Imperfecta Virtual Exhibition Walkthrough

i'm beth lander the librarian for the college of physicians of philadelphia home to the motor museum and the historical medical library i'd like to take you on a virtual walk through through one of our previous exhibits imperfecta the main story of imperfecta examines the shifting perceptions about abnormal human development from fear and wonder to curiosity and clinical science beginning in the 16th century and ending in the 19th the underlying story is about how people communicate about things we find disturbing or frightening we begin in the town of ravenna italy in 1512. on april 11th french troops captured the city of ravenna after a major battle with soldiers of pope julius ii angered by his defeat the pope ordered the death by starvation of a baby who had been born near the city only weeks earlier this baby had been born so deformed that an apothecary a pharmacist who lived in florence said and i quote it was evident what evil the monster had meant for ravenna it seems as if some great misfortune always befalls the city when such things are born end quote the monster of ravenna is one of the best known examples in the field of territology which is the study of physiological abnormalities and abnormal functions i don't use the term monster lightly it is a term used by physicians well into the 20th century to denote a fetus or infant with pronounced developmental anomalies that are considered grotesque and usually non-viable the story of the monster of ravenna and other abnormal births were documented in the 16th century in two types of books the first were books written by physicians and other healers the second type are called prodigy books a prodigy book depicts abnormally formed humans and animals as supernatural portents or omens many prodigy books presented monstrosities as warning signs from god and often use them as ways to make political religious or social statements several monsters were so notorious that they appeared in numerous books the woodcut used to illustrate the monster of eventa was reused repurposed and re-cut as the image moved across europe allowing people in different areas to interpret their fears in different ways one of the prodigy books on display in imperfecta was jakob roof's book entitled a cheerful consolation book on the generation and birth of humans which was published in 1554. this book was different from many other popular prodigy books at the time because it was a practical manual for midwives it was one of the first prodigy books that considered physical causes rather than just supernatural causes for monstrous births we can also find supernatural and natural causes for monstrous births in the works of ambrose pahre pare was a french barber surgeon a medical practitioner who unlike most university trained physicians at the time performed surgery especially during times of war parray's book which i will refer to in its loose english translation as the works was published in 1575. this book has a chapter called on monsters which combined images of abnormal births and fantastic sometimes imaginary animals like roof parray considered the possible causes of abnormal births parray listed 13 causes including the smallness of the womb the glory or wrath of god and the artifice of wicked spiral beggars among paris 13 causes were two reasons specific to the mother one i just mentioned the smallness of her womb and the other was the indecent posture of her body many people throughout history believed that women could give birth to monsters by looking at disturbing images during conception or having unwholesome desires during pregnancy people also assumed that eating certain foods like strawberries could cause birthmarks these beliefs motivated women to follow rituals and health regimens to promote the birth of a healthy child often assisted by a midwife like today midwives treatments were often holistic in nature one such treatment in the 16th century used to promote healthy babies and births included soaking bible verses in water that would then be given to the mother to drink midwives referenced herbals books containing the names and descriptions of plants usually with information on their medicinal properties to make drinks and medicines for women during pregnancy midwives also delivered children and were trained to use obstetric tools and difficult births during the 17th century attitudes toward abnormal births began to change they began to be perceived not just as omens but also as objects of curiosity fortunio lychetti an italian physician who was born in 1577 was one of the first authors to present monsters as lucis naturai or freaks of nature instead of symbols of impending doom or the influence of god lychee believed that monsters were evidence of nature's ability to create wondrous things even when using damaged material this perspective began to open the door for a more scientific study of monsters curiosity continued to drive physicians to search for natural causes of physical anomalies one of the most fascinating stories in imperfecta is the hunermench which translated from the german means chicken man the hunter mensch was born in a small town near leipzig germany in 1735 to a 28 year old woman named johanna schmeid unlike her three previous healthy children her fourth was stillborn and had numerous physical anomalies a comb-like structure on the head large round eyes and hands with lengthy fingers and claws exactly like those of a chicken the attending physician gottlieb friderichi performed an autopsy on the baby and published his findings in the essay the rarest of human monsters fritorici determined that the deformities were the result of crossbreeding between a human and a rooster later examinations of the specimen indicate that the child was born with a severe form of robert's syndrome a genetic disorder that causes deformed limbs and face the start of the 19th century led to some of the first detailed scientific studies of monstrous births adolf wilhelm otto who was born in 1786 was the professor of anatomy and the director of the anatomical museum in breslau otto was a specialist in the newly emerging field of teratology he published the book 600 anatomic descriptions of monsters in 1841 an atlas that gained popularity outside the field of territology the atlas contained detailed descriptions including notes on internal anatomy compiled during complete dissections of specimens barton cook hearst who was a fellow of the college of physicians of philadelphia co-published an atlas in 1891 entitled human monstrosities one of the first english language books to classify monsters was on the faculty of the university of pennsylvania's medical school his atlas classified anomalies found only in stillborn or aborted fetuses the 19th century also saw the monetization of disability through freak shows and circuses one of the most famous examples were the conjoined twins chang and eng bunker whose death cast and liver are on display here at the motor museum unlike many differently abled people who were taken advantage of at the time chang and eng were able to manage their own careers after their 18th birthday chang and eng were successful until the end of the american civil war when they nearly went bankrupt they accepted an offer from pt barnum to appear at his american museum they died in 1874 and their bodies were autopsied here at the college of physicians of philadelphia millie and christine mccoy were conjoined twins who were not able to enjoy the same agency as the bunkers known as the carolina twins the mccoys were born into slavery in 1851 in north carolina they struggled to gain control over their finances as well as how they were exhibited in public they died of tuberculosis in 1912. today news about abnormal births travels via social media and television rather than wood cuts used to illustrate books for example when zika virus became prevalent in 2013 images of babies born with microcephaly flooded media media that was also used to educate people how to avoid being infected modern medicine has proven that genetic mutations and exposure to toxins are to blame for abnormal births not divine influence however simply because something such as abnormal human development has been studied and classified by medical science it doesn't mean that it can't touch the deepest part of our psyche making us question what it means to be imperfect if you'd like to explore some of the topics presented in imperfecta in more depth check out our digital exhibit further into imperfecta at the url shown here [Music] you

Channel: Mütter Museum of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Views: 81,339

Keywords: mutter museum, college of physicians, college of physicians of philadelphia, medical history, medical oddities, imperfecta, birth defects, abnormal human development, monster of ravenna, ambroise pare, liceti, friderici, adolph otto, barton hirst, zika virus, beth lander, historical medical library, virtual exhibit, midwives, roberts syndrome, teratology, monsters, prodigy book, jakob ruff, herbals, freaks of nature, huhnermensch, chang and eng bunker, millie and christine mckoy

Id: oMSnZ2A_Qgs

Length: 10min 18sec (618 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 08 2020