A fine, large-gauge Victorian brass medical pump syringe with a highly sophisticated mechanism, a wonderful piece of 19th-century English medical engineering, a continuous-flow enema, stomach pump, or deep-cavity irrigation syringe. 
The Mechanism: Instead of a simple single-nozzle tip, this features a complex, side-mounted lever-operated two-way valve at the nose. 
 
How it worked: Flexible rubber or canvas hoses would be screwed onto the threaded brass fittings, one hose went into a reservoir basin of liquid (such as warm water, saline, or medicinal mixtures), and the other nozzle was attached to an anatomy-specific probe.
 
The Lever: By compressing the spring-loaded lever along the cylinder body, the doctor could instantly toggle the internal valve, switching the flow between drawing fluid in from the basin and pumping fluid out under high pressure into the patient, without ever having to stop and detach the syringe. It was used for clearing intestinal blockages, washing out wounds, or pumping stomachs in poisoning cases.
 
Dating & The Maker
The Inscription: The beautiful, crisp stamped plaque on the barrel features the British Royal Coat of Arms and reads: "Salt & Son, Cutlers to the Queen, Surgical Instrument Manufacturers, Birmingham".
 
The Date: c. 1870–1885 (Mid-to-Late Victorian).
 
Salt & Son was a renowned firm operating out of Bull Street, Birmingham. They were granted the prestigious Royal Warrant as "Cutlers to the Queen" (Queen Victoria), which they proudly displayed on their instruments. The use of heavy architectural brass combined with a natural organic handle firmly places this in the pre-1890 era, before the medical community fully transitioned to sterilisable all-metal or glass syringes.
 
The syringe measures 26cm (10.24") in length.
 
This item is offered strictly as a curiosity/collectable only with no practical purpose.