translated from pag 431):
A good forceps must be made ofsteel and not of iron: composed of the latter, it is heavy, folds and deforms;in steel, on the contrary, it is light, ready and not deformed. The one weusually use has the solid button and the key of a new form (Plate LXXIII, bis, Fig. 6). This key acts circularly, and not from top to bottom, as with theother forceps (1).(1) All the instruments of obstetricsperfectly established will be found in Paris, at M. Daran, manufacturer of cutlery, rue Git-le-Coeur, no. 4._____________From: Monographie sue leDioptre ou Speculum de Quelques Etats Organopathiques, E.H. Vernhes, 1848:
From page 68 (translated): Having heard that a double speculum had been presentedlast Tuesday, November 2nd, at the meeting of the Academy of Medicine, I havethe honor to inform you that I had it executed by Mr. Daran, manufacturer ofsurgical instruments, rue Git-le-Coeur, no. 4, a double speculum, from themonth of August last, and that since the following September, he is employedevery day before a large number of doctors in the service of Professor Piorryat the Pitie' Hospital.
From page 72 (translated): Fig. 44 (shows) a screen-type cylinder (vaginal) speculumacting as a drug carrier. It was executed by Mr. Daran, manufacturer ofsurgical instruments, rue Git-le-Coeur, no. 4, in Paris._______________
From Rapport du Jury Centralsur les Produits de l'Industrie Francaise, 1844, 1, Vol 1844, Issue 1, byFain et Thunot (translated): The surgical instruments made byMr. Daran are of a good quality and deserve an honorable mention from the jury._______________
From Rapport du Jury Centralsur les Produits de l'Agriculture et de l'Industrie, 1849, 3 (1850), vol 3(translated):
Mr. Daran exhibited for the firsttime in 1844. The products of his factory set the attention of the jury andearned him an honorable mention.
Those which he sets forth today leavenothing to be desired in terms of performance and modest prices. They are inuse in several hospitals in the provinces, and particularly in Cambrai, Chartres, La Rochelle, Nimes, etc. Among the new instruments presented bythis manufacturer are M. Badinier's needle-knife, intended to facilitate theoperation of the cataract by extraction: the urinary forceps of M. Bernard deVillefranche, for the extraction of urethral calculus; the forceps forsectioning and tearing nerves in physiological experiments; thespeculum-drug-carrier of Mr. Vernheer.The jury awards Mr. Daran a bronzemedal.___________________________
From: Annuaire général du commerce et de l'industrie, dela magistrature et de l'administration, ou, Almanach des 500, 000 adresses deParis, des départements et des pays étrangers, 1855:Under a largelisting of Fabricants d'Instruments de Chirurgie:Duran, M.H.1844/1849 Git-le-Coeur, 4, (in the yard on the right). This instrument fits perfectly into wooden chest #1 presently at auction by this seller.
The cross-hatched ebony handle is 9.9 cm long, 11 mm wide and 6 mm thick. Instrument's tip is blade-shaped, blunted, and 4.5 mm wide with a 2 mm diameter circular "eye". Most of the polished steel shaft is shiny with some minor areas of darkening, shown in photos. Some color change at the joint seen from the side (see photos 11 & 12). The shaft is firmly attached with no suggestion of wobble. A beautiful instrument.Ricasso just forward of the attachment is 8 mm wide, 2.0 mm thick along the back. Two pins attach blade to handle. On one side, the cross-hatching of the ebony has minor damage at the pin sites, possibly occurring during assembly or later, see photos 5 & 7. Instrument still shows very impressivelyin the hand. DARAN A PARIS hallmark is strong.This instrument was used to pass a ligature (string, suture) around a vascular structure to tie it. Generally, when this was used, it was not for a transected vessel, as during an amputation or an injury. Rather, It would be used in tying an intact vessel, either above & below an injury, or above an below an aneurysm. The ligature might also be applied only proximal to the aneurysm or injury (as in John Hunter's famous arterial ligation for popliteal aneurysm in December, 1785), in order to diminish flow to the area in question. The instrument might be used by going around the artery empty, then the ligature placed through the eye on the far side of the vessel, then brought back under the vessel by withdrawing the instrument from behind, thus carrying the ligature around the artery. Or, the instrument could be pre-loaded with the ligature in the eye, then passed around the vessel, then the ligature pulled free from the eye on the far side of the vessel, with the now empty instrument being withdrawn. At least both sides of the vessel had to be freed up from surrounding tissues before attempting to pass the instrument around...it would be safest to also free up the back wall also, before attempting to pass this carrier around it. The idea was not to make a hole in the artery's back wall while passing the ligature carrier around the artery, causing a hemorrhage from an area difficult to see.
