A leg amputation saw. This ebony-handled surgical tool was used to saw through bone. It dates from the eighteenth century and is English in origin. Amputation procedures involve the surgical removal of diseased limbs. Amputation was generally the only treatment option when infection or trauma occurred in the limbs and extremities in eighteenth century medicine, before the introduction of antibiotics and more refined surgical techniques. In this era, pre-anaesthesia and before the implementation of antiseptic techniques, survival rates for amputees were very low.