Medical Movies on the Web: The Mysterious Case of Petr Anokhin, Soviet Scientific Cinema, and the Conjoined Twins, Circa 1957

Our good friend Michael Sappol--author of A Traffic of Dead Bodies, curator of Dream Anatomy, and historian at the National Library of Medicine--just alerted us to a rare 1957 film about conjoined twins produced by the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow that has recently been digitized by the National Library of Medicine.

Full details on the film follow, and a few stills from the film can be found above. You can view the film in its entirety above (click play on top image) or at Medical Movies on the Web by clicking here.

In 1957, the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow released an unusual motion picture, Neural and Humoral Factors in the Regulation of Bodily Functions (Research on Conjoined Twins) (Исследования на неразделившихсия близнетсах). The Russian-language film was never widely circulated and is extremely rare: today the only accessible copy can be found in the historical audiovisuals collection of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The 45 minute movie documents research conducted on two pairs of conjoined twins (Ira and Galia, and Masha and Dasha) each of whom had a shared circulatory system, but completely separate nervous systems. Supervised by the founder of Soviet neurocybernetics Petr Anokhin (1898-1974), the first pair was studied during 1937-38 and the second in 1950-57. Never intended to reach beyond a narrow specialist audience, the film offers a rare glimpse into the history of Soviet physiology and “scientific cinema,” a peculiar cinematographic genre that had a long and distinguished history in Soviet Russia.

While the conjoined twins presented a unique opportunity for research into a variety of interesting questions — physiological and also psychological, genetic, immunological, and embryological — the movie only addresses the issue of the relative roles of neural and humoral (circulatory and lymphatic) factors in the functioning of the human organism, according the theories espoused by Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), Russia’s first Nobel Prize winner and the doyen of Soviet physiology. Yet surprisingly, Pavlov himself is never mentioned in the film’s running commentary, and the film gives very little information on either Ira and Galia or Masha and Dasha. Only Masha and Dasha lived to adulthood and, even though they were made to serve as child human research subjects, without the consent of parents or guardians, in some ways the film marks the happiest part of their lives, up to around the time of their seventh birthday, when they were well attended to and received relatively good treatment.

These puzzles are the subject of Nikolai Krementsov’s article, “A Cinematic and Physiological Puzzle: Conjoined Twins Research, Scientific Cinema and Pavlovian Physiology”.

To see the film in its entirety (in both a Russian-language closed-captioned-for-the-hearing-impaired version and an English-subtitled version) — and to read the essay, go to Medical Movies on the Web at https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/collections/films/medicalmoviesontheweb/index.html.

Morbid Anatomy Museum Built On Top Of (Or Adjacent To) Revolutionary War Burial Ground?

On the corner that the Morbid Anatomy Museum now occupies, there was once a plaque marking the intersection as the "Burial place of ye 256 Maryland soldiers who fell in ye combat at ye Cortelyou House on ye 27th day of August 1776." If Wikipedia is to be believed, these soldiers were part of the Maryland Regiment, who were termed "immortals" due to their bravery, and nicknamed "The Dandy Fifth" because they came so fancily equipped.

More on the regiment and the battle, also from Wikipedia:

The Maryland Regiment had joined the Continental Army barely two weeks before the Battle of Long Island. Unlike most of Washington's Army, the Maryland contingent had been well drilled at home and were so well equipped – they even had bayonets, a rarity for the Army – that the Regiment was known at home as the Dandy Fifth, and to the rest of the Army as "macaronis", the then current word for dandies...

The bravery of the Maryland Regiment earned them the name "immortals". The dead were buried in a mass grave consisting of six trenches in a farm field. The gravesite is located on what is now Third Avenue between 7th and 8th Streets. Until the widening of Third Avenue in 1910, the site was marked by a tablet that read: "Burial place of ye 256 Maryland soldiers who fell in ye combat at ye Cortelyou House on ye 27th day of August 1776." The result of the brief battle was stunning for the Americans. More than a thousand men were killed, captured, or missing. Generals Stirling and Sullivan were in the enemy's hands. The battalion had lost more than 250 of their number. Most of the Marylanders' casualties occurred in the retreat and desperate covering action at the Cortelyou House. Ultimately, of the original Maryland 400 muster, 96 returned, with only 35 fit for duty.

Historian, Thomas Field, writing in 1869, "The Battle of Long Island," called the stand of the Marylanders "an hour more precious to liberty than any other in history." Four companies of the 1st Maryland stood as the final anchor of the crumbled American front line, and their heroic action not only saved many of their fellows but afforded Washington critical respite to regroup and withdraw his battered troops to Manhattan and continue the struggle for independence.

Source: The Battle of Brooklyn 1776 by John J. Gallagher (Sarpedon Publishers, 1995)

More here. Click image to see larger version of image.

Thanks, Movie Mike, for bringing this to our attention!

AUCTION ALERT: "Out of the Ordinary" Auction of Curiosities; September 10, 2015 South Kensington, London

A few highlights from Christie's upcoming "Out of the Ordinary" curiosity auction; 10 September 2015 South Kensington, London. Thanks, Bart Grob, for bringing this to our attention!

See all lots and find out more here.

