Antique 19thc Treen Single Turned Fruitwood Veterinary Fleam Mallet.

A very good example of a mid 19thc veterinary fleam mallet made of fruitwood....it has attractive "incised" ring turn decoration.....fleam mallets were used by vets to tap the fleam, a hand held blood letting instrument into the sick animals vein....the blood letting it was believed, would aid recovery in certain cases.....the fleam is in excellent condition....if you look at the photographs , you can see the marks on the mallet, made by tapping the hard blade of the fleam this tell us what the mallet was used for.
English. C1860-80.