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Warren Anatomical Museum

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Phineas Gage
Skull of Phineas Gage

The Warren Anatomical Museum, housed within Harvard Medical School's Countway Library of Medicine, was founded in 1847 by Harvard professor John Collins Warren,[1] whose personal collection of 160[2] unusual and instructive anatomical and pathological specimens now forms the nucleus of the museum's 15,000-item collection.[3] The Warren also has objects significant to medical history, such as the inhaler used during the first public demonstration of ether-assisted surgery in 1846 (on loan to the Massachusetts General Hospital since 1948[4]), and the skull of Phineas Gage, who survived a large iron bar being driven through his brain. The museum's first curator was J.B.S. Jackson.[5]

Early 2020s closure

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The museum gallery was closed for renovation through winter/spring 2023, as stated on the museum's website,[6] although the collection remains accessible to researchers by appointment. Normally a rotating subset of items, including Gage's skull and the tamping iron that passed through it, is on public display.


See also

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References

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  1. ^ Wolly, Brian (January 1, 2010). "Highlights From the Warren Anatomical Museum". Smithsonian. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  2. ^ Jackson, J.B.S. (1870). A descriptive catalogue of the Warren Anatomical Museum. Boston: Williams. p. iv.
  3. ^ "Warren Anatomical Museum". Harvard Medical School. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  4. ^ "The Ether Dome at Mass General". Massachusetts General Hospital. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  5. ^ Whitney, William F. (1911). The Warren Anatomical Museum of the Harvard Medical School and the arrangement of its collection. Boston: Harvard Medical School. p. 2. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
  6. ^ "Warren Anatomical Museum | Countway Library". countway.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-21.

Sources

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