Recently whilst drinking in a pub near Holborn station, I realised I was near a museum I'd wanted to visit since I first moved to London. So with some great persuasive efforts I managed to entice my friends away from the warmth and comfort of an open fire and pint of ale to walk to the royal college of surgeons. In the basement of which is the Huntarian musuem, a collection of anatomical specimens either partially dissected to showcase the intricacies of the body, or exhibited to highlight interesting examples of errant homeostatic processes.
Entering John Hunters massive collection, one is instantly staged by the array of formaldehyde filled jars, and instantly the curiousty and "where to start first" sensation takes over.
I thought you could take pictures, but after one I was instantly chastised, here it is though (not the best example of the diverse array of anatomical specimens - so there's a website pic below as well)
A brief aside to overview who John Hunter was: born in 1728, his brother William was a surgeon, and John soon became fascinated in anatomy himself. After training in Scotland he was enlisted as a war surgeon, working and intricately documenting war wounds. Much later he became a member of the royal college of surgeons, and following his demise, the college purchased his large collection of anatomical dissections for exhibition.
As well as documenting war wounds, Hunter also had a fascination with a swathe of then undiscovered/under analysed bodily functions. Amongst Hunters passions within anatomy lay a curiosity with the digestive and lymphatic system. Enter a vast array of different animals with outer tissue removed to expose the underlying labyrinth of intestines and sections cut out identifying the duodenum and other notable characteristics of the digestive tract. Turn a corner and you'll be greeted (without warning), of Hunter's collection of foeti, as he was the first to definitively map the development of children within the womb. Interesting in other exhibitions showing what some may feel "inflammatory" exhibits of foetal anatomical dissections (i.e. Gunther van Hagens Body Worlds) there are a host of warnings and signs. I felt much better that there were none of these things, as this isn't some crude freak show, but documentation of the then forefront of scientific understanding.
Speaking of freak shows, there are exhibits of what Hunter obviously felt were (undoubtedly) curious human subjects. Taking the pedestal is the 7ft 7" skeleton of Irish giant Charles Byrne. Also included is the skull of an individual with severe, untreated hydroencephalitis, resulting in a massive and deformed cranium, alongside which is a manipulated skull from the peruvian Nazca culture, which made the main non-fictional element to the 4th Indiana Jones film - similar to this one pictured (if it were transparent and stuffed with cling film - crystal effect yeah)
Entering John Hunters massive collection, one is instantly staged by the array of formaldehyde filled jars, and instantly the curiousty and "where to start first" sensation takes over.
I thought you could take pictures, but after one I was instantly chastised, here it is though (not the best example of the diverse array of anatomical specimens - so there's a website pic below as well)
As well as documenting war wounds, Hunter also had a fascination with a swathe of then undiscovered/under analysed bodily functions. Amongst Hunters passions within anatomy lay a curiosity with the digestive and lymphatic system. Enter a vast array of different animals with outer tissue removed to expose the underlying labyrinth of intestines and sections cut out identifying the duodenum and other notable characteristics of the digestive tract. Turn a corner and you'll be greeted (without warning), of Hunter's collection of foeti, as he was the first to definitively map the development of children within the womb. Interesting in other exhibitions showing what some may feel "inflammatory" exhibits of foetal anatomical dissections (i.e. Gunther van Hagens Body Worlds) there are a host of warnings and signs. I felt much better that there were none of these things, as this isn't some crude freak show, but documentation of the then forefront of scientific understanding.
Speaking of freak shows, there are exhibits of what Hunter obviously felt were (undoubtedly) curious human subjects. Taking the pedestal is the 7ft 7" skeleton of Irish giant Charles Byrne. Also included is the skull of an individual with severe, untreated hydroencephalitis, resulting in a massive and deformed cranium, alongside which is a manipulated skull from the peruvian Nazca culture, which made the main non-fictional element to the 4th Indiana Jones film - similar to this one pictured (if it were transparent and stuffed with cling film - crystal effect yeah)All in all, this museum was more exciting and interesting than I expected, and apart from making my friends wait while I finished watching a 'how-to' video documenting brain tumour removal, they came away feeling much the same.
Highly recommended - 4.5 dissected limbs out of 5....
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