Art in Medicine: Donated Specimens and Museums

"Death cast of Chang & Eng Bunker"

Plaster Cast, 1874 C.E.

Source: Mutter Museum

The July 2024 Art In Medicine topic is about specimen donation and museums like The Mutter in Philadelphia.

Lucinda Bennett, the Medical Librarian at Ascension St Agnes Hospital in Baltimore, MD,  publishes a regular series on Art in Medicine and The Health Humanities.    

  It's only 1-2 pages with gorgeous images, so it won't take you long to read 

... and just might enrich your life.   

Donated Specimens & Museums

“Chang and Eng were the original “Siamese Twins.”  They were born in Siam (now Thailand) in 1811.  After spending much of their lives on exhibition tours, the Bunkers settled in Mount Airy, North Carolina…They married sisters and raised a total of 21 children. Doctors from Philadelphia went to Mount Airy after the twins’ death on January 17, 1874, and received permission from the families to examine the bodies. They wanted to settle the question of whether or not they could have been separated during life. The doctors transported the bodies to The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, where the autopsy was done in The Mütter Museum.  This plaster cast shows the incision, which revealed that the band connecting the twins included portions of the peritoneal cavities of each twin and that their livers were joined by a thin strip of liver tissue. The doctors concluded that the twins could not have been safely separated because of the blood loss that would have resulted from the operation. The joined livers are on display in the Museum, right below this cast.” (The Mütter Museum) 

When you hear the word ‘museum’ what is the first thing that comes to your mind? An art gallery? A display of ancient artifacts? Rows of broken pottery, taxidermied animals, silent halls or rooms full of kids on school field trips? How often do you consider human specimens when thinking about museums? Exhibitions dedicated to famous historical figures are common throughout the museum world, but the inclusion of humans as a tool of study for the public is often relegated to the occasional mummy. In recent years the ethical acquisition of such remains has come under scrutiny.

Just how have museums come to hold such specimens and do they have the right to do so? For all the academic artistry that goes into a museum, how should the collections process be performed, and what should the public know about the ethics of donation? 

First and foremost, how did museums as we know it come to be? “Modern museum collections date to the 1600s in Europe, where they were formed as “cabinets of curiosity” that included small displays of objects and specimens. They evolved into something of far greater significance. The collection and organization of biological specimens allowed early naturalists to study the characteristics of and relationships among living organisms and to establish the foundation for modern biological science. The study of cultural objects allowed the development of a detailed understanding of human similarities and differences, their archaeological histories, and transformative processes.” (The Value of Scientific Collections) From the 17th century onward, the museums of Europe and eventually North America became filled with the artifacts of distant lands - more often than not the products of colonial expansion. In the contemporary era, the repatriation of stolen art and human remains from these institutions back to their native soil continues across the museum world. Yet the growth of collections also goes as it ever did. 

Smithsonian Storage

Accession: 202-841-2517 

Credit: Smithsonian 

(Linda St. Thomas) 

Renowned organizations such as the Smithsonian outline their collections policies for public view on their websites. “The acquisition of collections is fundamental and critical to the mission and vitality of the Smithsonian. Most collection items are donated to the Smithsonian by individuals and private collectors or through transfers from federal agencies such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the U.S. Postal Service and others.  Thousands of items also come to the Smithsonian through field expeditions, bequests, purchases, and exchanges with other museums, and, in the case of living plants and animals, by propagation and birth.” (Smithsonian Collections)  Do the same guidelines then apply to human bodies as well? With such a tragic history of academic institutions taking bodies without consent, and the stigma of donating oneself over traditional inhumation still palpable in the modern era, it is curious just how museums walk the line with appropriate display or examination. New regulations within living memory not only permit broader donation, but emphasize consent.

“It was not until 1968, that the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act was passed to protect the interest of whole body donors and their families. During the latter part of the 20th century, different parts of the world started to promote whole body donation for the purpose of anatomical studies and the successful promotion led to the stabilization of willing body donors. This satisfied the demands of most medical schools across the United States, this also led to a change in social beliefs about whole body donation and medical professionals were frequently donating their own bodies because they knew the value of cadavers…To remain ethical and in the best interest of donors, most whole body donation programs stress informed consent, emphasis on an openness with donor and family and most donors receive commemoration for their selfless donation in the name of science.” (A Deep Dive into the History of Cadaver use & Whole Body Donation)

References:
Mutter Museum
A Deep Dive into The History of Cadaver Use and Whole Body Donation
The Value of Scientific Collections
Smithsonian Collections

Reprinted with the generous permission of Ms. Bennett.