Existing comment:
The Collection that Teaches
History and Research
"I have numerous specimens for you -- have put them in ale barrels with some whisky + chlorinated soda upon them + have buried barrels and all in the ground.
What shall I do with them? We will have more every day for a month to come."
-- H.K. Neff, Surgeon, 3rd Division General Hospital, August 9, 1865
The National Museum of Health and Medicine began collecting objects in 1862 after the Army Medical Department ordered that "all specimens of morbid anatomy" be gathered from Civil War battlefields. Since then, the Museum's holdings have grown to more than 25,000,000 specimens, slides, photographs, artifacts, artworks, and documents. While only a fraction is on display, all collections contribute to medical and historical research. |