ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the thought processes of acquiring specimens for the Westminster Hospital medical school pathology museum in London during the 1800s by comparing acquisitions with later additions in the 1900s, and with the Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Using a detailed comparative analysis, it is possible to start to identify the priorities for museum curators in London at that time, and to understand why the pathology museums that survive today have the contents they do. The content of the pathology museum as it stands today has been determined from studying its card catalogue and specimens. Using the card catalogue for the Westminster Hospital pathology museum has enabled them to understand many of those aspects not mentioned in publications of the early charitable society and the later medical school. The anatomy and pathology collection of the Royal College of Surgeons of England has the collection of John Hunter at its core.
