WIP DESCRIPTION - one time i told my friend about how cheap it was to get a specific type of leeches and how easy it was to take care of them and they can feed from you but i wouldn't want to have one without getting a custom modern leech jar and all he said was that i'd be like that twitter user who went viral for letting her pet leech feed from her. yeah bro i guess 

Last Updated: June 6th, 2026

 (WIP) It was probably the most common medical practice for over 2000 years. Isn't that fascinating? It only really started to The history of bloodletting in general is one of my favorite topics but I also adore the history of the tools used for it as well. My absolute favorite device is the scarificator. 

I designed my own heurteloup’s artificial leech set for a future tattoo, taking inspiration from predominantly the 1890-1920 german ones. I would also love to make a scarificator blade tattoo design but I have yet to find a way to make that... look good in any way, haha. 

Douglas Arbittier of medicalantiques.com has a brilliant private collection of medical antiques and on the second page of his site's museum tour, you can see display cases full of artificial leeches, spring-loaded bleeders, lancets, and more! Can you spot the scarificators among them? Theres even a couple leech jars in the showcase cabinets. If you want to know more about the different types of antique bloodletting and leeching instruments, Arbittier has a whole page dedicated entirely to them.