The Mutter Museum in Philadelphia is one of the U.S.'s Strangest Museums

The Mutter Museum, part of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, is a macabre museum that was originally founded to help educate future doctors about anatomy and human medical anomalies. Since its inception in 1858, the museum has become a unique tribute to the mysteries of the medical world and the human body and is favored by visitors who don't mind viewing some of the strangest and most disgusting artifacts ever to be found in a museum.

The Mutter Museum, located in Center City Philadelphia, got its start when Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter, retired Professor of Surgery at Jefferson Medical College, presented his personal collection of "unique anatomic and pathological materials'' to The College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Since that time, others have added to the permanent collection, which now numbers more than 20,000 objects. The collection includes photographs, prints, medical illustrations, memorabilia of famous doctors and researchers, and portraits, as well as more tangible objects such as fluid-preserved pathological specimens, dried specimens, skeletal remains, and ancient medical instruments that would frighten today's modern-day hospital patient.

Guests visiting the museum will make their way through a variety of rooms and galleries. The first, the Mutter Room, contains a replica of the office of early 20th century Philadelphia physician, Dr. Philip Gordon Kitchen. Visitors can view his desk, examining table, supplies, instruments, and more. Also in the same room is an exhibit outlining the lives of various U.S. presidents and their health issues. In addition, the Mutter Room is home to a 1949-era iron lung and an interesting exhibit on the fight against polio.

The Upper Gallery contains a collection of 19th century wax models of skin diseases and skulls and bones that were ravaged by syphilis, a disease that was once treated by dermatologists. Also in this gallery is one of the Mutter Museum's most famous exhibits, The Soap Lady. She is so named because after her burial in a local cemetery, the fat of her body turned to a lye soap-like substance, a phenomenon never before witnessed. The Upper Gallery also houses a collection of 139 skulls, a gangrenous hand, and the compressed ribcage of a woman who was the constant wearer of a corset. Another exhibit tells the history of medical museums in American while yet another describes the development of forensic sciences. A fascinating exhibit just outside the gallery tells the story of co-joined twins through the centuries and includes information on original Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng, whose autopsy was performed at the museum in the late 19th century.

The Lower Gallery of the Mutter Museum is divided into four areas: Normal and Abnormal Fetal Development, including a plaster cast of Chang and Eng; Internal Medicine, which includes specimens of heart, lungs, lymphatic and urinary systems and objects such as bladder stones and tumors; Disorders of the Skeletal System, focusing on abnormalities including giants and dwarfism; and the Neurology Section, which contains a series of sliced sections of the human head, made especially for the Mutter Museum in 1910.

The museum is open daily year round except on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day. There is a fee to enter. No photographs are allowed to be taken inside the Mutter Museum, which is easily reachable on foot from most of the historic areas or can be accessed via Philadelphia's vast public transportation system.