This is an example of a double-fold, leather-wrapped pocket surgical kit carried by surgeons during the Civil War. Generally, each surgeon’s kit contained items the individual surgeon found most useful based on his experience in the field.
A standard issue kit usually contained 1 scalpel, 3 bistouries (long narrow knives for minor incisions), 1 tenotome, 1 gum lancet, 2 thumb lancets, 1 razor (small), 1 artery forceps, 1 dressing catheter, 6 yards of suture wire, ¼ ounce of ligature silk, ½ ounce of wax, and small scissors.
Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 30446
