Health & Medicine

The Museum's collections of medical science artifacts represent nearly all aspects of health and medical practice. Highlights include early X-ray apparatuses, such as one of Wilhelm Roentgen's tubes, penicillin mold from Alexander Fleming’s experiments, and Jonas Salk's original polio vaccine. More recent acquisitions include the first artificial heart implanted in a human, the earliest genetically engineered drugs, and materials related to David, the "Bubble Boy." Other artifacts range from artificial limbs and implant devices to bloodletting and dental instruments, beauty products, and veterinary equipment. The contents of a medieval apothecary shop and an 1890s drugstore form part of the collections, along with patent and alternative medicines. The collections also document the many differing perspectives on health and medical issues, from patients, family members, doctors, nurses, medical students, and out-of-the-mainstream health practitioners.

Mortar and pestle made of black granite with flecks of tan.Currently not on view
Description
Mortar and pestle made of black granite with flecks of tan.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1991.0664.0085
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05638
1991.0664.0085.01
1991.0664.0085.02
collector/donor number
SAP 350
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1825 - 1835
fashion
19th century
ID Number
CS.287645.001
catalog number
287645.001
Day laborers found plenty of work in New Orleans in the weeks and months following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
Description
Day laborers found plenty of work in New Orleans in the weeks and months following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Mammoth quantities of trash removal from devastated homes and businesses, clean-up, and reconstruction offered the promise of gainful employment to anyone willing and able to undertake heavy labor. The possession of technical skills was less important than pure muscle power and persistence.
Mexican immigrant Francisco Zu&ntild;eiga, wearing this heavy, tooled leather back-support belt, was waiting in a downtown gas station in December 2005 for drive-up labor needs when he was approached instead by a Smithsonian team looking for something to acknowledge this aspect of the human response to Katrina. Much has been made of the outpouring of volunteerism after the hurricane, but another form of service was the individual with an aching back willing to labor under very adverse conditions for the hope of a small wage.
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Date
2005
user
Zuniga, Francisco
ID Number
2006.0018.01
catalog number
2006.0018.01
accession number
2006.0018
For much of the nineteenth century, ladies' fashion required very small waists. The most common way to achieve this was to wear a tight laced corset, which could be adjusted according to the specific garment it accompanied.
Description
For much of the nineteenth century, ladies' fashion required very small waists. The most common way to achieve this was to wear a tight laced corset, which could be adjusted according to the specific garment it accompanied. Like this example, many of them were handmade to fit an individual, although they were also available in shops.
One of the most intimate pieces of scrimshaw a whaleman could produce was a bone or baleen busk, or corset stiffener. These were carved and given to a crewman's loved one, who then inserted it into a matching sleeve on her corset as a unique memento of her beloved's feelings.
One side of this whalebone busk contains three cityscapes, two of which have busy ports with lots of shipping. The other side has eight vertical pictures, topped by a full frontal portrait of a beautiful young woman. She may represent the recipient of this busk. Below her is a city scene with multiple church steeples over a flag in a precinct. A multi-colored circular geometric pattern is at the center, above a garden scene over a delicate basket of flowers. Next is a three-masted warship, and at the bottom is a large rural villa overlooking a walled garden. Can these pictures be woven into a story?
date made
mid-nineteenth century
mid-1800s
fashion
19th century
ID Number
DL.374478
catalog number
374478
accession number
136263
For much of the 19th century, ladies’ fashion required very small waists. The most common way to achieve this was to wear a tightly laced corset, which could be adjusted according to the specific dress it accompanied.
Description
For much of the 19th century, ladies’ fashion required very small waists. The most common way to achieve this was to wear a tightly laced corset, which could be adjusted according to the specific dress it accompanied. Like this example, many corsets were handmade to fit an individual, although they were also available in shops.
One of the most intimate pieces of scrimshaw a whaleman could produce was a bone or baleen busk, or corset stiffener. These were carved and given to a crewman’s loved one, who then inserted it into a matching sleeve on her corset as a unique memento of her beloved’s feelings.
