Spatula Mundani

In a WSJ article on the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, the early English settlement, author Mark Yost makes a reference that makes me sit up and take notice, literally. The Jamestown museum houses an invention by a local surgeon, James Woodall, called the Spatula Mundani.

"It was a long metal rod with a flat scooper at one end and a sharp probe at the other, Yost explains." What was this surgical invention for, you ask? I'll tell you. In Dr. Woodall's own words, it was to treat "severe constipation," a disease that "killeth many."












A scooper?
No WAY!