systematic embryo logical collections were present in the 

 Kunstkamera: "bottles with specimens of human fetal 

 development, from the earliest form of the embryo to the 

 complete mature fetus. There are also different monsters 

 both human and animal."^ 



The reading public in Russia at the end of the eighteenth 

 and beginning of the nineteenth centuries was informed about 

 the richness of the collections of the Kunstkamera, in 

 particular about the presence there of the embryological 

 preparations, by "Pismovnik," which was a widely distributed 

 popular work of Professor N. G. Kurganov. 5 The author of 

 the first work on the history of medicine in Russia, Professor 

 V. M. Richter, characterized these collections by writing: 6 



that among these preparations primary attention 

 is given and astonishment is produced by the 

 representation of the birth of man, the constant 

 formation and development of the fetus from the 

 earliest beginning to complete maturation. 

 This collection is composed solely of 110 

 embryos (embryos and fetuses) representing 

 the constant growth of the infant from the 

 size of a grain to complete formation of the 

 infant. Here also the embryo which has just 

 come from the fallopian tube is present . . . 

 The last is so delicate and transparent, 

 that one can easily see in the first months 

 the position and also the formed organs. 

 The rich collection of monsters must be 

 added to this. 



Petersburg, 1720. "A Polish Eye-witness' Notes," OLD 

 RUSSIA, X, June 1879, pp. 263 - 290, quotation p. 271. 

 Ntikolai Gavrilovich) Kurganov, PISMOVNIK, containing 

 science of Russian language with many adherences of 

 different educational and useful amusing words. 1802. 

 (The first edition appeared in 1777.) (7) 

 V. M. Richter, HISTORY OF MEDICINE IN RUSSIA, 

 I (1814) , pp. 30, 31. 



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