600-Year-Old Chinese Surgical Tools Found Coated in Early Anesthetic

Residue on 600-year-old surgical instruments from a Ming dynasty tomb in China contains the earliest chemical evidence of a topical anesthetic. The tools—iron scissors and tweezers—belonged to physician Xia Quan (born 1348) and were excavated in 1974 in Jiangsu Province. Researchers from Northwest University, led by Congcang Zhao, used Micro-Raman Spectroscopy to identify aconitine, a toxic compound from Aconitum plants, on the instruments. The study, published in Antiquity, suggests Ming dynasty practitioners processed the poison into an anesthetic powder called Caowu San, enabling pain-free surgery. The tools are held at the Jiangyin Museum. This predates Europe's first local anesthetic, cocaine, by centuries.