One does not need to have a particular interest in the practice of medicine to appreciate the Musée d’Histoire de la Médecine. Situated in a spacious room on the second floor of the Paris Descartes University on rue de l’école de Médecine, the modestly sized museum showcases a varied yet precise collection of medical instruments and paraphernalia spanning centuries.
The present museum was first opened in the same room in 1954. The room, two-tiered with high ceilings and wooden walls lined with glass cases and rod iron balconies, was built in 1905 and is a beautiful historical work in its own right. The medical collection is more or less organized chronologically, beginning with the cases nearest to the entrance.
Not wasting any time easing the visitor into examining its selection of surgical apparatuses, the museum begins with a daunting spread of what looks to be scythes, with blades of nine to twelve inches. The description reveals them to be couteaux courbes, or amputation knives, of the Middle Ages.
Confounding the objects behind the glass with gardening tools is a reoccurring theme among the surgical collection. Later down the row of cases, one can find series of saws that share a similar purpose with the couteaux. As the collection advances chronologically, the devices become less grotesque but still alarming, especially when considered against the sleek sterile contraptions we are familiar with today. Probably to the relief of most visitors, most devices are not paired with demonstrative pictures but simply a succinct description, all in French.
Some of the more visually interesting and historically grounding finds are the collection’s prosthetic hands. The four hands mark the technological innovations from the 16th century, with scalloped knight-like armor for the fingers, through the late 19th century, with flesh-toned wood and natural joints. The upper gallery features an eclectic mix of instruments used to perform psychological experiments, dental tools, microscopes, and hearing aids fashioned out of animal horns and seashells.
Some of the more historically notable pieces in the collection are the instruments of Dr. Antommarchi who performed the autopsy on Napoleon, the scalpel of Dr. Félix who operated on Louis XIV, and the table obscurely residing at the far end of the room that is constructed entirely of petrified bone and blood and on top of which rests a human foot. While the museum is small, there is plenty to keep one’s curiosity engaged. For the medically-minded or simply open-minded, an in depth overview of the history of Western medical practice awaits in a neatly organized presentation.
12 Rue de l’école de Médecine 75005
Metro: Odéon
Hours: 2-5:30 M-S
Price: 3.50 €
