[The Vienna obstetric forceps]

The 'Wiener Schulzange' was first used by the Second Medical School in Vienna, the beginning of which must be assumed around the year 1848, and goes back to Sir James Young Simpson in Edinburgh and Carl Braun Ritter von Fernwald in Vienna. The forceps was produced in Vienna by Josef Leiter, who was well known for making surgical instruments. Names like Francis Henry Ramsbotham, John Aitken, David Evans, Dietrich Wilhelm Heinrich Busch and Hermann Josef Brünninghausen are connected with the development of the Viennese forceps; its English lock goes back to William Smellie. The arms of the Viennese forceps, which, being a forceps of the crossed type, forms a two-armed lever, were originally forged from one piece each and brazed with the separately manufactured handles.