A beautiful example of the Pravaz syringe by Charriere Collin & Cie.

The syringe and needles are silver plated and come in the original fitted silk and velvet lined leather case. The plunger is graduated and the dose could be limited by adjusting screw at its proximal end. A compartment in the lid of the case contains wires to keep the needles patent.

There is contention over who first invented the syringe and there was similar experimentation around the mid 19th century in England, Ireland and France. Francis Rynd an Irish physician designed a hollow needle without a sharp point which he used to infuse fluid subdermally through a tube in 1844. Charles Pravaz a French physician developed the first practical metal syringe and added a fine hollow needle to the end of his syringe in 1853. He used this for intra-articular injection although they were later used for opiate injection. In the same year Alexander Wood first injected a patient with morphine for the relief of pain with his hypodermic syringe.

• From the Phisick collection