Warren Anatomical Museum

Dublin Core

Title

Warren Anatomical Museum

Description

Artifacts and objects from the collections of the Warren Anatomical Museum.

In accordance with the wishes of Dr. John Collins Warren, by whom the founding collection was given to the Harvard Medical School, the Warren Anatomical Museum undertakes to maintain these collections, to add to them when feasible, and to make them available and useful for the study of medicine, anthropology, and the history of science. The Museum seeks to continue in the tradition of promoting the collection for the purposes of medical education in all forms whenever possible, as well as expand its scope to provide public programming and educational resources to the larger community.

Collection Items

Platinum/ palladium print of cast of child with tumor

Wet plate collodion print of eagle skeleton

Wet plate collodion print of eagle skeleton

Wet plate collodion print of eagle skeleton

Platinum/ palladium print of seven-fingered hand cast

Platinum/ palladium print of head cast of William Burke

Digital print of head cast of William Burke

Platinum/ palladium print of snapping turtle skeleton

Digital print of head cast of William Burke

Cyanotype print of head cast of William Burke

Platinum/ palladium print of dental preparations

Van Dyke Brown print of post-mortem set

Platinum/ palladium print of seven-fingered hand cast

Platinum/ palladium print of post-mortem set

Vial of sheep lung surfactant ("Surfactant TA")
Vials of Surfactant TA (Tokyo Akita), a modified sheep lung surfactant, brought back from Tetsuro Fujiwara's lab at Akita University School of Medicine, Japan, by Mary Ellen Avery. Building off of Avery's 1959 discovery that the cause of Respiratory…

Platinum/ palladium print of snapping turtle skeleton

Digital print of eagle skeleton

Digital print of cast of child with tumor

Digital print of post-mortem set

Digital print of head cast of William Burke

Digital print of eagle skeleton

Digital print of eagle skeleton

Digital print of eagle skeleton

Cast of child with tumor, 1876 [WAM 04635]
Hollow plaster case of head, neck, and upper portion of thorax of 10 year old boy with tumor on left side, painted white

Head Cast of William Burke, 1829 [WAM 03386.002]
A hollow plaster cast of a man's head and neck. Cast has section lines, possible phrenological, sculpted onto head. Mounted on base.

Seven-fingered hand cast "mirror hand," 1853 [WAM 00917]
The subject was a German machinist, age thirty-seven. Born in 1815. The patient believed the hand was an advantage at playing the piano. He died of chronic diarrhea at Massachusetts General Hospital in March 1852. The limb was removed and…

Questions intended for Charles Lowell
A set of questions intended for Charles Lowell to answer regarding the case Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes, in which he sued his physicians over a dislocated hip bone.

Questions intended for Dr. Warren and his surgical team
A handwritten list of questions written by Charles Lowell to be answered by Dr. John Collins Warren, Dr. James Mann, Dr. William Spooner, Dr. David Townsend, and Dr. Thomas Welsh for the sake of the case known as Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes. Lowell…

John C. Warren's answers to Charles Lowell's questions
Dr. Warren's written response to Charles Lowell's questions posed in the name of the Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes court case. Lowell sued his physicians over a dislocated hip bone, and Dr. Warren spoke on behalf of the defendents throughout the trial.

Letter to John C. Warren from Harrison Gray
The letter suggests to Dr. Warren that he publish his work on the Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes case independently of Charles Lowell. Lowell wants to publish the Deposition, but uses the defendant's names freely, so Gray encourages him to go to the…

Letter to John C. Warren from Charles Lowell
This letter is sent after Lowell visited Dr. Nathan Smith to get a second opinion on his hip's diagnosis. In it, Lowell explains that Dr. Smith disagrees with Warren, and believes that the bone is not (and has never been) dislocated.

Letter to John C. Warren from J. F. Flagg
The letter speaks of a drawing of the Os Innominatum that the author will send to Warren in order to illustrate his point in the trial of Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes.

Letter to John C. Warren from Dr. Franklin Bache
The letter is sent as a result of an article that appeared in the "N.A Medicine and Surgery Journal".

Letter to John C. Warren
A doctor sends the letter to Warren after reading his pamphlet on dislocations of the hip.

Letters to John C. Warren from Bradford
Two short letters sent in order to organize and prepare Warren's writing for publishing.

