Saturday, March 3, 2012

Just your browsing pleasure

To celebrate the idiosyncrasies of medical history, I'm reposting a letter held in the Otis Historical Archives of the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Maryland:

Curatorial Records: Numbered Correspondence 6826
Surgeon General's Office
U.S. Army Medical Museum and Library
Corner 7th and B Streets SW
Washington, July 6, 1903
Mr. Wm. Dant,
711 I St., SW,
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:
I am directed by the Surgeon General to express his thanks for the specimen of the double monster chicken received from you on this day. It will be added to the collection with a properly inscribed card.

Very respectfully,
Calvin DeWitt
Col. Asst. Surgeon General, U.S.A.
In charge of Museum & Library Division

Specimen No. 12691 Path. Sect.


I'm imagining a soul food feast, with hush puppies and collards to boot!

This is just one of the dozens of items I found on the museum's unofficial blog, A Repository for Bottled Monsters. There is a fun mix of posts to be found: documents and photographs from the museum's extensive collection, links to medical history articles and book reviews, and news on recent events at the museum.

Enjoy: http://bottledmonsters.blogspot.com/