The Hunterian Museum contains 'a collection of anatomical specimens assembled by 18th Century surgeon John Hunter. Largely self-taught, Hunter was at the forefront of a systematic and scientific approach to anatomy. His evidence-based medicine was at odds with the establishment, who still clung to the ineffective treatments of Galen, Hippocrates and other ancient practitioners.
'Displayed in the museum are embryos, diseased organs in jars, and the skeleton of the 7′ 7” giant Charles Byrne, complete skeletons, bones, skulls and teeth; dried preparations, corrosion casts and wax teaching models; historical surgical and dental instruments together with modern surgical instruments and technologies; as well as paintings, drawings and sculpture.'
The UK has a long history of scandalous 'body-snatching'. Since the 1832 Anatomy Act, enacted to discourage the illicit sale of body parts, specimens like those in the Hunterian Museum have been more and more tightly restricted. Since 2006, the Human Tissues Authority has regulated the donation, disposal, and use of medical specimens and cadavers, and requires special licesning for the public display of remains from persons who died since 1906. But since John Hunter lived, collected, and died years before the Anatomy Act, his collection can be displayed without the restrictions that impact the pathology collection.
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