Each of these busks has a cityscape etched into one side. The other side of one has eight pictures, topped by a portrait of a beautiful young woman. The other has a plaintive love poem on the back.
date made
mid-1800s
collected
1951-06-29
fashion
19th century
ID Number
TR.388604
catalog number
TR*388604
accession number
182022
Alarm Clock by Rube Goldberg, circa 1970.
Description
Alarm Clock by Rube Goldberg, circa 1970. This non-working, sculpted model signed by Rube Goldberg was crafted [during the 1960s] to replicate a cartoon from the series The Inventions of Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts that he drew for between 1914 and 1964.
Inscription: At 6 a.m. garbage man picks up ashcan, causing mule to kick over statue of Indian warrior. Arrow punctures bucket and ice cubes fall on false teeth, causing them to chatter and nip elephant's tail. Elephant raises his trunk in pain, pressing lever which starts toy maestro to lead quartet in sad song. Sentimental girl breaks down and cries into flower pot, causing flower to grow and tickle man's feet. He rocks with laughter, starting machine that rings gong and slides sleeper out of bed into slippers on wheels, which propel him into bathroom where cold shower really wakes him up.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
circa 1970
depicted
Butts, Lucifer Gorgonzola
original artist
Goldberg, Rube
ID Number
GA.23502
accession number
1972.289709
catalog number
GA*23502
accession number
289709
Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564), an early European physician and professor of medicine, wrote an important treatise on the human body, published in 1543.
Description
Andreas Vesalius (1514–1564), an early European physician and professor of medicine, wrote an important treatise on the human body, published in 1543. He provided detailed illustrations that demonstrated muscle structure and other features of human anatomy, based on his work dissecting cadavers. Vesalius's work revolutionized the teaching of anatomy and remained influential for generations.
In Vesalius's time, dissection was discouraged by religious and cultural forces that misunderstood its potential contributions to science. Edouard Hamman's 1849 painting, reproduced as a lithograph by Adolphe Mouilleron in the early 1850s, suggests Vesalius's conscientious struggle with religion as he pursed his anatomical studies through dissection. He stands beside a cadaver laid out on the table, and his dissecting tools are at hand. He is pictured as if paused in thought, looking at a crucifix on the wall to his right. A skull and several large books suggest his research materials.
Lithography offered artists a medium for literally drawing on stone that was used for high-quality reproductive prints in 19th-century France. Mouilleron, an accomplished lithographer, was not only a superb draftsman, but it was said that in his hand the lithographic crayon took on the characteristics of color as used by painters. His larger prints, like this portrait of Vesalius, have rich tonal variations that convey the color values of the original painting in shades of black and white. Many American artists like Philadelphian Stephen J. Ferris (1835–1915), whose family donated this print to the Smithsonian, avidly collected and studied French prints of all periods.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1850
subject
Vesalius, Andreas
graphic artist
Mouilleron, Adolphe
original artist
Hamman, Edouard Jean Conrad
publisher
Bertauts
ID Number
GA.15366
catalog number
15366
accession number
94830
Camera-ready pen and ink drawings by Rube Goldberg for his two comic series Bill and Boob McNutt dated June 12, 1932.
Description
Camera-ready pen and ink drawings by Rube Goldberg for his two comic series Bill and Boob McNutt dated June 12, 1932. Goldberg drew for the Bill series between 1931 and 1934, and the Boob McNutt series between 1915 and 1934.
Bill and girlfriend Sally try to recover stolen jewels with the help of old Captain Jim. Boob and Mike and Ike are thought to have been killed while flying on the damaged dirigible.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
June 12, 1932
original artist
Goldberg, Rube
publisher
Star Company
ID Number
GA.23496
accession number
1972.299186
catalog number
GA*23496
Pencil drawing by Rube Goldberg for the single cell cartoon As long as they put sandwiches, toothbrushes, cake and collars in that wax paper, why not go still further?
Description
Pencil drawing by Rube Goldberg for the single cell cartoon As long as they put sandwiches, toothbrushes, cake and collars in that wax paper, why not go still further? Undated.
This drawing pokes fun at the idea of keeping everything sanitarily wrapped with the use of products like wax paper.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
Undated
original artist
Goldberg, Rube
ID Number
GA.23489
catalog number
23489
accession number
1972.299186
Buff-colored clay body covered with runny, shiny, dark green crackle glaze. Asian ginger jar shape with domed cover that has small button finial.
