This Belongs in a Museum
Bringing you museum-approved grammatical errors and typos since 2010.
Oh, and sorry - I DO NOT FOLLOW BACK!
Something tells me this next museum wouldn’t interest the Jersey Shore types. I can imagine Snooki saying something like “Ew, gross!” followed by “I miss Jionni!” Even though I just admitted to my 9,000 followers that I watch Jersey Shore, that’s okay, because I read three books and visited two museums this week to make sure I didn’t lose any brain cells. It’s all about balance. Speaking of brains, the Institute of Neurological Science (INCN) in Lima, Peru houses Latin America’s only ‘Brain Museum’. Opened since 1942, the museum is not like other brain banks around the world which do not let the general public inside, anyone can have a look around for the small fee of 30 cents. Wow! I can’t think of anything so cheap, even if you’re lucky enough to find an antiquated pay phone, I still think that costs at least 50 cents. So why call your mom when you can check out brains!?! Their collection contains over 3000 samples, including brains with various cerebral injuries or other abnormalities as well as fetus brains and the brains of people who have passed away from AIDS, blood clots, heart attacks, and the most common brain disease in the country. That would be trichinosis, which is caused by eating infected undercooked meat, usually pork. There is also a rare specimen of the human equivalent of “Mad Cow” known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. I think this will be my last post on brains. Who knew there are so many brain collections out there? My brain hurts just thinking about it.
On this date in 1881 U.S. President James A. Garfield died of wounds suffered during a shooting from a few months before. He holds the record for the second shortest presidency (just 200 days) and as one of four presidents to be assassinated. Garfield’s killer, Charles J. Guiteau, lives on…or should I say his brain lives on at the Mütter Museum in Philadelphia. Another part of Guiteau’s brain as well as his bones sit alongside his victim’s backbone and a couple of ribs at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Washington, D.C. Fortunately, the museum sees the need for famous assassinations to stick together. Lincoln’s life mask and hands, the bullet fired from the pistol that ended his life, and pieces of his hair and skull are also part of the museum’s collection.
What’s most interesting about the National Museum of Health and Medicine is not the 5,000 skeletons and 8,000 preserved organs, but that it’s America’s oldest Cabinet of Curiosity, going back to 1862. It’s a national trove of plasticized bones, 25 million artifacts in total. One of the most popular exhibits is the preserved hairball of a 12-year old girl who compulsively ate her own hair. Sadly, this taxpayer-funded carnival freak show closed its doors this past April. Walter Reed Army Medical Center voted to close the museum and find a new home in suburban Bethesda by 2012. Let’s hope it reopens soon!
Lately I’ve been thinking how people don’t use their brains. Next time I deal with an idiot, I’ll suggest they visit the web page of the Comparative Mammalian Brain Museum. University of Wisconsin, Michigan State University and the National Museum of Health and Medicine put their brains together to create the world’s largest collection of mammal brains. There’s 175 specimens of grey matter as well as information on brain architecture, evolution (and de-evolution?), growth and sizes.
I’m wondering if the two-toed sloth brain is similar to that of my sloth-like uncle?
