Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Swallow : Foreign Bodies, Their Ingestion, Inspiration, And The Curious Doctor Who Extracted Them
by Mary Cappello

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is one of the oldest medical societies. Within its walls lies the Mutter Museum, a cornucopeia of unusual curiosities that were used in the nineteenth-century to teach future doctors. (Thomas Dent Mutter was a surgeon who donated his specimens.) The most popular exhibit is the Chevalier Jackson Foreign Body Collection: drawers overflowing with tons of items that have either been swallowed or inhaled and then removed nonsurgically.
Coins, pins and needles, buttons, toys, nails, and wire were just some of the objects. Does this sound intriguing or horrifying? I was interested in knowing who these people were, how they came to swallow this stuff in the first place, what instruments Jackson used to extract them and information on Jackson himself.
I didn't get too far. Author Mary Cappello's style of writing became more and more irritating to the point where the book just became boring. She lost me very early on. Too bad. I like to read about quirky subjects that are not well-known. The employees who currently work at the museum would probably be the only ones interested.
Not recommended.

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