Fascinating piece, thanks. I remember reading something, it might have been Stephen King’s Danse Macabre, where the author was discussing human revulsion and wondering how different someone had to look to be considered a monster.
I’m glad to be living in a time and place where I have access to decent medical care, even if it can get pretty expensive at times.
Dr. Mütter’s museum is so beautifully macabre.
We, westerners that is, are so advanced and yet so backward at times. He was advancing the art and science of surgery yet he could have most likely found relief of his gout from Native American practices had their medicine been recognized and utilized.
Yes I love the Mütter Museum. It is basically a museum of a museum – a museum circa 1880. Until recently the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum was similar – a museum circa 1975 with the Cold War in full swing. Recently updates to the Air & Space museum have dampened this – I understand why – the curators felt justifiably that it was laughably dated in parts, but still I miss the feeling that I could go into a museum in 2005 and imagine myself in 1975. The Mütter Museum gets that the dated feel is a large part of its charm and hasn’t updated.
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