Images:

1. An Italian Carved Marble 'Vanitas' Bust Of A Woman, Late 19th Century
2. A South German Or Austrian Group Of Carved And Pierced Ivory And Bone Miniature Furniture
3. A Life-Size Prototype Model Of A Gorilla, Dr. Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux, Circa 1863
4. A Welsh Taxidermy Specimen Of A Polycephalic Lamb (Ovis Aries); Early 20th Centur
5. A Late Victorian Taxidermy Caiman (Caiman Crocodilius) Mounted As A Dumbwaiter; Late 19th Early 20th Century
6. A Taxidermy Model Of An Australian Flying Fox Or Fruit Bat (Pteropus), Late 19th Century
7. French School, 18th Century, Ménage A Trois
8. Sir Joseph Noel Paton, R.S.A. (Dunfermline, Fife, 1821-1909 Edinburgh); The Commander-In-Chief Of British Forces In The Crimea, And Staff.

The Most Dangerous Game (1932) - The Hunt for Human Prey Showing on 16mm Film with Movie Mike: Guest Post by Peter M. Parrella (aka "Skeleton Pete")

Following is a guest post by Peter M. Parrella (aka "Skeleton Pete") about The Most Dangerous Game, a delightfully shocking pre-code tale of sex, violence and exoticism shot on the same sets--and starring much of the cast, including Fay Wray--as King Kong. 

Movie Mike will be screening the film at The Morbid Anatomy Museum in real 16mm next Tuesday, September 1st; more and tickets can be found here. Hope very much to see you there!

The Most Dangerous Game

Peter M. Parrella

In November of 1932, RKO Pictures released The Most Dangerous Game (MDG) based on Richard Connell’s short story with its treacherous twist on hunter and quarry. On the surface the film appears to be a typical jungle-chase adventure of its time. In the early 1930s the “bring ‘em back alive” exploits of zoo animal collector Frank Buck spawned two bestselling books. At the same time the first of the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan series (Tarzan, The Ape Man,) the tropical island love story Bird of Paradise, and the most outre of “animal” films The Island of Lost Souls were released.

The Most Dangerous Game, with its great looking Hollywood leads, Fay Wray and Joel McCrea, lecherous villain broadly played by Leslie Nielsen, and “shocker” trophies of his “game losers”, would also fulfill the fancies of a depression era audience hungry for thrills both exotic and (pre-Hays Code) erotic. In a historical context, The Most Dangerous Game serves as a Rosetta Stone for unlocking obscure details of its surrounding productions. As an inheritor of the artistic DNA of an aborted prehistoric monster film, Creation, and mid-wife to King Kong (KK), a masterpiece of celluloid fantasy, it reveals the genesis of collaborative convergence between two real life adventurers, a cutting edge special effects artist, and an art department steeped in the engravings of a renowned 19th century illustrator.

By late 1931, the co-producer/director team of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest Beaumont Schoedsack had come to RKO Pictures under the auspices of new vice president for production David O. Selznick. “Coop” and “Monty” had an ace in the hole when it came to adventure, both had a long list of real exploits behind them that would have made great movies in and of themselves. They had since exchanged their weapons for cameras, capturing footage of animals and indigenous populations in their natural habitats. Taking the standard travelogue a step further to include sparse but real life narrative, those raw materials, became the well-reviewed and money earning proto-documentaries, or “dramas of the wilderness,” Grass (1925) and Chang (1927). They also supplied spectacular live action scenes for the team’s feature version of The Four Feathers (1929). What they would imbue in their wholly fantastic films was a sense of verité. Both The Most Dangerous Game and King Kong share a frenetic quality created by men who knew what it meant to run for their lives, escaping human captors during World War 1 and wild animals while on safari. In The Most Dangerous Game Schoedsack applied some of the same visual techniques from his expeditionary days filming Zaroff’s slavering hounds from a low angle, having them literally trod over the viewer, just as he had years earlier with a herd of stampeding elephants in Chang.

Part of Selznick’s mandate at the failing studio was to assess the earning potential of films currently in the works, and to that end he requested Cooper’s aid. One such project was Creation, a lost world dinosaur drama that Cooper found wanting for its tepid script and lack of centralized antagonist. Though his assessment of Creation led to its shutdown, Cooper saw a “one door closes, another door opens” scenario. He had long been brewing a story about a giant gorilla battling ancient lizards. It has been reported that in those days before “no animals have been harmed during the making of this film” consciousness, he considered using live animals. Fortunately he found a perfect solution in the stop motion animation techniques of Willis O’Brien. He quickly pitched the idea to Selznick who trusted Cooper’s instincts enough to give a tacit go ahead and some funding cribbed from other productions. Cooper still needed final approval from the RKO executive board in New York City and put the fallow Creation team to work creating a now legendary “test reel” to convince them to green-light “Kong,” then alternately called The Beast and The Eighth Wonder.

Though The Most Dangerous Game is often looked upon as the little sibling of King Kong, one can point to their co-production as a reason the latter film was made at all. A healthy portion of the cost of live jungle set construction was charged against MDG’s budget, while its yacht set became King Kong’s ship cabin. King Kong’s script clearly notes where MDG assets are used, often referring to the “fog hollow” and jungle “ledge” sets. In fact, “fog hollow” is the same swampy terrain through which Count Zaroff’s hounds and Kong’s apatosaurus chase their respective victims. The films also shared a screenwriter in part. James Ashmore Creelman penned MDG's taut 63 minutes and the main action of King Kong’s jungle scenes, but ultimately left the production when he felt the story had become too convoluted. Still, Creelman’s no-time-to-think pacing of MDG likely informed the final release edit of King Kong. Several planned scenes of dinosaurs were ultimately cut to focus the action back on main story of beauty and the beast.

