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.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1944
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
MG.M-05203
catalog number
M-05203
accession number
166920
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1940
maker
Eli Lilly & Company
ID Number
1982.0498.23
catalog number
1982.0498.23
accession number
1982.0498
Blood glucose monitor with user's manual. Blood glucose monitor is gray and blue with blue button and blue print. Back side of blood glucose monitor has blue and black print and pictoral instructions for use.
Description
Blood glucose monitor with user's manual. Blood glucose monitor is gray and blue with blue button and blue print. Back side of blood glucose monitor has blue and black print and pictoral instructions for use. User guide is spiral-bound in white metal and cover is blue and gray with red, white, and black print and picture of blood glucose monitor on the front. Inside pages are white with red and blue print and pictorial instructions for use.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1989
maker
Miles, Inc.
ID Number
2014.0140.23
accession number
2014.0140
catalog number
2014.0140.23
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
MG.M-02896.03
catalog number
M-02896.03
accession number
111796
The indications or uses for this product are:Indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. ACTOS should be taken once daily and can be taken without regard to meals.Currently not on view
Description
The indications or uses for this product are:
Indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus. ACTOS should be taken once daily and can be taken without regard to meals.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2000
maker
Takeda Chemical Industries, LTD.
Eli Lilly and Company
Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc.
ID Number
2004.3030.03
catalog number
2004.3030.03
nonaccession number
2004.3030
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1936
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
1982.0498.17
catalog number
1982.0498.17
accession number
1982.0498
After the connection between insulin and diabetes was announced in 1921, several pharmaceutical firms hastened to bring insulin and related materials to market. One such was the Eli Lilly & Co. of Indianapolis, which adopted the term Iletin for its insulin.
Description
After the connection between insulin and diabetes was announced in 1921, several pharmaceutical firms hastened to bring insulin and related materials to market. One such was the Eli Lilly & Co. of Indianapolis, which adopted the term Iletin for its insulin. This turned wood canister holds a glass ampule made to contain Lilly U-10 Iletin brand insulin. The label refers to patents of Oct. 9, 1923 and Dec. 23, 1924.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
MG.M-02889.03
catalog number
M-02889.03
accession number
111796
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1956
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
1980.0076.013
accession number
1980.0076
catalog number
1980.0076.13
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1982
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
1982.0153.21
accession number
1982.0153
catalog number
1982.0153.21
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1982
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
1982.0153.26
accession number
1982.0153
catalog number
1982.0153.26
Blood glucose monitor with packaging, box of test strips, automatic lancing device, lancets, check paddle, quick reference cards, Clinilog record book, important notice card, user's guide, "Diabetes in the News" subscription offer card, warranty card, Video Training Program reque
Description
Blood glucose monitor with packaging, box of test strips, automatic lancing device, lancets, check paddle, quick reference cards, Clinilog record book, important notice card, user's guide, "Diabetes in the News" subscription offer card, warranty card, Video Training Program request card, "Important Training Information Enclosed" envelope, normal control package insert, automatic lancing device package insert, and bottle of normal control solution.
Blood glucose monitor is gray and dark blue plastic with LCD display panel and dark blue button on the front. Box is white and gray paper with orange, dark blue, and gray print and picture of blood glucose monitor and kit on the front and side. Box of test strips is white and gray paper with orange, teal, and gray print and picture of test strip on the front. Glucolet lancing device is gray plastic with metal clip. Bag of lancets is clear plastic with light gray plastic lancets and dark gray plastic tip. "Check Paddle" (calibration device) is in a clear and black square plastic case with a hinged opening and includes a white card with orange, dark blue, and gray print as well as a gray plastic "check paddle" and black foam liner. The Quick Reference Guide is 7 bound paper cards that are white paper with dark blue and black print and include pictorial instructions in English and Spanish. Clinilog record book is blue paper with red and white print and inside pages are white with black print. User's Guide is white paper with orange, dark blue and black print and has a picture of the blood glucose monitor on the front. Inside pages are white with black, green, pink, mustard, burgundy, and peach print and includes pictorial instructions for use. " Important Training Information Enclosed" envelope is white with blue print and contained Encore Normal Control package insert and Glucolet Automatic Lancing Device package insert.
Printed on box: No Timing, No Wiping / Laboratory Accuracy / Test Results in 15-60 Seconds
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1994
maker
Miles, Inc.
ID Number
2014.0140.24
accession number
2014.0140
catalog number
2014.0140.24
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920s
ca 1923
maker
Eli Lilly & Company
ID Number
1982.0498.04
catalog number
1982.0498.04
accession number
1982.0498
Humulin is human insulin used for treating diabetes. Prior to its development, diabetics used insulin isolated from pig and cow pancreases.
Description (Brief)
Humulin is human insulin used for treating diabetes. Prior to its development, diabetics used insulin isolated from pig and cow pancreases. Developed by Genentech, the first American biotechnology company, Humulin was licensed to Eli Lilly and became the first marketable product created through recombinant DNA technology. Its licensing by the FDA in October 1982 also made it the first recombinant pharmaceutical approved for use in the United States.
Recombinant pharmaceuticals are created by inserting genes from one species into a host species, often yeast or bacteria, where they do not naturally occur. The genes code for a desired product, and therefore the genetically modified host organisms can be grown and used as a kind of living factory to produce the product. In this case, genes coding for human insulin are inserted into bacteria. Bacteria produce insulin, which is harvested and used as the active ingredient in Humulin.
Humulin 50/50 is an intermediate-acting insulin combined with the more rapid onset of action of regular human insulin. The duration of activity may last up to 24 hours following injection. Due to declining use, Humulin 50/50 was discontinued in 2009.