Letters to John C. Warren from James Jackson

Letter to John C. Warren from J. F. Flagg
The letter contains a discussion of both Charles Lowell's hip diagnosis as well as the court case, Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes.

Letter to John C. Warren from Dr. Maxwell McDowell
Dr. McDowell sends his compliments to Dr. Warren on his publication, "Letter to the Hon. Isaac Parker," regarding the Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes court case.

Letter to John C. Warren from Dr. Samuel Mitchell
Dr. Mitchell sends this letter after having read Dr. Warren's "Letter to the Hon. Isaac Parker," complimenting his work and dedication to the Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes case.

Statement from John C. Warren
A statement assessing Charles Lowell's character for the sake of the Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes trial.

Letter to John C. Warren from Dr. Benjamin Barrett
The letter discusses methods employed in setting a hip dislocation as a result of the ongoing trial, Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes.

Letter to John C. Warren from Gen. Dearborn

Letter to John C. Warren from Charles Lowell
A letter notifying Dr. Warren that Lowell wrote an article that appeared in the "American Traveller" that morning in which he used his name. He assures Warren that he did not intend to offend, and suggests that by bringing attention to him in the…

Cases of dislocation of the Os Femoris occurring at the Mass. Gen. Hospital
Handwritten chart from the records of Massachusetts General Hospital noting the following fields of information: date, name, kind (of hip dislocation), cause, date discharged, result, and remarks (notes on operation, e.g. with pulleys). The records…

Engraving of Charles Lowell's hip bone
An engraving depicting the mounted hip bone which appears in John Mason Warren's "Surgical Observations with Cases and Operations" to illustrate his discussion of the Lowell case.

Photographs of Charles Lowell's hip bone mounted on display
Four photographs taken of Lowell's hip bone from different angles, so it is possible to see the calcification of bone, in addition to the formation of a new socket below the acetabulum.

A Letter to the Hon. Isaac Parker
John C. Warren's published account of the trial, Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes.

"Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes: A celebrated malpractice suit in Maine"
An overall presentation of the facts and analyses confronted in the Lowell hip case.

"Surgical Observations with Cases and Operations"
An examination of the Lowell hip case by Dr. Jonathan Mason Warren, over 40 years after the trial took place. He looks at the disected hip bone - Charles Lowell died in 1858 - in an attempt to discover what really happened.

Eastport Sentinel article 1
A write-up in the local Maine newspaper about the Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes trial. It discusses the case, and nicely outlines all of the contradicting professional diagnoses.

Eastport Sentinel article 2
A copy of a review of the Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes case that was originally published in the Medical Intelligencer on August 16th and the 23rd of that year. A reader requested that it be printed in order so that he might use the local newspaper as…

Eastport Sentinel article 3
A letter to the editor criticizing the Review printed on November 12, 1825.

Eastport Sentinel article 4
Additional public commentary on the Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes case. The author criticizes Dr. Warren for believing the dislocation was in the ischiatic notch.

American Traveller article
A letter to the editor written by Charles Lowell voicing the injustices of the outcome of his case.

"A treatise on dislocations and on fractures of the joints"
This renowned publication catalogues different types of dislocations and lists their appropriately corresponding treatment. It was referenced throughout the trial of Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes.

"An authentic report of a trial"
Published in retaliation of the outcome of the final trial, Lowell makes a plea to the public to sympathize with him and his case.

"Report of the trial of an action"
Charles Lowell's personally written account of the entire trial Lowell vs. Faxon and Hawkes.

In this correspondence Dr. Hawkes is looking for support from Dr. Warren in the courtroom. Fundamentally, however, Dr. Warren disagrees with the way in which he decided to proceed with setting Lowell's dislocation.

John Mason Warren's personal commentary on the post-mortem developments in the Charles Lowell case.

Carl Zeiss Jena monocular microscope
Black enamel compound monocular microscope with brass knobs and objectives used by Lynne M. Reid and S. Burt Wolbach before her. Nose-piece contains four objective lenses. Illuminator has aperture to control light levels. More modern wooden…

Ernst Leitz monocular microscope
Black enamel compound monocular microscope with brass knobs and objectives. Circular mirror light scope. Three objectives attached to scope. Contained in wooden microscope case with brass handle. Case contains four objectives housed in interior…

Plaster model of embryo aged 6-7 weeks
Unpainted plaster model of human embryo head. Model sectioned at mid-body to expose tail interior. Plaster set on wire mesh. Part of a set of teaching models.

