The Army Medical Museum : a history / by D.S. Lamb.

  • Daniel Smith Lamb
Date:
[1916?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The Army Medical Museum : a history / by D.S. Lamb. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    were sheds belonging to houses on E Street, which were a con¬ tinual menace, and at length, January i, 1875, one caught fire and the fire extended to the Museum, doing, however, little damage ; it was extinguished almost entirely by Museum employees who happened to be present, although it was New Year’s day. It is an interesting reminiscence to me that the part of the Museum assigned to and occupied by me for the next twenty- one years, was a part where had been the box in which President Lincoln was assassinated. The catalog of the surgical section of the Museum, prepared by Dr. Woodhull, was published this year, and the next year two more catalogs were published ; the medical section prepared by Woodward and the microscopical by Curtis. From time to time the Surgeon General issued circulars in re¬ gard to medical officers sending specimens to the Museum. This action seemed necessary to keep the matter in mind. One was issued April 4, 1867, in which specimens of Indian archaeology especially were requested. In January, 1868, Otis made^his initial effort towards acquiring Indian crania and continued the effort until a large number of them were added to the collection. He also arranged with the Smithsonian Institution' to exchange the specimens of Indian archaeology except crania for the crania that the Smithsonian had received. In this way the two museums tried to avoid duplicating subjects. Eventually,’however, the entire collection of Indian crania, several thousand in all, was trans¬ ferred to the U. S. National Museum. In the meantime Otis prepared a check list of the crania, which was published in 1876, and republished in 1880. Dr. Otis also in 1868 began a collection of specimens of diseases and injuries of the lower animals. Eventually, however, when the Department of Agriculture established a bureau for the study of these diseases and injuries, the Museum ceased its activity in this direction, though still receiving such specimens as w7ere con¬ tributed. From time to time the Museum has purchased specimens, more particularly anatomical models. It has also bought some specimens in series, mainly pathological, notably what was known as the “ Gibson” collection, made mainly by Prof. Win. Gibson, while Professor of Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania; it comprised 529 specimens; bought by the Museum in May, 1868. In 1886 the Museum bought the collection left by Prof. Frank Hamilton, of New York City, consisting of 150 specimens. It also bought a series of models of dissections made in cathcartine, in Edinboro, at the University; cathcartine is a mixture of glue and glycerine, and the formula was devised by Mr. Cathcart. Of the specimens in series that were contributed may be men¬ tioned especially the plaster casts of the skulls of the old Peruvians, showing trephining, part of the Muniz collection; bones from
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