How to Tour the Mutter Museum

Interested in examining the Mutter Museum's unique display of medical oddities and curiosities in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania? A visit to the Mutter Museum will enrich your medical knowledge with historical, aberrant and enlightening displays of uncommon medical pathologies.

Things You'll Need

• Internet access
• Computer

Instructions

1. Log on to the Mutter Museum's official Web site (see link) and read about the Museum's history, overview and purpose. Take the virtual tour and familiarize yourself with the Museum and note its inherent uniqueness and the differences between it and other museums.

2. Click on the Web site's "Discount Coupon" tab to check for coupons to use towards admission. Print the coupons and include them when packing for your trip.

3. Arrive at the Mutter Museum located at 19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.

4. Pay the required admission fees and enter the Museum and begin exploring.

5. Look at the display of Chang and Eng, the famous Siamese twins. A plaster cast demonstrating their conjoining at the liver was taken post-mortem and helps aspiring physicians understand their anomaly.

6. Observe the "Soap Lady," a woman whose skin reacted with the ground in which she was buried and gave her skin the same properties as soap.

7. Examine Joseph Hyrtl's collection of skulls, noting their various anomalies, injuries and deformities.

8. Inspect the collection of 2,000 objects removed from throats without surgery.

9. View President Grover Cleveland's infamous removed, cancerous tumor.

10. Gander at the Brain Collection that showcases the brains of small and large animals. Also note the human brains on display, especially the "Brains of Epileptics" and the "Brain of a Murderer."

11. Behold the tallest skeleton displayed in a museum in North America.

12. Stroll through Benjamin Rush's Medicinal Garden which contains more than 50 historically and contemporarily important medicinal herbs.

13. Examine any or all of the other 20,000 objects that the Museum houses, including rare specimens, instruments, models, illustrations, slides, photographs, drawings, prints and memorabilia.

14. Support the Mutter Museum by purchasing items from the gift shop. Among the various novelties available for purchase are medical texts as well as books about the Mutter Museum.

Tips & Warnings

• Check the Mutter Museum's official Web site for information regarding hours of operation, directions, admission prices and guided tours for groups of 10 or more.

• If possible, search the Internet for visitor experiences that may give you insight into current driving, parking and touring information.

• Plan ahead. Upcoming city events or weather phenomena may affect your trip.

• Food, drinks, oversized bags, cell phone usage and video and still cameras (unless you are a professional with express permission granted by the museum) are prohibited inside the museum. Plan accordingly for your visit and keep these items inside your vehicle or at home.

• While the Mutter Museum offers many unique and abnormal displays, it is a serious place of scientific study. Remain courteous and respectful during your visit.