It’s been called ‘disturbingly informative.’

The Mutter Museum of Philadelphia houses medical oddities. Within this museum’s walls sits the cast of the world-famous Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng, Grover Cleveland’s cancerous growth, and Joseph Hyrtl’s precious collection of skulls. The museum has 20,000 such items.

The Mutter hopes to remind people of medicine’s recent past, and maybe, what it means to be human. The medicine of the past was not the sterilized hospital we know today: surgery evolved in tandem with gunpowder and warfare; accidents and serendipity reigned. The Museum also includes Marie-Curie’s electrometer, and Florence Nightingale’s sewing kit.

In developed nations, widespread modern medicine now cuts off many deformities at the pass (sometimes literally). Abortions, cosmetic surgery, and even gene therapy have all but eliminated some of the more accidental manifestations of human existence. These days, severe mutations receive extensive press coverage, and often treatment.

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