Description (Brief)
Buff-colored clay body covered with runny, shiny, dark green crackle glaze. Asian ginger jar shape with domed cover that has small button finial. Decoration of low-relief carved bands of leaves and scrolls at base; five vertical panels of stylized low-relief arabesques on bulbous belly; and bands of pierced arabesques on curved shoulder, vertical collar and cover.
Description
1982.0806.01
Arequipa Pottery vase
About 1913-1916
Made by Arequipa Pottery (1911-1918)
Fairfax, California
Arequipa Pottery was originally established as a Progressive Era experiment in occupational therapy for tuberculosis patients at Dr. Philip King Brown's private Arequipa Sanatorium near Fairfax, California. Dr King argued that requiring his patients to work in the pottery provided them with moral and physical benefits, and allowed people of limited financial means to pay for the healthcare provided by his facility.
Brown hired Frederick H. Rhead, a noted and successful ceramicist, to create and teach pottery-making. Rhead was most likely responsible for making this piece.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c.1913-1916
maker
Arequipa Pottery Studio
ID Number
1982.0806.01ab
accession number
1982.0806
catalog number
1982.0806.01ab
Ophthalmic syringe with a turned silver barrel, plunger, and nozzle. A ring handle attached to the plunger is stamped with two hallmarks. An end cap screws onto the barrel. When the cap is removed the plunger and leather washer can be seen.
Description
Ophthalmic syringe with a turned silver barrel, plunger, and nozzle. A ring handle attached to the plunger is stamped with two hallmarks. An end cap screws onto the barrel. When the cap is removed the plunger and leather washer can be seen. The nozzle screws onto the barrel.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1991.0664.0985
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-06381
collector/donor number
SAP 1073
This free blown green glass container has a long neck, a slightly flared lip, a round squat body, and a twisted spout. Florentine bottles were used for the distillation of flower oils.Currently not on view
Description
This free blown green glass container has a long neck, a slightly flared lip, a round squat body, and a twisted spout. Florentine bottles were used for the distillation of flower oils.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th-18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0935
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-06331
collector/donor number
SAP 1023
catalog number
1991.0664.0935
This albarello has a white background and blue, green, purple–brown and yellow–orange stylized floral motifs flanked by solid bands of color. Pharmaceutical historian George Urdang dates this albarello to 16th-century Florence.
Description
This albarello has a white background and blue, green, purple–brown and yellow–orange stylized floral motifs flanked by solid bands of color. Pharmaceutical historian George Urdang dates this albarello to 16th-century Florence. In a letter dated 7 October 1973, pharmaceutical historian and author Dr. D. A. Wittop Koning attributes the place of origin to the Netherlands, and Professor Wolfgang–Hagen Hein, to 16th-century Antwerpen.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1500 - 1599
ID Number
1991.0664.0520
catalog number
M-05732
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 444
catalog number
1991.0664.0520
This pitcher–shaped jar serves as a measure for liquids. It has an applied double sausage roll handle. The jar has a whitish glaze background and is decorated with a blue laurel motif framing the magnesium–colored lettering.
Description
This pitcher–shaped jar serves as a measure for liquids. It has an applied double sausage roll handle. The jar has a whitish glaze background and is decorated with a blue laurel motif framing the magnesium–colored lettering. The pitcher is marked “1/2” on the spout and “B.S/ Lilco” on the waist.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1700 - 1799
ID Number
1991.0664.0668
catalog number
M-05880
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 592
catalog number
1991.0664.0668
This urne–shaped drug jar has a grayish–white glaze, a straight neck, and a round, domed foot. The lid has a cone–shaped finial.
Description
This urne–shaped drug jar has a grayish–white glaze, a straight neck, and a round, domed foot. The lid has a cone–shaped finial. A rectangular label is formed at the center of the jar by thin lines of brown, yellow, and green, topped by four C–scrolls forming a blue cartouche with a yellow center. The label creates a frame for the jars inscription.
