NEW EXHIBITION AT THE WELCOME COLLECTION

The Welcome Collection on Euston Road in London is a real gem. For those of you who have never been there, I would heartily recommend it. Located just around the corner from University College Hospital, this is the museum of the Welcome Trust. As well as as a vast array of texts on medicine and the history of medicine, they have fantastic exhibitions.

Two previous exhibitions that stick in the mind are one that was based upon sleep. This was a multi-disciplinary exhibition, with a scientific, artistic, and sociological aspect. One thing I learnt at this was that the song ‘Yesterday’ by the Beatles actually came to Paul McCartney in his sleep – he simply woke up with the tune one morning. A more recent exhibition I saw there involved the display of the skeletons of dead inhabitants of London going back as far as Roman times. The way these remains were presented was in a simple and wonderfully reverential way. The ailments that these people had suffered from and the markings that these had left on their skeletons was fascinating.

The most recent exhibition started last month, and I plan to go there next week to see it. This time the focus is on forensic medicine and how this has developed. If it is as compelling as previous exhibitions I have seen there, I am in for a treat.