October, 1913. 



KNOWLEDGE. 



377 



in their own bodies, and with the belief that by the 

 simple process adopted they would be cured. 



Adjacent to this exhibit, and coming like it from 

 tropical countries, we have quite the latest develop- 

 ment of modern zoological medicine ; for arranged 

 under microscopes are slides illustrating the most 

 important Protozoa which cause disease, and on the 

 walls are maps, diagrams, and pictures showing the 

 past history and present knowledge of malaria, yellow 

 fever, sleeping-sickness, and other diseases which 

 make themselves felt in hot climates. 



Exceedingly interesting is the series of portraits 

 and relics of Dr. Edward Jenner, the discoverer of 

 vaccination, which are in an alcove of the Gallery of 

 Pictures, and, indeed, not the least remarkable part 

 of the collection is that devoted to celebrated 

 medical men. 



Returning to the bacteriological side we are 

 reminded again and again of the great benefits of 

 antiseptic surgery. At the same time there are 

 many pictures of operations performed in ancient 

 days which proved perfectly successful. In this 

 connection it may be mentioned that not a few of 

 the exhibits indicate what operations were like before 

 the introduction of anaesthetics. One peculiar 

 feature of the representations, whether they be of 

 operations, of post mortems, or of birth chambers, 

 is the large audience that has collected together in 

 most of the cases. 



As may be expected, a fair amount of space is 

 devoted to surgical instruments and their evolution, 

 but it must not be thought that there is not an 

 immense amount of material of general interest. 

 There is an excellent selection of charms and 

 talismans, including many Egyptian amulets, and 

 a feature which we have chosen to illustrate here 

 by the courtesy of the Museum Committee is 

 the reconstruction of ancient shops and labora- 

 tories. On page 375 we show the barber surgeon's 

 shop, the ceiling of which is decorated with bleeding- 

 dishes. Below, on the same page, we reproduce a 

 photograph of a Roman surgery in Pompeii, which 

 has been reconstructed for the Historical Medical 

 Museum, and the furniture and decoration of which 

 have been copied from the originals found in 

 Pompeii and Herculaneum. On page 376 is 

 depicted Liebig's laboratory, and also that of an 

 alchemist. 



Other points of special interest on the ground 

 floor are the representation of a lying-in room of 

 the sixteenth century, the chapel showing votive 

 tablets, chiefly from Perugia, which were offerings 

 put up out of gratitude by those who had recovered 

 from accidents or disease during the seventeenth, 

 eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. We must not 

 forget to mention also a London pharmacy of the 

 eighteenth century. The shop front is the original 

 of that established in 1798 by John Hell, the founder 

 of the Pharmaceutical Society. The room at the 

 back contains the actual fittings from a pharma- 

 ceutical laboratory of the eighteenth century which 

 once stood in Russell Street, Covent Garden. 



It would be impossible within the limits of a single 

 article to give a really comprehensive account of all 

 that Mr. Henry S. Wellcome and his able assistant, 

 Mr. C. S. Thompson, have got together, but we may 

 mention a few things which have attracted our 

 attention during our visits to which allusion has not 

 yet been made. 



Among the very many pictures are representations 

 of Ambroise Pare using the ligature when amputat- 

 ing on the battlefield at the siege of Baravilliers in 

 1552 ; of William Gilbert demonstrating the magnet 

 before Queen Elizabeth ; of William Harvey 

 explaining his theory of the circulation of the blood 

 to Charles I ; and of Leeuwenhoek with his micro- 

 scope. Elsewhere there is a fine collection of early 

 microscopes, which alone would be worth a visit to 

 the Museum. 



A case not mentioned in the catalogue contains 

 the shirt, drawers, and garters worn by Charles I on 

 the scaffold, together with touch-pieces, mostly 

 nobles from the reign of Henry VIII onwards, used 

 in connection with touching for king's evil. 



The frieze in the gallery of pictures represents the 

 sculptured reliefs in the birth-house at Luxor 

 illustrating the birth of Amenophis III, 1450 B.C. 



In the gallery devoted to books, manuscripts, and 

 diplomas we find a demand from the Rector and 

 Council of the University of Pavia to the Inquisitor 

 of Witches. It appears that the anatomical depart- 

 ment of the University was entitled to the body of 

 one malefactor every year, but that they had not had 

 one for six years; and hearing that a woman had 

 been sentenced to be burned alive for witchcraft, the 

 authorities applied to the Inquisitor, requesting him 

 to choose some other method of killing her, so that 

 her body might be useful, not only to the University 

 of Pavia, but to the world at large. 



We are shown also the contents of the opium den 

 raided in the east end of London which previously 

 had furnished Charles Dickens with his references 

 to opium smoking in " The Mystery of Edwin 

 Drood." The evolution of the infant's feeding bottle 

 from a cow's horn is illustrated, and there are some 

 interesting models of and original parturition chairs. 

 A Sicilian one of the latter, dating from the 

 eighteenth century, was believed to possess special 

 powers, and was known as "The Miraculous Chair 

 of Palermo." It was in the possession of a famous 

 family of midwives for three generations, and it is 

 estimated to have been used in two thousand cases. 



With the instruments of torture we find a number 

 of appliances used for restraining the insane from 

 the fifteenth to the eighteenth century. There are 

 ancient weights and measures, and a collection of 

 curious materials used in medicine. It is understood 

 that the Museum will be made a permanent one, as 

 a great many of the objects belong to Mr. Wellcome 

 or have been presented, while a number of those 

 who have lent specimens will allow them to remain 

 for some time on exhibition. The Museum is not 

 open to the public, but members of learned societies 

 can gain admission. 



