MUSEUM LOANS ANATOMICAL MODEL OF THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM TO THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF MEDICINE IN BETHESDA, MD.

WASHINGTON – The National Museum of Health and Medicine has loaned a 4-foot-6-inch anatomical model of the central nervous system to the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Md. A copy of a photo in the museum’s archives has also been furnished.

The anatomical model was borrowed from the Washington, D.C. museum’s more than 12,000 historical medical objects and will be on display May 24, 2001 through July 30, 2002 in an exhibit called "The Once and Future Web: Worlds Woven by the Telegraph and Internet" that examines the histories of the telegraph and the Internet, exploring the ways in which both technologies have transformed work, play, thought, and lives.

The National Library of Medicine, on the campus of the National Institutes of Health, is the world’s largest medical library with books, journals, technical reports, manuscripts, microfilms, photographs, and images. For information, call (888) 346-3656 or visit their web site at www.nlm.nih.gov. Manufactured by the Clay-Adams Co. in 1951 in Occupied Japan, the anatomical model is made of paper mache and metal and is one-half actual size. Alan Hawk, manager of the historical collections at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, coordinated loan of the object.

Also being displayed in the exhibit at the National Library of Medicine is a copy of a photograph in the archives at the National Museum of Health and Medicine that shows disabled soldiers learning telegraphy in the Reconstruction Department of Walter Reed General Hospital. Michael Rhode, archivist of the Otis Historical Archives at the National Museum of Health and Medicine, coordinated reproduction of the original photograph, which was taken around 1918.

The historical collection at the National Museum of Health and Medicine documents changes in medical technology since the early 17th century and includes objects ranging in size from a suture needle to a two-ton MRI magnet, such as X-ray equipment, microscopes, surgical instruments, numismatics, and anatomical models. The collection is made available for the education of medical professionals, Department of Defense personnel, historians, and the public through exhibits in the museum, loans to other institutions, and individualized study.

The Otis Historical Archives at the National Museum of Health and Medicine contain more than 350 collections, including an extensive photographic collection with many early photomicrographs, examples of medical illustrations from the Civil War and World War I, films and videos, and trade literature and advertisements from the late 19th century. The holdings of the archives would stretch more than a mile if laid end to end.

The National Museum of Health and Medicine, founded as the Army Medical Museum in 1862 to study and improve medical conditions during the American Civil War, is an element of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. Open daily except Dec. 25 from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., the museum is located at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 6900 Georgia Ave. and Elder Street, NW, Washington, D.C. Public telephone number is 202-782-2200 and the web site is www.natmedmuse.afip.org. Admission and parking are free.