A good early 19th century set of three straight ebony handled trocars with silver sheathed cannulae in their embossed Moroccan leather case.

These could have been used for a variety of procedures requiring the aspiration of fluid from a cavity or cyst, from abdominal paracentesis (drainage of ascitic fluid from the abdominal cavity) to antral sinus washout (for the clearing of accumulated secretions from the sinuses in chronic sinusitis).

• From the Phisick collection