Medical Mummies: The History of the Burns Collection

The Allan Burns mummies

“…Two years later, he became the main demonstrator in charge of the dissecting rooms at the College Street Medical School in Glasgow, founded by his brother. [ 12 13 14 ] Although well studied and deeply involved at John's school (one of the several private teaching institutions with no formal ties to the University of Glasgow), Allan never obtained a surgical degree. This was quite common at the time as certificate of attendance to required courses could be sufficient to get credentials needed for surgical practice.…”

“…He developed innovative methods of specimen preservation (mummification), involving a salt and sugar cure process, though the exact details remain unknown today [Figures 1 and 2 ]. [ 13 14 ] Furthermore, he introduced new techniques to preserve and highlight blood vessels. With the help of his assistants, Allan Burns created one of the most instructive anatomical collections of his day.…”

“…Allan often joined his brother during patient consultations and took detailed clinical records in attempts to correlate patients’ symptoms and signs to the findings of his dissections. [ 12 13 14 ] His particular areas of interests were diseases of the heart and vascular system having been called “the first imaginative experimentalist to deal with the coronary circulation”. [ 16 ] In 1809, he published his first monograph, Observations on Some of the Most Frequent and Important Diseases of the Heart , based on his detailed findings.…”

Mummies are Alive…Within the Pages of The Anatomical Record!

“…This month's Special Issue, “The Anatomy of the Mummy,” Guest Edited by Janet Monge and Frank Rühli (Monge and Rühli, 2015; Laitman, 2015) is a departure for us because it takes The Anatomical Record into an interdisciplinary realm that we have not ventured into before: the world of human mummified remains. Indeed, besides a brief report from Ron Wade in the sister publication of ours, The New Anatomist , on “medical mummies” back in 1998 (Wade, ), or the brief discussion relating to mummified tissue in Blaney and Johnson's () technique paper on reconstituting fixed cadaveric material, The Anatomical Record has not been home to studies that explore either human or animal mummies. Just was not “our thing” as kids would say today.…”

Eduard Pernkopf's atlas of topographical and applied human anatomy: The continuing ethical controversy

“…Often, bodies used for dissection were those of unclaimed paupers or executed criminals. Indeed, cadavers were in such short supply that early anatomists routinely resorted to grave robbing and were occasionally convicted of murdering their subject material (Wade, 1998). By the late 19th century, however, laws permitting use of bodies for teaching purposes were in place in this country and in Europe (Ball, 1989).…”