In addition to their jungle adventure trope, Creation, The Most Dangerous Game and King Kong also share a visual vocabulary based firmly on the etchings of illustrator Gustave Doré (1832-1883). In 1930, Lewis W. Physioc, a founding father of cinematography, wrote an article for the Cinematographic Annual exhorting cameramen to go beyond “crank turning” and embrace more artistic methods in mounting and lighting scenes. Though Doré’s influence can be traced as far back as the films of effects pioneer George Méliés, it is Physioc who delineated in print the value of the artist’s style pointing out that “…if there is one man’s work that can be taken as a cinematographer’s text, it is that of Doré’s. His stories are told in our own language of “black and white,” are highly imaginative and dramatic and should stimulate anybody’s ideas.” (Physioc, Lewis W. “Cinematography an Art Form.” Cinematographic Annual, April 1930, p. 25.) 

Physioc’s assessment of Doré as a master of the escapist art form of his time was spot on. The French illustrator’s visions for dozens of written works including Paradise Lost, the fables of La Fontaine, Dante’s Divine Comedy, and the Bible still inform our general view of how angels, devils and all things in between appear. I consider Orlando Furioso and The Rabelais milestones of pre-cinema fantasy.

Apparently embracing this entreaty, Chief Effects Technician and head animator Willis O’Brien (The Lost World, 1925) supplied copies of Doré prints to the production artists, matte painters and miniature set builders who dutifully emulated the engravings from the ancient gnarled roots of dark forests where the sky is rarely seen except through a dense canopy of leaves and vines to the striations of their craggy rocks and mountains. Many of Doré’s major plates exhibit an engraving method that gives the illusion of great depth even in their two dimensional medium. A dark surrounding area in the forefront, analogous to the proscenium arch of a theater stage, draws the viewer into the well lit mid-area where the action takes place, while less contrasty engraved lines in the background create the look of distance. RKO studio artists and technicians followed this guide, using severals layers of glass painted mattes, miniature foliage on multiple animation tables, and low contrast backgrounds painted on masonite flats all meticulously aligned to complete the effective vision.

One example of this method—possibly the most iconic of shared sets—features a jungle chasm spanned by a log bridge and was prominently used in the scenarios of all three films discussed here. It has its origins in a beautifully detailed Doré plate for François-René de Chateaubriand’s Atala (1801), that depicts several Native Americans crossing a log bridge in a primeval setting.


Had Creation been completed it would have been the scene of a giant dual horned prehistoric mammal, an arsinoitherium, attacking a group of sailors attempting to cross to safety. Though no remnants of it appear to exist it was apparently interpolated into the “Kong” test reel only to be excised for final release. Of course, Kong himself gets his own star turn on the other side of that log, shaking the sailors to their doom at the bottom of the chasm. The action was famously changed from their being devoured by giant spiders and insects to dying in the fall for the release print. The Most Dangerous Game actually affords us the loveliest view of the miniature log set

as Wray and McCrea traverse it to escape Zaroff’s dogs and henchmen, stopping just long enough to allow us to take in the grandeur of its scope.

By benefitting from several disparate serendipities The Most Dangerous Game stands above its pot-boiler trappings.

Though never completing another adventure of the caliber of King Kong, Merian Cooper, Ernest Schoedsack and Willis O’Brien went on to create the totally engaging Mighty Joe Young in 1949. The art of Gustave Doré found later acolytes in O’Brien/Physioc protegé Ray Harryhausen (Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, 1957, Jason and the Argonauts, 1963) and in the characters of Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). 

Images:

1. RKO-Radio Pictures' pre-Hays Code poster art for The Most Dangerous Game made no secret of the fate met by losers of Count Zaroff’s hunts.
2. Atala, by Chateaubriand “In a valley to the north, at some distance from the grand village, was a wood of cypresses and deals, called the Wood of Blood; it was reached by the ruins of one of those monuments of which the origin is ignored, and which were the work of a people now unknown.” In the days before movies, Gustave Doré’s illustrations represented the pinnacle of popular art. His compositional nuances and handling of light and shade made his works a perfect guide for early cinematographers invested in elevating their own art a generation later. This magnificent plate for Chateaubriand’s “new world” romance, Atala, deeply influenced the look and action of The Most Dangerous Game, King Kong and their uncompleted forefather, Creation. Scanned from the author’s collection, original size 8 x 9.75 inches on 9.5 X 13 inch page.
3. This collaborative pre-production art (circa 1930) by Byron Crabbe, Willis O’Brien, and Mario Larrinaga, for the unrealized Creation project, depicts a scene eventually brought to the screen in King Kong. The ancient ruins and rendering of that telltale log bridge clearly reveals the influence of Doré’s Atala illustration.
4. Though King Kong employs the log bridge set to much more dramatic effect, this shot from The Most Dangerous Game, a mix of live action, multiple layers of glass painting, miniature and real foliage, and matte art, affords us the most artfully lit and Doré-esque glimpse of the tableaux. The two films share more than a similar cast. MDG’s budget defrayed the costs of many of Kong’s production assets.
5. Clearly bearing the influence of Gustave Doré’s aesthetic, the action on the log bridge became a centralized motif, likely under Willis O’Brien’s urging. Between December 1931, when it was pitched, and March 1932, when it was green lighted, King Kong inherited most of the effects assets (including dinosaur animation models) as well as some of the scenarios of the cancelled film Creation. Top Left: Byron Crabbe and Willis O’Brien’s concept art for Creation depicts a prehistoric mammal, an arsinoitherium, attacking sailors crossing a log bridge. Top Right: The scene realized in miniature on an animation table and likely finalized for King Kong’s “proof of theory” test reel. Middle: A change of antagonist. King Kong shakes sailor’s to their death in later production art. Bottom: The live stage set in early production closely adheres to the chiaroscuro effects of the production artwork.

