Harvard University. A descriptive catalogue of the Warren Anatomical Museum / by J B S Jackson.

  • J. B. S. Jackson
Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Harvard University. A descriptive catalogue of the Warren Anatomical Museum / by J B S Jackson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    INTRODUCTION. The Medical Department of Harvard University was es- tablished in the year 1782. In 1808 Dr. John C. Warren was appointed Adjunct Professor of Anatomy and Snrgery ; and, when that chair was vacated, in the year 1815, by the death of his father, Dr. W. was appointed to fill his place. How faith- fully and honorably to himself, and to the College, he per- formed the duties of his ofHce, and during a long period of years, is well known to the profession. The zeal with which he pursued his favorite studies, and with which he improved the opportunities that a very extensive professional practice afforded him, led to the collection of a great number of patho- logical and other specimens; and, on resigning his professor- ship, in 1847, the greater part of this collection was presented to the College, and with it the sum of $6,000, for its preserva- tion and increase. In acknowledgment of so valuable a dona- tion, the Corporation of the University voted that the Museum should be called by the name of its founder. Unfortunately, Dr. W.'s time was so fully occupied by his professional prac- tice, that but little was left to him for those records, or even references, upon which the value of the pathological portion of a museum so much depends. Before the transfer, however, was made to the College, Dr. W. had a record made of the specimens, from his dictation ; but it was, for the most part, and excepting a few references, a mere enumeration. The tendency to preserve interesting specimens is very strong in 80 devoted an anatomist and surgeon as Dr. W. alwa3's had been ; and the consequence was, that he collected a large num- ber of what raigl)t essentially be called duplicates. Patholog- ical specimens that resemble each other very closely arc often preserved in reference to their clinical history ; and the diver- 8