Plaster model of embryo aged 7-8 weeks
Unpainted plaster model of human embryo head. Model sectioned at mouth aperture. Plaster set on wire mesh. Part of a set of teaching models.

Plaster model of embryo aged 17-20 days
Unpainted plaster model of human embryo. Part of a set of teaching models.

Plaster model of embryo aged 5-6 weeks
Unpainted plaster model of human embryo head. Model sectioned at mid-body to expose tail interior. Plaster set on wire mesh. Part of a set of teaching models.

Plaster model of embryo aged 8-10 weeks
Unpainted plaster model of human embryo head. Plaster set on wire mesh. Part of a set of teaching models.

Painted foam and wood teaching model of the human embryo
Teaching model of human embryo designed and used by Elizabeth Hay. Three separate and interactive pieces. Hard plastic shell painted red inside and blue outside with blue pom poms attached to exterior and small red polystyrene block on inner right…

Model of human placenta
Model of human placenta designed in the style of Elizabeth Hay by Harvard Student Eric Horn. Used as instruction in HMS embryology coursework. Painted blue, green, light red, red, and purple to highlight various parts of placenta. Amniotic ectoderm…

Crystalline Proteolipid B
This Pyrex test tube contains crystalline proteolipid B that HMS Professor of Biological Chemistry Emeritus Marjorie Berman Lees (1923- ) isolated from brain white matter on July 12, 1949, early in her groundbreaking research with Dr. Jordi Folch-Pi…

Ear, Nose & Throat Diagnostic Set
Ear, nose and throat diagnostic set enclosed in wooden case with black cloth covering. Case interior is brown-orange baize. The case closes with a sliver metal clasp in front. Kit contains one silver metal otoscope, one black metal ophthalmoscope,…

Twelve pieces of bone matrix - or "creviced" insoluble bone gelatin - enclosed in clear plastic bag. Donated with two-page letter detailing, amongst other things, context for sample. Attached to letter five-page technical instructions by Dr. Nogami…

Stage one Ziegler human embryological model
Colored wax model of human embryo mounted onto pedestal base. Model shows dissected view of embryo BB named after it's physician-donors, Bischoff and Basel. Part of eight piece model series created by Friedrich Ziegler in accordance with Wilhelm…

Stage two Ziegler human embryological model
Colored wax model of human embryo mounted onto pedestal base. Model shows dissected view of embryo BB named after it's physician-donors, Bischoff and Basel. Part of eight piece model series created by Friedrich Ziegler in accordance with Wilhelm His.

Stage three Ziegler human embryological model
Colored wax model of human embryo mounted onto pedestal base. Model shows dissected view of embryo BB named after it's physician-donors, Bischoff and Basel. Part of eight piece model series created by Friedrich Ziegler in accordance with Wilhelm His.

Stage five Ziegler human embryological model
Colored wax model of human embryo mounted onto pedestal base. Model shows dissected view of embryo Lr named after its physician-donors, Lomer and Leipzig. Part of eight piece model series created by Friedrich Ziegler in accordance with Wilhelm His.

Stage six Ziegler human embryological model
Colored wax model of human embryo mounted onto pedestal base. Model shows dissected view of embryo Lr named after its physician-donors, Lomer and Leipzig. Part of eight piece model series created by Friedrich Ziegler in accordance with Wilhelm His.

Stage seven Ziegler human embryological model
Colored wax model of human embryo mounted onto pedestal base. Model shows dissected view of embryo A named after its physician-donors, Ahlfeld and Leipzig. Part of eight piece model series created by Friedrich Ziegler in accordance with Wilhelm His.

Stage eight Ziegler human embryological model
Colored wax model of human embryo mounted onto pedestal base. Model shows dissected view of embryo A named after its physician-donors, Ahlfeld and Leipzig. Part of eight piece model series created by Friedrich Ziegler in accordance with Wilhelm His.

Stage eight Ziegler chick embryological model
Colored wax model of chick embryo mounted onto pedestal base. Model shows dissected view of chick at eighth stage, three days. Part of twenty-three piece model series created by Adolf Ziegler in accordance with Wilhelm His.

