I sought out this novel out of fascination with the museum
featured on this season’s American Horror Story Freakshow. I was surprised to learn that the man behind
this bizarre and fascinating medical specimen collection was the opposite of
sadistic collection but a man who revolutionized medicine. This is the biography of a Thomas Dent Mutter and
his passion for people, especially the deformed, poor and the suffering.
Thomas Mutter began his life as an orphan from South
Carolina in the early 19th century. He
was fortunate that he was placed in the care of a wealthy benefactor who sent
him to the best boarding schools. He was a rare bird from the beginning. Young
Thomas would spend most his money not on books and entertainment, but on the
latest fashions from Paris. Almost
kicked out of several schools for assessing this sort of debt, he had to beg
his benefactor to bail him out time after time.
When finished with standard education, he then enrolled in
the Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia. It was there that he began his
life long passion with medicine. After
finishing medical school, Mutter departed the U.S. for Paris. There, he had the opportunity to study with
giants of medicine. He was moved to help those who suffered as “monsters” by
the study of surgery. This was an era
before anesthesia and many things we take for granted in modern surgery.
He debated whether he should remain in Paris, or return to
his native land. He chose to return to Philadelphia to the Jefferson School of
Medicine. In 1841, he was elected one of
their youngest professors. His style was
completely different from anyone else at the time. Other professors simply lectured, allowing for
no discussion or questioning of the established norms. Mutter chose a more Socratic method of
teaching. He allowed for questions and
would engage his students with his interesting medical specimens. Dr. Mutter
made both friends and enemies by his embrace of new technology and compassion
for the poor.
The book focuses on his rivalry with a Dr. Charles Meig. Dr. Meig was an obstetrician and
“traditionalist” during this time of change. He refused to believe in Dr. Mutter and
other’s claim that doctors could spread disease by not washing their hands
between patients. “A gentleman, by his nature, is clean!” Meig would retort.
This didn’t help the widespread outbreaks of “childbed
fever” and many other contagious diseases. Dr. Meig also refused to take any stock in the
use of ether. Meig interpreted the Bible
literally, believing that women were meant to give birth in pain. The blocking
of this pain would be going against God’s plan. He infamously used ether to “kill” a sheep to
demonstrate to his students the dangers of this agent. The sheep awoke and ran
out of the classroom!
Dr. Mutter performed some of the earliest surgeries with
ether in the United States. He revolutionized post-operative care by building a
hospital in the medical school. Previously, the patients were sent home after
the severe trauma of surgery without anesthesia. He was ambidextrous and
lighting fast in his movements. His students were in awe of his talent. The
students during Dr. Mutter’s tenor at the school went on to develop many modern
medical practices such as triage.
Unfortunately, Dr. Mutter would have a short life. It’s unclear what his modern diagnosis would
be, but he suffered ailments of his lungs. He became progressively weaker and
more desperate to preserve his legacy. (Especially his collection of unusual
medical specimens.) The last years of his life were spent in negotiating a new
museum that would be built in Philadelphia.
The Museum of Medical Curiosities is the continuing legacy
of this eccentric, yet compassionate man. This book contains many photographs, which add
atmosphere to the pages. To learn more about the Mutter Museum, you can check
out their website and/or Wikipedia page. I recommend this book to anyone with an
interest in medical history. It is a
good “prequel to the Starz series “The Knick”. The series stars Clive Owen and highlights a
fictional hospital in New York at the turn of the 20th century. I
look forward to its return for a second season, later this year.
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