et held by the
Academy of Medicine, Toronto. Photo courtesy of the Academy.)]

Several inventors tried to improve upon the scarificator. The defects of
the ordinary scarificator were widely recognized. It was too bulky and
heavy, and it cost too much--the most inexpensive scarificator offered by
George Tiemann & Co. in 1889 cost $4.50.[144] A strong hand was required
to trigger the blades, and when the trigger was released, the force of the
spring was so great that the lever moved back with great force and
produced a loud, unpleasant click. The force of the lever moving against
the case of the scarificator made it impossible to use any but expensive
materials (brass and German silver) in making the scarificator casing.
Furthermore, the springs were liable to break. Finally, the scarificator
was difficult to clean.[145] Late in the century, when sterilization
became important, some cuppers went back to the lancet because the
scarificator could not be surgically cleansed. The surprising thing is,
that despite all the defects, the same scarificator was sold in 1930 as in
1830. Either the claims of the inventors of improved scarificators were
unjustified, or cuppers were unwilling to try novel instruments in what
was becoming an old-fashioned and increasingly less popular operation.
(Figure 16.)

A few British and American surgical supply companies sold special models
of scarificator, but always in addition to the common scarificator. The
special models were generally higher in price. For example, the
Englishman, James Coxeter, announced in 1845 a new scarificator with a
rotating lever on the side instead of a cocking lever on the top. The
roto-lever, according to Coxeter, could be turned to set the scarificator
by a child of six. Furthermore, the scarificator was so constructed that
when the spring was released only internal parts moved. There was no lever
that snapped back and no resounding click. This special model of
scarificator continued to be sold by Coxeter and Son (London) until late
in the nineteenth century.[146]

Coxeter did not patent the roto-lever scarificator. In fact, through 1852
there were no British patents on scarificators. In contrast, there were
eight French patents on scarificators before 1860.[147] Of these, the most
important was the 1841 patent of Joseph-Frederic-Benoit Charriere
(1803-1973), a Swiss-born cutler who founded a major surgical supply
company in Paris. Charriere's octagonal scarif