As a person with interests in otherworldly pursuits, including the paranormal and science fiction and so on, I have to say I am fascinated by this little museum at the College of Physicians in Philadelphia that showcases how strange our own world can be.  The place?  The Mutter Museum.

Basically a museum of medical oddities, the Mutter was designed by and for physicians and is a collection of unusual pathological specimens, though it is open to the public.  The museum is home to over 20,000 specimens, and offers a “compare and contrast” type display, so the viewer has an idea of what is “normal” as compared to the specimen.

The Mutter is famous around the world for its specimens, such as a cast of the infamous conjoined twins, Chang and Eng.  Chang and Eng, born in 1811, were the original “Siamese” twins (as they were born in Siam), and they toured the world together, their condition on display for all to see.  Eventually, both men married, and they fathered 21 children between them.  Chang died in 1874 of bronchitis, and Eng died shortly thereafter.

The Mutter also houses the body of Soap Lady, who is a gal who died sometime in the 19th Century of Yellow Fever.  Her body, along with that of a male, was buried in an anaerobic environment that changed the chemical composition of her corpse to that of soap.  The male’s body, also soap, is sometimes on display at the Smithsonian.

Other interesting finds at the museum are the tumor removed in secret from President Cleveland while he was in office, and the thorax of President Lincoln’s assassin, John Wilkes Booth, along with a giant colon, brains of murderers and epileptics, skeletons of giants and midgets, wax representations of various diseases of the eye, and a collection of over 2,000 objects that patients swallowed and had removed from their stomachs by Dr. Chevalier Jackson, including bones, coins, dentures and much more.  Make no mistake, however, this is not like going to a Ripley’s Believe It or Not tourist catch.  This is a serious museum, meant to educate, and crying out in disgust or fear would likely be frowned upon.

So if you are ever in Philly and looking for something, well, let’s say unusual to do, consider visiting the Mutter, if your constitution is strong enough to take it.  If not, you can always check it out from a safe distance, via the clip below, as featured on The Travel Channel

Yours in this life and the next!

 GhOsTwRiTeR KiM

Tags: chang and eng, medical oddities, museums, Mutter Museum, philadelphia, president cleveland

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