Object is a sealed white cardboard box with black and red printing.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before May 1995
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
2012.0046.47
catalog number
2012.0046.47
accession number
2012.0046
Blood glucose monitor with operator's manual and lancing device. Blood glucose monitor is white plastic with LCD display panel, blue and red buttons (ON/OFF, SELECT, START), and black print.
Description
Blood glucose monitor with operator's manual and lancing device. Blood glucose monitor is white plastic with LCD display panel, blue and red buttons (ON/OFF, SELECT, START), and black print. Operator's manual is white paper with gray, black, and red print and includes pictorial instructions for use. Operator's Manual cover is gray and blue graph-ruled with red, orange, yellow zig-zag "graph line," white print, and picture of blood glucose monitor on it. SoftTouch lancing device is white plastic, shaped like a pen, with red print.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
about 1988
maker
Boehringer Mannheim Corporation
ID Number
2014.0140.10
accession number
2014.0140
catalog number
2014.0140.10
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1982
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
1982.0153.22
accession number
1982.0153
catalog number
1982.0153.22
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1982
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
1982.0153.24
accession number
1982.0153
catalog number
1982.0153.24
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1956
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
1980.0076.017
accession number
1980.0076
catalog number
1980.0076.17
Hugh Owen Thomas (1834-1891) was an English bone setter, as were many of his relatives, and it was he who invented the Thomas Splint.
Description
Hugh Owen Thomas (1834-1891) was an English bone setter, as were many of his relatives, and it was he who invented the Thomas Splint. His nephew, Colonel Robert Jones, promoted the use of the Thomas splint for the initial treatment of femoral fractures, thus greatly reducing the mortality related to this problem during World War I.
This Thomas Splint was made by the DePuy Manufacturing Company, a firm established in Warsaw, Ind., in 1895, by Revra DePuy (1860-1921), a chemist and pharmaceutical salesman who promoted fiber splints that could be customized to fit patients.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920
maker
DePuy Manufacturing Company
ID Number
MG.M-07293.01
catalog number
M-07293.01
accession number
217731
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For beautifying and softening the hair. Directions: Glossine is to be used only after the hair has been thoroughly cleaned. Use very little, not enough to make hair greasy.Yellow metal tin with black print.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For beautifying and softening the hair. Directions: Glossine is to be used only after the hair has been thoroughly cleaned. Use very little, not enough to make hair greasy.
Yellow metal tin with black print. Contents 1 oz. Label on top of tin reads: "WALKER'S / GLOSSINE / MADE BY / THE MADAM C. J. WALKER / MANUFACTURING CO. / INDIANAPOLIS, IND. / PRICE 35 CTS. / FOR BEAUTIFYING AND SOFTENING THE HAIR."
Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919) was a successful beauty industry entrepreneur and philanthropist. In 1910, she established a manufacturing company in Indianapolis, Indiana, to produce her growing line of hair and beauty products for African Americans. By 1920, the Walker line included: Wonderful Hair Grower, Temple Grower, Witch Hazel Jelly, Tetter-Salve, Glossine, Vegetable Shampoo, Cold Cream, Vanishing Cream, Cleansing Cream, and Walker’s Supreme Face Powder.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920s
referenced
Madam C. J. Walker
maker
Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company
ID Number
2012.0165.785
catalog number
2012.0165.785
accession number
2012.0165
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1946
maker
Eli Lilly & Company
ID Number
MG.M-06433
accession number
173800
catalog number
M-06433
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
MG.M-02894.05
catalog number
M-02894.05
accession number
111796
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
1982.0498.11
catalog number
1982.0498.11
accession number
1982.0498
maker number
744
After the connection between insulin and diabetes was announced in 1921, pharmaceutical firms hastened to bring insulin and related materials to market. This cardboard box contains a hypodermic needle in a metal case, a glass bottle for alcohol, and related material.
Description
After the connection between insulin and diabetes was announced in 1921, pharmaceutical firms hastened to bring insulin and related materials to market. This cardboard box contains a hypodermic needle in a metal case, a glass bottle for alcohol, and related material. A label reads in part: “LILLY’S ASEPTIC SYRINGE NEEDLE / NO. 65 / (PATENT 1,625,035)” and “ELI LILLY & COMPANY, INDIANAPOLIS, U.S.A.”
Ref: Eli Lily, “Hypodermic Kit,” U.S. Patent 1,625,035 (April 19, 1927).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
maker
Eli Lilly and Company
ID Number
MG.M-02887
catalog number
M-02887
accession number
111796
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:For beautifying and softening the hair. Directions: Glossine is to be used only after the hair has been thoroughly cleaned. Use very little, not enough to make hair greasy.Yellow metal tin with black print.
Description
The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
For beautifying and softening the hair. Directions: Glossine is to be used only after the hair has been thoroughly cleaned. Use very little, not enough to make hair greasy.
Yellow metal tin with black print. Contents 1 oz. Label on top of tin reads: "WALKER'S / GLOSSINE / MADE BY / THE MADAM C. J. WALKER / MANUFACTURING CO. / INDIANAPOLIS, IND. / PRICE 35 CTS. / FOR BEAUTIFYING AND SOFTENING THE HAIR."
Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919) was a successful beauty industry entrepreneur and philanthropist. In 1910, she established a manufacturing company in Indianapolis, Indiana, to produce her growing line of hair and beauty products for African Americans. By 1920, the Walker line included: Wonderful Hair Grower, Temple Grower, Witch Hazel Jelly, Tetter-Salve, Glossine, Vegetable Shampoo, Cold Cream, Vanishing Cream, Cleansing Cream, and Walker’s Supreme Face Powder.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920s
referenced
Madam C. J. Walker
maker
Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company
ID Number
2012.0165.786
catalog number
2012.0165.786
accession number
2012.0165

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