Mütter Museum is described as one of the spookiest places in the world. Noted for its display of various medical oddities, the museum is particularly known for having a large collection of skulls and skeletons. Wax sculptures of anomalies in skeletal systems and diseased organs create a frightening effect on visitors.
The museum is not only a venue focusing on advances in medicine and anatomical studies, but also a center of education and discovery that aims to delve deeper into human anatomy and explore different medical conditions. Visitors have the opportunity to more closely explore the unique structure of the human body and different pathologies by observing various medical oddities as well as impressive exhibits consisting of large collections of skulls and skeletons. Mütter Museum opens a window to the mysterious world of medicine, taking its visitors on an interesting and thought-provoking journey.
Information about Mütter Museum
Mütter Museumis an important museum in the field of medical history and science, located in the Center City district of Philadelphia. It houses a rich collection of anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models and antique medical equipment. This museum Philadelphia College of PhysiciansIt operates as part of. Dr. Donated by Thomas Dent Mütter on 11 December 1858, the collection initially had an educational purpose for medical professionals, students and members of the university.
The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is described as “a scientific institution dedicated to the advancement of science and medicine,” rather than a teaching institution. The museum’s collection includes more than 30,000 items, approximately 10% of which are currently on display. However, the collection does not include the extensive literary collection at the Historical Medical Library at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
Pieces of the collection have been purchased worldwide and Dr. Mütter’s money was used, as Ella Wade puts it, “in the same way sailors spend their money while sailing around the coastline.” In other words, Fellows of the College purchased certain museum materials while traveling around the world and were paid to cover the expenses associated with those purchases. Another part of the collection was donated from physicians’ private collections.
Exhibits at the Mütter Museum
Mütter Museum has an important collection, containing more than 3,000 osteological specimens. Among these examples, the fully articulated skeleton of an individual with FOP named Harry Raymond Eastlack is one of the most striking.
Other notable osteological examples include:
Mütter American Giant: It is one of the longest human skeletons on display in North America, measuring 7’6″ (228.6 cm) tall.
Hyrtl Skull Collection: It is a collection of 139 skulls belonging to the Austrian anatomist Josef Hyrtl. The primary purpose of this collection was to demonstrate the diversity in the cranial anatomy of Europeans and thereby refute phrenology’s claims to racial science.
Skeleton of Mary Ashberry, a patient with achondroplasia who died in 1856 due to medical negligence during childbirth.
Collection of 10 skulls and 5 skulls from the original Mütter donation with extensive syphilis involvement.
Mütter Museum Wet Collection and Wax Models
The Mütter Collection contains approximately 1,500 wet samples obtained between the 19th and 21st centuries. These samples include teratological samples, cysts, tumors, and other pathological conditions from various organs of the body.
Some examples included in this collection are:
The heart of Robert Pendarvis, who suffers from acromegaly. This sample was obtained from a living donor.
During the cholera epidemic of 1849, the curator of what was then known as the Pathological Cabinet of the Philadelphia College of Physicians, Dr. Intestinal samples collected by John Neill.
Along with real human specimens, the museum also exhibits a number of wax models depicting various pathologies in the human body. These models were generally produced by artists such as Parisian Tramond and Londoner Joseph Towne. These models were used for medical education when it was difficult to obtain and preserve cadavers. Skeletal remains were also used in the construction of some models.
One of the most famous wax models in the Mütter Museum belongs to Madame Dimanche, who had a “human horn (cornu Cutaneum)” and was the last known model. This model tells the story of an early 19th-century Parisian widow and is inspired by Dr. Part of the original collection of Thomas Dent Mütter (1811-1859).
Examples include the removal of a malignant tumor from the hard palate of President Grover Cleveland, the conjoined liver of the famous Siamese-American twins Chang and Eng Bunker, and a plaster body cast. Medical samples of historical significance include the removal of a piece of breast tissue from John Wilkes Booth, President Abraham Lincoln’s assassin, and a portion of the brain of Charles J. Guiteau, President James A. Garfield’s assassin.
Also noteworthy is the Chevalier Jackson Foreign Object Collection. Dr. This collection of 2,374 objects that Jackson removed from patients’ throats, esophagus, and lungs during his nearly 75-year career, ingested or inhaled, is an important medical and educational resource. Many of the items in this collection are exhibited in the Mütter Museum.
