volsellae
VOLSELLAE(τριχολαβίς, τριχολάβιον), a pair of tweezers (Plant. Curc. 4.4, 21; Mart. 9.28, 5). The extent to which the practice of pulling out hairs was carried, both among Greeks and Romans, has been noticed under PSILOTHRUMFor the slaves, both male and female, employed for this purpose, see ALIPILUSSeveral examples of ancient tweezers have been discovered; some joined with a rivet at the back like scissors, others, as in the illustration, made of flexible metal (Marquardt, Privatl. 581; Becker-Göll, Gallus, 3.241).
Some of the smaller kinds of forceps used as surgical instruments are likewise called volsellae by Celsus (6.12.1; 6.18.3; 7.10.7). One of these is figured by Rich s. v.; see also the cut No. 17 under CHIRURGIAin Vol. I.
[W.W](τριχολαβίς). (1) A pair of tweezers for pulling out hair (Mart. ix. 28, 5).
(2) A pair of forceps (Celsus, vi. 12, 1) used by surgeons and dentists. See chirurgia.