The inscription reads Cort Cinnam. The outer frame is surrounded at its top and bottom by yellow and green vines and swags of beads. Correspondence in 1954 between Division of Medicine Associate Curator George Griffenhagen and George Urdang notes that the jars appear to be of Catalonian–Aragonese origin. This jar would have contained Cortex Cinnamomum, Latin for cinnamon bark which was used as an aromatic to stimulate the appetite and aid digestion.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0564
collector/donor number
SAP 488
catalog number
1991.0664.0564.01
1991.0664.0564.02
M-05776
accession number
1991.0664
This blown and molded square-shaped glass jar is decorated with a baked enamel shield outlined in red and black and capped with a yellow crown. A lion lies at the bottom of the shield.
Description
This blown and molded square-shaped glass jar is decorated with a baked enamel shield outlined in red and black and capped with a yellow crown. A lion lies at the bottom of the shield. According to George Urdang, author of The Squibb ancient Pharmacy Catalogue the seated lion is an indication that the jar was from a pharmacy named Lion Apothecary. It is marked with the alchemical symbol for salt and C RE CT.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0228
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05376
collector/donor number
SAP 85
catalog number
1991.0664.0228
This blown and molded bottle has a narrow neck for pouring liquids. It's baked enamel label is framed by a Baroque style blue and yellow cartouche, and is marked AQ CARBUNC. The bottle would have contained Aqua Carbunclus.
Description
This blown and molded bottle has a narrow neck for pouring liquids. It's baked enamel label is framed by a Baroque style blue and yellow cartouche, and is marked AQ CARBUNC. The bottle would have contained Aqua Carbunclus. Carbunclus is Latin for coal, and this solution was likely a mixture of water and coal, or another form of carbon.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0278
catalog number
M-05427
accession number
1991.0664
collector/donor number
SAP 136
catalog number
1991.0664.0278
This squat–shaped drug jar has a baluster-shaped body and a stepped flared foot. A yellow shield depicts a lion balanced on one hind leg, holding an orb with its two front paws.
Description
This squat–shaped drug jar has a baluster-shaped body and a stepped flared foot. A yellow shield depicts a lion balanced on one hind leg, holding an orb with its two front paws. The shield is surrounded by an elaborate blue floral motif on a white glazed background with yellow rope bands at the neck and the rim of the foot.
A yellow and blue striped escroll is inscribed in black, PILL DE CINOGL OSS. The jar would have contained pills of cynoglossum. The herb cynoglossum, also known as hound’s-tongue, was used as a narcotic, sedative, astringent, and expectorant.
The jar was incorporated into the Squibb Ancient Pharmacy Collection when it was purchased at auction in 1935 from the American Art Association Anderson Galleries in New York City.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1600
Date made
1675 - 1699
ID Number
1991.0664.0505
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05717
collector/donor number
SAP 429
catalog number
1991.0664.0505
A tabernacle is a religious structure or shrine where one can place offerings such as a monetary donation or a symbolic gesture for a wish or as thanks for an answered prayer.This tabernacle shrine is a concave wooden form in the shape of an arch with rounded cusps and foils.
Description
A tabernacle is a religious structure or shrine where one can place offerings such as a monetary donation or a symbolic gesture for a wish or as thanks for an answered prayer.
This tabernacle shrine is a concave wooden form in the shape of an arch with rounded cusps and foils. The back of the wooden form is rough and looks as if it was meant be set into a niche. Two sheets of thin brass are molded and nailed to the top of the wooden form ending about two inches from the base. Inset into the arch at the top is a large repousse baroque shell. Below the shell is an apothecary cabinet created by a stamping technique, possibly repousse silver over brass.
The miniature apothecary has three sections of cabinets. The center cabinet protrudes (3 1/4") slightly. The cabinets are made of silver over brass with two round columns in the center. Apothecary jars sit on three rows of cabinets and four shelves. A decorative gallery extends across all three sections of the apothecary.
In the center of the tabernacle is the figure of Christ on the Cross made of molded silver over brass. Above the figure is a plaque engraved with the Latin initials "INRI", for Iesus Nazarenus Rex iudaeorum, in English, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.
The nails that secure the shrine to the wooden “frame” appear to be modern, probably late 19th-century, suggesting the shrine was placed in the “frame” to keep it stable before being sold to collector Jo Mayer. There are no square holes in the wood which would indicate older nails.
