Further considerations upon the organization of an ideal medical museum / by D. Bryson Delavan.

  • Delavan, D. Bryson (David Bryson), 1850-1942
Date:
[1932?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Further considerations upon the organization of an ideal medical museum / by D. Bryson Delavan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    of that great institution for many generations, was dismembered and scattered. The valuable collections of Valentine Mott and of James R. Wood of Bel¬ levue are no longer heard of, although the latter is in obscure existence. The priceless memorabilia as¬ sembled by Dr. Robert Abbe and relating to Benja- man Rush, Edward Jenner, Louis Pasteur, Joseph Lister, and Madame Curie was deposited in another city because there was no proper place here for its reception. These, together with numberless speci¬ mens of all kinds, found at various hospitals, held in private ownership or exhibited at scientific meetings, either have been irrevocably lost or, for want of a proper repository, are indefinitely awaiting install¬ ment. Their retention, care and exhibition might have rendered them the basis of a fine institution. The value of the concentration of material re¬ sources and of the stimulation of efficient work has been abundantly recognized in other directions; ap¬ plied to the medical museum, the realization of this has been late in coming. As a factor in general and medical education, an incentive to investigation, an aid in the accretion of new knowledge, a means for the addition to and the improvement of exhibits already represented, its importance cannot be over¬ estimated. [Already medical museum technic has be¬ come a highly developed art, as demonstrated in the recent series of exhibits in the department of car¬ diology, beautifully set forth at the New York Acad¬ emy of Medicine, October 19-30, 193L] Equipped to furnish the best possible means for the preparation, preservation, mounting, and exhibit¬ ing of specimens of every kind entrusted to it, these important details being executed by experts and under the most favorable conditions, the museum would become the depository of choice for minor col¬ lections already assembled, as well as for all desir¬ able specimens, individual or in groups which, as al¬ ready suggested, would otherwise be ultimately lost or else ruined through want of proper care. The lack of such a depository of permanent character has resulted in the loss of rare opportunities. The promise of faultless preparation, permanent care, intelligent exhibition, and the honor of placing one’s name in an institution so conducted, would attract the best of everything.