A Cabinet of Medical Curiosities

by Jan Bondeson Ph.D.

Overview

"Dr. Bondeson dissects a dozen . . . examples of human credulity with the scalpel of a forensic historian, and the result is a colorful collection of true detective stories." — Richard D. Altick

In this book of amazing oddities, Jan Bondeson explores unexpected, gruesome, and bizarre aspects of the history of medicine. He regales us with stories of spontaneous human combustion; vicious tribes of tailed men; the Two-Headed Boy of Bengal; Mary Toft, who allegedly gave birth to seventeen rabbits; and Julia Pastrana, exhibited around the world as the Ape Woman. Bondeson combines an historian's skill in showing us our timeless fascination with the grotesque with a physician's diagnostic abilities, as he examines the evidence and provides likely explanations for these peculiar events. "Fascinating. . . . Well-researched and extensively illustrated with items from [Bondeson's] personal collection, it covers a wide range of medical monstrosities, and there is something for everyone." — The Lancet "Entertaining in the simultaneously creepy and amusing way of a carnival sideshow. . . . Bondeson is quick to acknowledge absurdity, and his wry humor, along with his strong personal judgments, spice up the book." — Publishers Weekly "Bondeson . . . regards his exhibits with a careful scientist's eye, discovering misinterpreted evidence, tragic genetic mutations, and, occasionally, outright fraud." — Library Journal

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393318920
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	04/17/1999
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Jan Bondeson, a physician, holds a Ph.D. in experimental medicine and works at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology in London.

Table of Contents

Preface

Spontaneous Human Combustion

The Bosom Serpent

The Riddle of the Lousy Disease

Giants in the Earth

Apparent Death and Premature Burial

Mary Toft, the Rabbit Breeder

Maternal Impressions

Tailed People

Three Remarkable Specimens in the Hunterian Museum

The Strange Story of Julia Pastrana

Note on Sources

Editorial Reviews

Bondeson brings a physician's diagnostic skills to 10 examples of extraordinary aspects of the history of medicine, offering modern medical explanations for spontaneous human combustion, frogs and snakes living in a person's stomach, tribes of tailed men, the Two- Headed Boy of Bengal, and Julia Pastrana, the Ape Woman. He discusses the life histories of these human anomalies, and traces past research and speculation on them to draw contemporary conclusions. Includes b&w photos and illustrations. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

Eight history-laden essays on bizarre beliefs, fears, and behaviors, plus two additional pieces on several unfortunate human anomalies—all serving as reminders of human gullibility, mendacity, and cruelty.

Bondeson, a London-based physician who specializes in rheumatology and internal medicine and has a Ph.D. in experimental medicine, appears to have a genuine love for the weird: Many of the illustrations in this odd little work bear the note "from the author's collection." Those fascinated by tabloid journalism's sensational reports of spontaneous human combustion or the birth of nonhuman creatures to human mothers will, however, probably be disappointed by Bondeson's rather scholarly approach. He traces the rise and decline of beliefs in these and other strange phenomena, reveals the motives of the parties involved, and offers a medical explanation where appropriate. Among his topics are the fear of premature burial and the extraordinary mechanical precautions taken by some to avoid that fate, the notion that a race of giants once walked the earth, and the belief in a race of people with tails. Bondeson then dwells on the cases of four unusual individuals whose fate was to be exhibited like sideshow freaks. Today the Hunterian, a London museum at the Royal College of Surgeons, houses the double skull of the Two-Headed Boy of Bengal and the skeletons of the huge Charles Byrne, known as the Irish Giant, and the tiny Caroline Crachami, a dwarf known as the Sicilian Fairy. The mummy of the fourth individual, Julia Pastrana, known as the Ape-Woman for her hairy body and misshapen face, is in a medical museum in Oslo, Norway.

With its numerous illustrations of these poor creatures, this in-depth Believe It or Not can be seen as a continuation of the exploitation that marked their lives.

Kirkus Reviews