George Urdang and F. W. Nitardy described the shrine in "The Squibb Ancient Pharmacy Catalogue", as a “votive tabernacle shrine in the form of an ancient pharmacy . . . made in the moderate-baroque style of the middle 18th century . . . . The tabernacle was a gift from a grateful patient to a Bavarian cloister pharmacy. It is said to be the work of gold and silversmiths of Augsburg . . .” After close inspection, the gold colored metal appears to be brass, although the metalsmith did use silver over brass for the cabinets and apothecary jars.
It is interesting to note, in his article, “Rarities and Antiques in the Collection of Jo Mayer,” Ferchl writes that the shrine was procured "through various channels of the art trade into the haven of the Wiesbaden collection." Though obscure, this is the only reference found to date indicating how any of Mayer's collection were acquired.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.1014
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-06284
collector/donor number
SAP 976
catalog number
1991.0664.1014
This glass bottle has a baked enamel label marked TINCT MART APERIY ZW. The European Apothecary Collection contains dozens of drug jars with this same embellishment.
Description
This glass bottle has a baked enamel label marked TINCT MART APERIY ZW. The European Apothecary Collection contains dozens of drug jars with this same embellishment. The generic blue and yellow decoration with its stylized crown above the cartouche is similar to glass drug jars in the collection of the Deutsche Apotheken Museum in Heidelberg, Germany.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0249
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05397
collector/donor number
SAP 106
catalog number
1991.0664.0249
This is a blue, yellow and green tin glazed waisted drug jar. The jar is decorated with a painted female mythological figure with a swan in one hand and flowers in the other, set against a landscape. On either side of the figure are vertical bands of foliage.
Description
This is a blue, yellow and green tin glazed waisted drug jar. The jar is decorated with a painted female mythological figure with a swan in one hand and flowers in the other, set against a landscape. On either side of the figure are vertical bands of foliage. An escrol above the figure is marked “THERIACA ANDROMACHI.” Theriac, an opium compound, was thought to be a panacea for a variety of diseases and an antidote for poison. Andromachus served as the Roman Emperor Nero’s physician, and this opium compound would have contained his formulation of the medicine.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1700 - 1799
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0646
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05858
collector/donor number
SAP 570
catalog number
1991.0664.0646
This blue monochrome albarello-shaped drug jar has a stylized cobalt-blue floral motif with a cross-hatch band just above the shoulder and foot. An escroll in the center of the container is inscribed in gothic script, u dialtea.
Description
This blue monochrome albarello-shaped drug jar has a stylized cobalt-blue floral motif with a cross-hatch band just above the shoulder and foot. An escroll in the center of the container is inscribed in gothic script, u dialtea. This jar would have contained Unguentum Dialthaea, an ointment made from the gummy extract of the roots of the Althaea officinalis, also known as the Marshmallow. The ointment was used to soothe irritated throats and to relieve coughs.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1500
Date made
1500 - 1550
ID Number
1991.0664.0495
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05707
collector/donor number
SAP 419
catalog number
1991.0664.0495
This waisted drug jar has a flared foot with a deep blue glaze over a white background. The jar is decorated with stylized flowers and leaves on the upper and lower shoulders. The label at the center of the waist is marked Ung Bphonir.
Description
This waisted drug jar has a flared foot with a deep blue glaze over a white background. The jar is decorated with stylized flowers and leaves on the upper and lower shoulders. The label at the center of the waist is marked Ung Bphonir. The jar would have contained some type of unguentum, or ointment. This jar belongs to a set of drug containers seen in objects 1991.0664.0589 through 1991.0664.0596.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0594
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-05806
collector/donor number
SAP 518
catalog number
1991.0664.0594
This free blown green glass container has a long neck, a slightly flared lip, a round squat body, and a twisted spout. Florentine bottles were used for the distillation of flower oils.Currently not on view
Description
This free blown green glass container has a long neck, a slightly flared lip, a round squat body, and a twisted spout. Florentine bottles were used for the distillation of flower oils.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
17th-18th century
ID Number
1991.0664.0939
accession number
1991.0664
catalog number
M-06335
collector/donor number
SAP 1027
catalog number
1991.0664.0939

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