Rasp and drill, Richards, , 1975-1990

The fact that the instruments for certain surgical procedures have not changed much since the seventeenth century is shown by the bone rasp and drill, which are still used today by the orthopaedic surgeon. With a few minor changes they could have come straight out of the 'medicine box' of a seventeenth-century surgeon. The main difference from the seventeenth century is that nowadays these instruments are used by the orthopaedic surgeon to repair complicated fractures or for attaching prosthetic material made of metal or plastic. Before the discovery of the importance of hygiene in surgical operations, the relevant body parts would have been amputated to create a more easily treatable wound.