Guest Book Review of Alan Finn's "Things Half in Shadow" by Jennifer Berman

Following is book review of Alan Finn's Things Half in Shadow by Jennifer Berman, one of the contributors to our first exhibition, The Art of Mourning. The book was donated to the library by writer Todd Ritter.

In his new novel, Things Half in Shadow, Alan Finn, showing a great command of history, has created a wonderful world full of interesting people living, dead and otherwise. He weaves a delightful yarn recreating post-Civil War Philadelphia in all its multi-layered, multi-tiered glory. A world filled with appealing characters and a ghost story/mystery that keeps twisting till the very end.

The most appealing character among them is Edward Clark a young crime reporter and spiritualist scoffer, who reluctantly takes on an assignment to uncover phony spiritualists and unwittingly winds up involved in the mysterious murder of Philadelphia’s most famous medium.

He sets out at once to clear his name and we follow right along with him. Anyone who enjoys ghosts, ghouls, shadowy societies, dark secrets, misalliance, deception, romance, murder and mystery, and who doesn’t, will have a lot of fun reading this.

Let’s hope, like the spirits, Mr Clark and Company will return for another visit soon.

Seeking Attribution for Wax Dying Christ Figure

The photo above of what appears to be a wax dying Christ was taken on a trip to Europe in 1994. I am not sure where, but might well have been Austria or Germany. If anybody knows from whence it came, we would be most grateful if you'd let us know! Email joanna [at] morbidanatomymuseum [dot] org with any leads!

Saint Florian Gowanus Pageant and Procession! Isadora Duncan at Greenwood Cemetery! Call for Dilettanti Collectors! Morbid Anatomy News and Events

We have many wonderful goings on this week at Morbid Anatomy, but first, a special alert: Morbid Anatomy is currently seeking a 2011 or later model Macbook laptop in order to upgrade our A/V system. Donor will receive a one-year membership. If you can help, please email cristina [at] morbidanatomymuseum.org!

AND: to all you collectors out there: if you are interested in participating in our Dilettanti Society show and tell happy hour (here for previous incarnation), please email info@morbidanatomymuseum.org, subject line: Dilettanti!

For new events this week: First up is an official save the date for our First Annual Morbid Anatomy Saint Florian Gowanus Pageant and Procession; we are still accepting proposals for short works for this event, responding to the ideas relating to the Gowanus Canal or saints (Sunday, August 16; more here). We also have Dial P for Pagan: Madeline Schwartzman's Campus of Curiosities Shown on 16mm Film! (Wednesday, December 2nd, more here).

And, if taxidermy is your thing, we have a number of excellent newly announced Divya Anantharaman classes to choose from: Anthropomorphic Mouse (One or Two Headed) (Saturday, September 12th, more here); English Sparrow (Sunday, September 13th, more here); Fancy Chicken (with Katie Innamorato; Sunday, September 20th; more here); Anthropomorphic Rabbit (Saturday, October 3rd; more here); and Archaeopteryx, Microraptors and Hopeful Monsters - Rogue Taxidermy Bird Dinosaur class (Sunday, October 4th, more here)

We have a number of excellent events taking place this very week, beginning with Movie Mike presenting Bluebeard (1944) with John Carradine as the serial strangler of women in old Paris on real 16mm (Tuesday, July 28th, more here) followed by Catherine Gallant on Isadora Duncan’s Dances of Mourning as part of "Common Shade" at Greenwood Cemetery (Wednesday, July 29; more here); 'The Gothic Sensibility: Victorian 'Gloomths' and the Contemporary 'Death Curious' with Romany Reagan Wednesday, July 29th, SOLD OUT); The Even More Disturbing and Absurd World of Medical Patents with Patent Attorney Eric Indin (Thursday, July 30th; more here); Chipmunk Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman (Saturday, August 1st. SOLD OUT; and Skunk Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman (Sunday, August 2; more here).

If you want to avoid sold out events, and get early access to our August 30 flea market, become a member today! Besides early entry and advance notice of events, members also enjoy discounted admissions and unlimited free museum entry. Find out more here.

There is also still time to enter our special fundraising raffle, where you have a chance to win a trip for two with hotel and airfare included from your home city to the Morbid Anatomy Museum this October for Day of the Dead! Must enter by September 20th, and winner will be announced on September 21; Details can be found here.

List of events follows. Hope to see you at one or more!

 _______________________________________________________

 IMMEDIATELY UPCOMING EVENTS 

• Movie Mike Presents : Morbid Movie Madness - Bluebeard with John Carradine as the serial strangler of women in old Paris in 16mm!
  Tuesday, July 28th, 8pm, $10, Tickets (and more info) here.

• Common Shade: Catherine Gallant on Isadora Duncan’s Dances of Mourning at Greenwood Cemetery
  Wednesday, July 29, 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm, $25/Member $20 OFFSITE at Greenwood Cemetery, Tickets (and more info) here.

• 'The Gothic Sensibility: Victorian 'Gloomths' and the Contemporary 'Death Curious': An Illustrated Lecture with Romany Reagan 
  Wednesday, July 29th, 8pm, $8, SOLD OUT (more info here).

• The Dilettanti Society Happy Hour Presented by Art in the Age: Cocktails and Show and Tell in the Morbid Anatomy Library: Prepared Skulls of Tribal Oceanic and African Culture with Special Guest Cole Harrell 
  POSTPONED Thursday, July 30th,  6pm - 8pm, $12 for members. Tickets and more info here.

