A historical medical instrument designed to measure or control the application of leeches in bloodletting therapy.
From Greek 'bdella' (βδέλλα) meaning 'leech,' combined with '-meter' (μέτρον) meaning 'measure.' This specialized instrument was developed during the height of leech-based medical practice.
Medieval doctors were so committed to bloodletting that they invented special instruments just to measure and apply leeches—the bdellometer is a fossil of abandoned medicine, preserved in a single surviving word!
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