A Repository for Bottled Monsters
An unofficial blog about the National Museum of Health and Medicine (nee the Army Medical Museum) in Silver Spring, MD. Visit for news about the museum, new projects, musing on the history of medicine and neat pictures.
Friday, August 7, 2026
From Feldshers to Force Health Protection: A History of Navy Physician Associates
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Gunther von Hagens, RIP
Gunther von Hagens, Creator of Polarizing ‘Body Worlds’ Exhibits, Dies at 81
A German scientist, he developed a process for turning corpses into posable figures. His shows drew millions of visitors, and many detractors.
By Clay Risen
Monday, July 20, 2026
2 new free Navy history books - 1 with chapter on Navy Medicine
This has an article by historian Andre Sobocinski on NM history -
On Course Through History: The U.S. Navy at 250
https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/77185
This has very little on medicine but cool pictures –
America's Navy at 250: The Historic Collections of Naval History and Heritage Command (2026)
https://www.dvidshub.net/publication/issues/77304
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Book by Gurdon Buck, Army Medical Museum contributor, for sale
|
|
Contributions to Reparative Surgery: Showing Its Application to the Treatment of Deformities, Produced by Destructive Disease or Injury; Congenital Defects From Arrest or Excess of Development; and Cicatricial Contractions From Burns By Gurdon Buck New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1876. First Edition. Octavo, viii, [1], 8-237, [3], 3-30, [2] pages. In Very Good minus condition. Gurdon Buck (1807-1877) was a pioneering military plastic surgeon during the Civil War. He is known for being the first doctor to incorporate pre- and post-operative photographs into his publications. Buck's fascia and Buck's extension are both named after him. $1,800 |
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Military medicine history articles
From wagons to air ambulances: Medevac keeps the fight alive
The latest newsletter, No. 54, on the Civil War is online at https://auls.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/collectionDiscovery?vid=01AULS_INST:Stimson&collectionId=81240848270009191&lang=en.
or https://archive.org/details/amedd-historian-number-54-summer-2026Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Fun, and mostly accurate, video on Navy Medicine in the Civil War
Wednesday, June 24, 2026
RIP Norman Rich
He wasn't a historian of medicine, but his long-term longitudinal followups become a history of some sort. Of interest to us is his preservation of military medical material from the Vietnam War, including booby traps, which are now in the National Museum of Health and Medicine.