• The Even More Disturbing and Absurd World of Medical Patents: An Illustrated Lecture with Eric Indin, Registered Patent Attorney. 
  Thursday, July 30th,  8pm - 10pm, $8, Tickets (and more info) here.

• Chipmunk Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman
  Saturday, August 1st, 12pm - 6pm, $185 (all tickets include admission to the museum), SOLD OUT ( info here)

• Skunk Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman
  Sunday, August 2nd, 12pm - 6pm, $450 (includes admission to the museum), Tickets (and more info) here

_______________________________________________________

NEWLY ANNOUNCED EVENTS

• SAVE THE DATE First Annual Morbid Anatomy Saint Florian Gowanus Pageant and Procession, Sunday, August 16
  Currently seeking short pieces--talks, performances, screenings, spectacles--responding to the ideas relating to the Gowanus Canal or saints. More here.

• Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class, One or Two Headed with Divya Anantharaman
  Saturday, September 12th, 10pm - 6 pm, $120. Tickets and more info here.

• English Sparrow Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman
  Sunday, September 13th, 12 pm - 7 pm, $195. Tickets and more info here.

• Fancy Chicken Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman and Katie Innamorato
  Sunday, September 20th, 12 pm to 7:30 pm, $400. Tickets and more info here.
  
  Anthropomorphic Rabbit Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman
  Saturday, October 3rd, 10 am - 7 pm, $300. Tickets and more info here. 

• Archaeopteryx, Microraptors and Hopeful Monsters - Rogue Taxidermy Bird Dinosaur class with Divya Annantharaman
  Sunday, October 4th, 12 pm - 6:30 pm, $180. Tickets and more info here.

• Dial P for Pagan: Madeline Schwartzman's Campus of Curiosities Shown on 16mm Film!  
  Wednesday, December 2nd, 8 pm, $10. Tickets and more info here.

_______________________________________________________

ALL UPCOMING EVENTS

• Movie Mike Presents : Morbid Movie Madness - Bluebeard with John Carradine as the serial strangler of women in old Paris in 16mm!
  Tuesday, July 28th, 8pm, $10, Tickets (and more info) here.

• 'The Gothic Sensibility: Victorian 'Gloomths' and the Contemporary 'Death Curious' : An Illustrated Lecture with Romany Reagan 
  Wednesday, July 29th, 8pm, $8, SOLD OUT (more info here).

• Common Shade: Catherine Gallant on Isadora Duncan’s Dances of Mourning at Greenwood Cemetery
  Wednesday, July 29, 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm, $25/Member $20 OFFSITE at Greenwood Cemetery, Tickets (and more info) here.

• The Dilettanti Society Happy Hour Presented by Art in the Age: Cocktails and Show and Tell in the Morbid Anatomy Library: Prepared Skulls of Tribal Oceanic and African Culture with Special Guest Cole Harrell 
  POSTPONED Thursday, July 30th,  6pm - 8pm, $12 for members. Tickets and more info here.

• The Even More Disturbing and Absurd World of Medical Patents: An Illustrated Lecture with Eric Indin, Registered Patent Attorney. 
  Thursday, July 30th,  8pm - 10pm, $8, Tickets (and more info) here.

• Chipmunk Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman
  Saturday, August 1st, 12pm - 6pm, $185 (all tickets include admission to the museum), SOLD OUT ( info here)

• Skunk Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman
  Sunday, August 2nd, 12pm - 6pm, $450 (includes admission to the museum), Tickets (and more info) here

• Raccoon Shoulder Mount Class with Karie Innamorato
  Tuesday, August 4th, 12 pm - 6 pm, $450, Tickets (and more info) here.

• Evening Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman 
  Wednesday, August 5th, 6:30pm - 10:30pm, $110 (all tickets include admission to the museum), SOLD OUT here

• Dead and Lovely: An Illustrated Lecture with Elizabeth Harper, All the Saints You Should Know.
  Thursday, August 6th, 8pm, $12. Tickets and more info here. 

• Psychedelics and Death: A Brief Introduction: An Illustrated Lecture with Psychotherapist Dr. Neal Goldsmith
  Friday, August 7th, 8pm - 10 PM, $8, SOLD OUT (info here)

• Victorian Hair Art Workshop with Master Jeweler Karen Bachmann
  Saturday, August 8th, 11am - 6pm (with lunch break), $150 (includes museum admission), Tickets (and more info) here.

• Anthropomorphic Insect Shadowbox Workshop with Daisy Tainton
  Sunday, August 9th, 1pm - 4pm, $75, Tickets (and more info) here.

• "Man-Eater: The Life and Legend of an American Cannibal: An Illustrated Lecture and Book Party with Harold Schechter.
  Monday, August 10th, 8pm, $5, Tickets and more info here.

• Common Shade: Dr. Seth A. Gopin on the Rural Cemetery in Paris and Beyond at Greenwood Cemetery
  Tuesday, August 11, 7:30 pm,  $25 / Members $20, Tickets (and more info) here** Offsite: Location: The Historic Chapel at Greenwood Cemetery (500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232)

• Midcentury Stereopanorama with Eric Drysdale: Look and see the 1950s in 3-D!
  Thursday, August 13th, 8pm, $20, Tickets (and more info) here.

• SAVE THE DATE First Annual Morbid Anatomy Saint Florian Gowanus Pageant and Procession, Sunday, August 16
  Currently seeking short pieces--talks, performances, screenings, spectacles--responding to the ideas relating to the Gowanus Canal or saints. More here.

