fivefeettall: A History of Human Oddity

To get us geared up for Halloween, let's head to the The Mütter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on an exploration of the mysteries of human existence, and the history of medical diagnosis and treatment.

The medical museum contains a collection of medical oddities, anatomical and pathological specimens, wax models, and antique medical equipment, including 139 skulls, a 19th century amputation kit, a 74 pound cyst, a murderer's brain and a collection of swallowed objects.

The bulk of the collection was donated by Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter in 1858. He had collected the specimens for biomedical research and education. America's finest museum of medical history, it displays its collections in a nineteenth-century "cabinet museum" setting.

A Russian newspaper recently listed the Mütter Museum #1 on the 10 Most Horrible Places — Chernobyl was listed at #8.