Originally, I found almost no information on Daran as a 19th centuryinstrument maker, but further research has uncovered the following:
-they were located at #4 RueGit-le-Coeur (a stone's throw from the Cathedral of Notre Dame).
-the company is mentionedtwice in a monograph on speculua by E H Vernhes, published in 1848, asthe maker of two of the devices discussed (Monographie sur le Dioptre ouSpeculum, etc.).
-M. Daran is listed as one of155 makers of cutlery in France in a published list in 1896 (La Coutelleriedepius l'origine jusqua' nos jous).-M. Daran is listed as an exhibitor in the 1850 Exposition Nationale of theProducts of Industry, Manufacturers, and Agriculture, and there listed as therecipient of a honorable mention and bronze medal at this exhibition(Exposition National des Produits de L'Industrie Agricole et ManufacturiersJury Central (Impr. Nationale)). Daran is mentioned as leaving nothing to bedesired in terms of execution of the instruments nor their moderate price.
-Dr. Jacques Daran is listedas a prominent French surgeon, born 1701, died 1784. He had a specialinterest in the treatment of gonorrhea and was apparently known as an earlygynecological urologist. His methods of treatment for gonorrhea in thepre-antibiotic era are published, including the use of specific female speculuminstruments in this process. It is possible (only speculative) that thetwo Darans were of the same family and that the origin and/or direction ofdevelopment of the Daran surgical instrument company may have been related to theneed for various specula by the older Jacques in his treatment protocols.
Read further for specificreferences to M. Daran as an instrument maker:
Nouvelles demonstrationsd'accouchements (New Developments inDeliveries), Jacques Pierre Maygrier, 1840 (translated from pag 431):
A good forceps must be made ofsteel and not of iron: composed of the latter, it is heavy, folds and deforms;in steel, on the contrary, it is light, ready and not deformed. The one weusually use has the solid button and the key of a new form (Plate LXXIII, bis, Fig. 6). This key acts circularly, and not from top to bottom, as with theother forceps (1).(1) All the instruments of obstetricsperfectly established will be found in Paris, at M. Daran, manufacturer of cutlery, rue Git-le-Coeur, no. 4._____________From: Monographie sue leDioptre ou Speculum de Quelques Etats Organopathiques, E.H. Vernhes, 1848:
From page 68 (translated): Having heard that a double speculum had been presentedlast Tuesday, November 2nd, at the meeting of the Academy of Medicine, I havethe honor to inform you that I had it executed by Mr. Daran, manufacturer ofsurgical instruments, rue Git-le-Coeur, no. 4, a double speculum, from themonth of August last, and that since the following September, he is employedevery day before a large number of doctors in the service of Professor Piorryat the Pitie' Hospital.
From page 72 (translated): Fig. 44 (shows) a screen-type cylinder (vaginal) speculumacting as a drug carrier. It was executed by Mr. Daran, manufacturer ofsurgical instruments, rue Git-le-Coeur, no. 4, in Paris._______________
From Rapport du Jury Centralsur les Produits de l'Industrie Francaise, 1844, 1, Vol 1844, Issue 1, byFain et Thunot (translated): The surgical instruments made byMr. Daran are of a good quality and deserve an honorable mention from the jury._______________
From Rapport du Jury Centralsur les Produits de l'Agriculture et de l'Industrie, 1849, 3 (1850), vol 3(translated):
Mr. Daran exhibited for the firsttime in 1844. The products of his factory set the attention of the jury andearned him an honorable mention.
Those which he sets forth today leavenothing to be desired in terms of performance and modest prices. They are inuse in several hospitals in the provinces, and particularly in Cambrai, Chartres, La Rochelle, Nimes, etc. Among the new instruments presented bythis manufacturer are M. Badinier's needle-knife, intended to facilitate theoperation of the cataract by extraction: the urinary forceps of M. Bernard deVillefranche, for the extraction of urethral calculus; the forceps forsectioning and tearing nerves in physiological experiments; thespeculum-drug-carrier of Mr. Vernheer.The jury awards Mr. Daran a bronzemedal.___________________________
From: Annuaire général du commerce et de l'industrie, dela magistrature et de l'administration, ou, Almanach des 500, 000 adresses deParis, des départements et des pays étrangers, 1855:Under a largelisting of Fabricants d'Instruments de Chirurgie:Duran, M.H.1844/1849 Git-le-Coeur, 4, (in the yard on the right). This instrument fits perfectly into wooden chest #1 presently at auction by this seller.