• The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell: A Memoir: An Illustrated Lecture with Marc Hartzman
  Wednesday, August 19th, 8pm, $8, Tickets (and more info) here.

• Book Party for "The Zombie of Great Peru," by Pierre-Corneille Blessebois, translated by Doug Skinner
  Thursday, August 20th, 8pm, $5, Tickets (and more info) here.

• Starling Taxidermy Class with Katie Innamorato 
  Saturday, August 22nd, 12pm - 6pm, $275 (all tickets include admission to the museum), Tickets (and more info) here

• Rat/ Guinea Pig with Wings Gaff Taxidermy Class with Katie Innamorato 
  Sunday, August 23rd, 12pm - 6pm, $235 (all tickets include admission to the museum), Tickets (and more info) here

• Demystifying Shamanism: An Illustrated Presentation with Dr. Stanley Krippner
  Friday, August 28th, 8 pm, $12, SOLD OUT (more info here).

• Myth, Magic and Michael Jackson: Illustrated Presentation and Michael Jackson Karaoke Birthday Party
  Saturday, August 29th, 8pm, $20/$15 for members, Tickets (and more info) here.

• Morbid Anatomy Flea Market at the Bell House
  August 30th, 12 - 6 pm (Members get 11:00 AM entry) at The Bell House (149 7th St, Brooklyn, NY 11215, a block away from the Morbid Anatomy Museum). More info here.

• Charles Fort and the Forteans that Followed, an Illustrated Lecture with Doug Skinner 
  Thursday, September 10th, 8pm, $8, Tickets (and more info) here.

• Anthropomorphic Mouse Taxidermy Class, One or Two Headed with Divya Anantharaman
  Saturday, September 12th, 10pm - 6 pm, $120. Tickets and more info here.

• English Sparrow Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman
  Sunday, September 13th, 12 pm - 7 pm, $195. Tickets and more info here.

• Fancy Chicken Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman and Katie Innamorato
  Sunday, September 20th, 12 pm to 7:30 pm, $400. Tickets and more info here.

• Morbidity of Mathematics #2: Mathematical Murder, An illustrated lecture with Michael Carlisle
  Tuesday, September 22nd, 8pm, $8, Tickets (and more info) here.

• The Luxor Mummy: The Fantasy and Reality of Egyptian Mummy Magic, an Illustrated Lecture with Ava Forte Vital 
  Tuesday, September 29th, 8 pm, $8, Tickets (and more info) here.

• Down the Hatch: The History and Anatomy of Sword Swallowing: An Illustrated Lecture with Ilise S. Carter aka The Lady Aye 
  Wednesday, September 30th, 8pm, $8, Tickets (and more info) here

• You Can't Kill Me, I'm Already Dead: An Illustrated Lecture with Evan Michelson.
  Friday, October 2nd, 8pm, $15 ( Oct. 2nd. Lecture + Oct 3rd Party Pass is $25 for Morbid Anatomy Members ) Tickets and more info here.

• Anthropomorphic Rabbit Taxidermy Class with Divya Anantharaman
  Saturday, October 3rd (DAY), 10 am - 7 pm, $300. Tickets and more info here. 

• Propaganda Magazine Party with Fred Berger.  
  Saturday, October 3rd (EVE), 8pm, $25 ( Oct. 2nd. Lecture + Oct 3rd Party Pass is $25 for Morbid Anatomy Members ) Tickets and more info here.

• Archaeopteryx, Microraptors and Hopeful Monsters - Rogue Taxidermy Bird Dinosaur class with Divya Annantharaman
  Sunday, October 4th, 12 pm - 6:30 pm, $180. Tickets and more info here.

• Hannibal Lecter, Book Collector, An Illustrated Lecture with Elisabeth Brander, Rare Book Librarian at Washington University 
  Thursday, October 8th, 8pm, Tickets (and more info) here.

• The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World, an Illustrated lecture with David Jaher.
  Friday, October 16th, 8pm, $5, Tickets (and more info) here.

• "Witchcraft Through the Ages" (Häxan) - Polka music! Butter Churns!! 16mm silent film screening with Victrola!!! 
  Monday, October 26th, 8pm, $12, SOLD OUT (and more info) here.

• "Spirit of the Magpie: Hidden Keys to the Scavenger's Scrapbook" An audiovisual trance journey with stopmotion animation and improvised sound
  Wednesday, November 18th, 8pm, $12, Tickets (and more info) here

• Dial P for Pagan: Madeline Schwartzman's Campus of Curiosities Shown on 16mm Film!. 
  Wednesday, December 2nd, 8 pm, $10. Tickets and more info here.

Image: Saint Sebastian (left) and Saint Florian (right). Oil painting by an Austrian painter, 18th (?) century. Wellcome Library.

How to Kill an Animal Humanely: Guest Post by Michael Sappol, National Library of Medicine

Below is a guest post by our good friend Michael Sappol, author of A Traffic of Dead Bodies, curator of Dream Anatomy, and historian at The National Library of Medicine. It was originally posted on their wonderful Circulating Now blog.

Is empathy innate? Are we all born with the ability to identify with the emotions of others, to feel someone else’s pain? Today’s media is chock full of stories about experiments in neuroscience and child psychology that seem to show that the emergence and growth of the ability to empathize is a natural part of human psychological development, present even in toddlers.