Stage nine Ziegler chick embryological model
Colored wax model of early chick development mounted onto pedestal base. Model shows dissected view of chick at ninth stage, four days. Part of twenty-three piece model series created by Adolf Ziegler in accordance with Wilhelm His.

Ziegler chick embryological model
Colored wax model of early chick development mounted onto pedestal base. Model shows dissected view of chick. Part of twenty-three piece model series created by Adolf Ziegler in accordance with Wilhelm His.

Twenty microscope slides with tissue
Twenty microscope slides with tissue, displaying various stain colors. Each slide labeled in printed text "Pathology Dept. / Children's Hospital / Medical Center / Boston, Mass." Stored in heavy cardboard double-hinged mailer.

Twenty microscope slides with tissue
Twenty microscope slides with tissue, displaying various stain colors. Each slide labeled in printed text "Pathology Dept. / Children's Hospital / Medical Center / Boston, Mass." Stored in heavy cardboard double-hinged mailer.

Preparation showing various types of tooth fillings and upper denture,1887, [WAM TEMP00493]
Twenty-nine dental preparations in glass dome on wooden base. Teeth mounted on two gold arches.

Post-mortem set in wooden case, 1860 - 1880 [WAM 20441]
Post-mortem set of fifteen instruments.

Mounted eagle skeleton, 1851 [WAM 00161]
The articulated skeleton of an adult eagle mounted onto a base.

Mounted snapping turtle skeleton, 1855 [WAM 00179]
Articulated skeleton of a snapping turtle mounted on black painted wooden base

Eagle skeleton [WAM 00161] prepared by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Photograph of eagle skeleton [WAM 00151] prepared by and donated by Oliver Wendell Holmes to the Warren Anatomical Museum in 1851. Eagle skeleton is being photographed on the Harvard Medical School quad by artists from the Art Institute of Boston in…

Art Institute of Boston student developing wet collodion plates

Turtle skeleton being photographed on the Harvard Medical School quad

Right scapula, showing a well-defined circular rifle ball perforation
This scapula was found or removed from an unidentified soldier injured on a Virginia battlefield in 1863.
Inscription: "984 12-3 Civil War Gettysburg" written on the underside of the base in pencil; Hand written label "984. Gun Shot Fracture."…

Portions of humerus removed for an ununited fracture after gunshot wound
Case history:From an unidentified soldier whose arm was shattered by gunshot in mid-April 1862. Immediately after the injury fragments were removed from the arm, the ends of the fractured bone were sawed off, and fit together. After six months…

Fractured radius and ulna with gun shot wound
Case history: This radius and ulna was from a 35 year old soldier injured on July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg. His radius was fractured by gunshot and his ulna by a two inch long piece of fragmented gun barrel. The soft tissue of the soldier's arm was…

Tourniquet, invented during the American Civil War for the personal use of soldiers
This tourniquet was invented during the American Civil War for the personal use of soldiers. Large numbers of these tourniquets were manufactured and supplied to the war's participants.
Inscription: "Lambert S. JANY 7 1869"

Cranium fragment with embedded bullet
This cranium fragment is from a solider of the American Civil War. He exhibited no symptoms after injury. The wound developed into a brain abscess and the soldier died 3 weeks after being shot.
Inscription: in pencil on bottom of base: "Civil War /…

Cranial section with saber wound
Catalog entry: Extensive sabre wound of the right frontal bone; there is still a small opening quite through, though the injury seems to have been well repaired. Received on board one of the United States vessels during the war of 1812.

Skull with ball lodged in frontal bone
Catalog entry: A cranium, showing a ball lodged in the frontal bone, just above the right orbit and towards the median line, and which had been in that situation for about twenty-five years. The patient, aged forty-five, was sail-maker on board the…

Fragment of mandible lost from gunshot wound
Catalog entry: A large portion of the lower jaw shot away, the patient recovering with a very good mouth. The specimen consists of a single, entire piece, including the whole width of the jaw, and to the full extent of the incisor teeth, and one, if…

Excised head of humerus
This amputated head of the left humerus was excised from a soldier in the American Civil War. He was shot at the battle of Fredericksburg. The amputation was performed sometime after the injury by Algernon Coolidge and was successful. The soldier was…

Portion of fractured comminuted right femur
Inscription: "6691" written on the shaft in red; "6691" etched on the underside of the base.
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