Yet human beings periodically commit terrible acts of cruelty and violence, and are often indifferent to suffering. What if the development of empathy is a precious and fragile cultural accomplishment, something that has developed in fits and starts over time, in certain historical moments, in certain places, among certain people? Maybe most people have the ability to empathize, but what if empathy is a set of practices and beliefs that have to be learned and cultivated in order for individuals to exercise it? Those practices and beliefs would, of necessity, only fully develop in a society that has come to place a high value on empathy, that formally and informally rewards empathic behavior and punishes cruelty and indifference, a society that devotes resources to teaching, rehearsing and developing methods of empathy.

How to Kill Animals Humanely is a relic of the history of empathy. English-speaking people originally used the terms “human” and “humane” interchangeably, merely to distinguish human beings from other “brute” animal species. Sometime in the early 18th century, “humane” began to have a special use: to denote a compassionate, caring attitude toward the suffering of other humans and animals, a profound sensitivity that was both a moral obligation and a psychological condition. The word “humane” increasingly came to be used in opposition to “inhumane,” a term that was applied to acts of cruelty to other living beings, and to the people who took pleasure in inflicting suffering or who were just callously indifferent. In the 19th century, “humane” societies were founded to “prevent cruelty,” first to animals (and later to children), first in Great Britain and then in the United States.

This pamphlet, a publication of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA), is both a polemic against “needless cruelty” and a handy guide for those who are obliged to slaughter animals for food, medical research, or—in the case of injured or ailing animals—for purposes of euthanasia. “If you must kill them, do it without cruelty. Every animal has a right to justice and protection at the hands of the superior animal—man….” (This was very unlike contemporary antivivisectionism and vegetarianism, and later People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which absolutely opposed the slaughter of animals, and which criticized the very notion of human moral superiority.)

The author, Dr. Daniel Denison Slade, was a socially prominent surgeon and veterinarian, founder of the Boston Veterinary Institute, professor of applied zoology at Harvard, director of the MSPCA, and a man of many other interests. Being a veterinarian of longstanding practice, Dr. Slade was an expert on animal slaughter. In his little pamphlet he considers how “the Jews,” Germans, French and Dutch do their killing, but in the end makes his own recommendations, supplemented by helpful illustrations. Ways to kill animals “in the most humane manner possible,” must vary according to the varying anatomical structure of different species: horses, cows, dogs, pigs, cats, poultry, Dr. Slade tells us. Even fish should be killed humanely. For most mammals, the creature should receive powerful blows to the head with a mallet— precisely where depends on the species and individual beast—stunning the animal into unconsciousness, and then finishing it off with more blows or a bullet or a blast from a shotgun. Slade also considers other techniques to lessen the suffering, even chloroform. But he warns against “pithing” a method “commonly in vogue,” in which the “spinal cord is severed or punctured between the first and second bones of the neck.” Such an approach, he worries, is “undoubtedly attended by more suffering than other methods.”

Although humane techniques of slaughter may require some practice to get right and a bit more work, Slade argues, they can also improve “the wholesomeness of meat for food, and the market value of the animal slaughtered; there being no question as to the effects of torture, cruelty and fear upon the secretions, and if upon the secretions, necessarily upon the flesh.” He finishes the pamphlet with a long listing of the mission and accomplishments of the MSPCA (including the provision to Boston police stations of “hammers and hoods for killing horses mercifully”), followed by the Society’s “thirty-nine articles of faith” and a fee schedule for membership.

Read other How To… features from the NLM Collections here.
Michael Sappol is a historian in the History of Medicine Division of the National Library of Medicine.

Image List

1. How to Kill Animals Humanely, 1879. By D. D. Slade, M. D. 
2. A longitudinal section of the skull of a horse. Original caption: Situation of the brain. Fig. 1 
3. A drawing of a horse's head indicating where the humane stunning blow should fall. Original Caption The horse may be destroyed by blows upon the head, by the bullet, or by chloroform.1. by blows.– Having blindfolded the horse, the operator, armed with a heavy axe or hammer, should stand upon the side and to the front of the anumal, directing his blow to a point in the middle of a line drawn across the forehead from the dentere of the pit above the eye. See Fig. 2. One vigorous and well-directed blow will fell the animal, but the blow should be repeated to make destruction sure.
4. A longitudinal section of the skull of a cow.
5. A drawing of a cow's head indicating where the humane stunning blow should fall.  Page 9…vessels, or by plunging a long and sharp-pointed knife into the heart and large blood-vessels at a point corresponding to the upper potion of the brisket, and just above the breast-bone.
   Failure to fell the animal at the first blow cannot be attributed to any difference in the anatomical structure of the part, but rather to the fact that the blow was ill-directed, almost invariably too low, that it was not sufficiently powerful, or that both of these faults were combined.
6. "Thirty-Nine Articles of Faith". D. D. (Daniel Denison) Slade (1823–1896), How to Kill Animals Humanely (Boston: Issued by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, [1879?]). 15 pp., illustrated. 4” x 6½”.
7. "Rates of Membership". D. D. (Daniel Denison) Slade (1823–1896), How to Kill Animals Humanely (Boston: Issued by the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, [1879?]). 15 pp., illustrated. 4” x 6½”.

Panoptikum - Grand Musée Anatomique: Touring Historical Anatomy Museum Seeks Funding!

I have just been alerted to an exciting new touring historical anatomical museum now seeking funding. Their project description follows; you can find out more--and make a contribution!--by clicking here. You can visit them on Facebook here. Thanks so much to Morbid Anatomy Reporter at Large Eric Huang for sending this my way!

Historical Anatomy Museum
Please contribute to help preserve the historical traveling medical and anatomy museum know as Panoptikum - Grand Musée Anatomique.

The "panoptikum," a display where the exhibits surround the observer, is one of the oldest kinds of fairground attractions.

Be it a waxwork display, sideshow or a traveling museum - the panoptikum was not only entertainment but also had an educational aspect.

With today's fun-fairs, carnivals and amusement parks focused of the thrill aspects of mega-rides the classic fun-fair museum show has faded into the background and is now seldom seen .

Paradox Sideshows has resurrected the traditional traveling museum show with Panoptikum -Grand Musée Anatomique but needs help in restoring and preserving one of the last remaining inventories of an historical aanatomy and medical museum.

The approximately 200 exhibits - including medical wax models (known traditionally as moulage), medical and pathological specimens, anatomical curiosities and much more - from which the vast majority has an age of more than 80 years, are unique and rare.
In their restored and conserved status they are a historic artifacts of both the fairground and medical education.

It is all the more pleasing that these historical rarities be on public display and not - as various other pieces of this kind - in the basements of private collectors or buried in the archives of medical institutions.

In 2014 Paradox Sideshows began to again present some of these exhibits to the public at festivals and fairs.

The long-term preservation of the Panoptikum: Grand Musée Anatomique is in need of active support!

Although many of the museum exhibits are in an unusually good condition for their age there are many that need much more work for restoration and preservation. That the costly restoration can be achieved by museum admission fees alone seems unlikely..

For this reason we have decided to create fund-raising web-page, just as numerous cultural museums and companies have done, and offer the opportunity to provide financial support of a long-term existence of Panoptikum -Grand Musée Anatomique.

As important as supporting the traveling museum Panoptikum via "online crowd funding"is traditional "live crowd funding", that is to say, people visiting the museum at fairs and festivals during the season 2015 and beyond. Only in this way can this historical fairground exhibit be preserved for future generations.

The Panoptikum -Grand Musée Anatomique is presented by PARADOX SIDESHOW. As one of the last great sideshow companies in Europe, PARADOX SIDESHOW & MISTER MILLER'S SHOW preserves and presents the living tradition of classic fairground sideshows, variety entertainments and oddity exhibits. 

The First Annual Morbid Anatomy Saint Florian Gowanus Pageant

The First Annual Morbid Anatomy Saint Florian Gowanus Pageant Call for Works

Sunday, August 16th

Call for works now ended. You can see full lineup and details here and below. Tickets can be found here.

Thanks, and hope to see you there!

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TALKS:
--E. P. Bell (graduate student, Rutgers University) tracing the roots of this lost ritual and how it was discovered
--Forensic Pathologist Jay Stahl-Herz, MD on the post-mortem challenges presented by bodies found in water
--Ksenya Malina on processional banners used by members of lay confraternity orders in medieval and Renaissance Italy
--AMNH's Erin Chapman with "A Short Illustrated Bestiary of the Gowanus"
--Lady Ayea on the complexities involved in finding the right patron saint for sideshow performers with sword swallowing demonstration
--Urban explorer Will Ellis (Abandoned NYC) about The Batcave, a famous Gowanus abandoned space
--Professor Amy Herzog: TBA

FILMS
--Short films curated by Imagine Science Films at the intersections of art, science and the grotesque
--Jonah Patrick King's film "the Dowsers," which follows a New Age activist cult who worship water in a world where it has been privatized
--Guilherme Marcondes' film Caveirão, an urban fable about ghost in abandoned outskirts of Sao Paulo
--Nicole Antebi's film Riparianism, an animated film which re-imagines a national anthem around the "most" polluted waterways in this country

MUSIC
--Comedian and musician Jessica Delfino with a stirring rendition of "Ghosts of Oysters Past"
--Song by Kim Boekbinder

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Original Call for Works:

We are seeking short pieces--talks, performances, screenings, spectacles--for Gowanus Canal and Saint-themed event taking place on Sunday August 16th to benefit the Morbid Anatomy Museum.

Details follow below. If you are interested, please email your proposal or area of interest to laetitia [at] morbidanatomymuseum.org or joanna [at] morbidanatomymuseum.org.

On Sunday, August 16th, please join us for what we hope will be the first annual pageant honoring Saint Florian, patron saint of flooding and firemen. Gowanus residents are keenly aware that our livelihoods rely on the Gowanus Canal not overflowing its banks. By creating a new ritual to honor and assuage Saint Florian, we can both draw attention to this predicament and develop new rituals to serve as a basis for a new community, all with a sense of whimsy and spectacle.

The pageant will begin with a procession in which we will carry a papier mâché effigy of The Saint along with (we hope) a band from the museum to the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Court on Union Street (about a 10 minute walk). A few words will be said about the ritual, and our new genesis myth for the Gowanus will be articulated.

At the Shuffleboard Court, a fictional graduate student will present a short illustrated lecture tracing the pageant back to a its also fictional 19th century Gowanus roots. Following will be a Gowanus-themed variety show with a number of short presentations and performances, and a party where guests are invited to come in costumes inspired by ideas of the Gowanus.

This is a call for short works for the party. Pieces should run 5-20 minutes of length, and respond (in at least a vague way) the idea of the Gowanus Canal or the procession itself. The monstrous, the mutated, the polluted, the toxic, the abject, aquatic life, industrial throughways, lost causes, mob deaths, gonorrhea, gentrification, ritual, religion, folklore, martyrdom, the spectacular… the list goes on. Works could be talks, performances, screenings, spectacles, projections, and more. The venue has a projector, and we will be given a small stage. We also need help with sets, props and costumes for the procession, so if you are interested in that, let us know!