MUSEUM OF HEALTH

Evening Star, Issue 21904, 15 December 1934, Page 2

MUSEUM OF HEALTH

A MODERNITY OF DRESDEN [Written by “E.G.” for the ‘.Evening Star.’] In Dresden, great centre of art and culture, the Dresden of August the Strong, with his Zwinger, his Baroque palaces,;, his eighteenth century ladies, arid his three hundred and sixty-four children —in Dresden, amidst its ageblackened buildings wreathed around with nymphs and cherubs and topped by gilded angels—there is struck a surprising noth of modernity. It is the new Hygiene Museum, all straight lines and concrete, glass and rubber and nickel, as. strange in itst‘ surroundings as a modern steel chair in a collection i of, antiques. \ CYdh'?ebme to ?tj\b§r {way| oh a'long ' treedine'd avenue/ breathing • of eighteenth century coaches, scented-sedan-chairs with ' pretty' wasp-waisted ladies flirting gay fans before gayer eyes, and gallants who, without any knowledge of them, broke every health rule that has since been formulated. ’The museum looms up stark and white, a shrine not of the spirit but of the bqdy, a museum actually free from dust and a storehouse of health knowledge, for modern descendant’s of these game wasp-waisted ladies. Evhry part of the body is there, preserved in spirit, drawn in sections, and finally modelled in wax or glass. Models of arms and legs can be twisted about, by handles to show the movements of joints and the expansion and contraction of rubber muscles; a flexible diaphragm moves up and down controlling lung movements, and . the, budding physician can see the circulation of the blood shown in glass tubes against a huge human outline at a glance. There are sections of the skin enlarged to about twelve inches in thickness, beautifully •.modelled' in coloured wax, with each’ little curly gland’ and hair root plainly showing; and glass hairs six inches long and as thick as a match sprout from this gargantuan flesh. In the next case you can see the evolution in delicately modelled glass of two cells where only one cell grew before.

A drop of blood'magnified to the size of a cubic metre', with the red corpuscles like flattened red peas, and the occasional white corpuscles in little twisted groups, stands between two skeleton figures, one of which shows in exquisitely manipulated glass every nerve of the body and the other every ,tiny blood vessel—true miracles of workmanship. , Do,you aspire to feel pulses? Then ‘lightly press your two fingers over : these: two little holes, pul I down the lever! marked “ Norihal,” press a button, 'and under your fingers little bags of inflated rubber beat with the rhythm of normal pulsing. For various types of heart diseases just pull down the appropriate levers and feel the pulse jump and change, flutter, and then fade beneath your fingertips. Then, by pressing more buttons and turning more handles, ■ see how the vocal chords stretch to emit a high sound and relax for a low one. ' On a stand is the trunk of a body jnade of wood and cut into vertical sections about one inch thick.' Yon turn these over as you would the leaves of 'a large .upright book, each page, so to apeak, being a, cross-section of the body, graphically painted to show the Organs so exposed. On a bench nearby is a similar trunk lying down and cut into horizontal sections. A few turns of a handle and these separate until you can see both sides of each slice ot our very interesting and colourful interiors. ■ ■ ‘ The floor above is devoted to the practice of healthy living from the baby stage, where exhibits similar to our Baby Health Centre displays are set out,’to adult life. One room contains model clothing and equipment for all outdoor sports, and shows ideal camping outfits with tents, light but strong utensils, first-aid boxes, and examples of rucksacks correctly ‘and incorrectly packed. , Further along wax models of various foods which almost defy detection as imitations are arranged in properly balanced meals with charts above sotting out their composition and caloric values. Another section is devoted to motherhood, and as modern Germany believes that knowledge relating to sex and birth should bo given freely to all there are jvgx xnpdels o| gtage of em-

bryo life and of the birth of the infant, with related matters of hygiene. The top floor is concerned mainly with the study of social hygiene, with pictures of'bad housing conditions, overcrowding, dangerous trades, and their dire results. Children’s diseases and venereal diseases are given special prominence, but to the casual visitor these exhibits are too unpleasant to attract for long. _ . The “ piece de resistance of the museum should be visited just before leaving. . " . You approach an inner shrine. Pointed arches meet high above you. The light is dim, with an holy dimness. A soft whirring of hidden machinery and a rosy glow suffuses the dusk, revealing on a pedestal the shining figure of Man, arms outstretched, head 'gazing sunwards. The magnificent figure is made of glass, a thin, transparent shell covering the complexity within. Around the pedestal is a glass band divided into sections, each one containing the name of an organ, and they light up one at a time. “ Brain ” first, and simultaneously the marvellously modelled glass brain of the figure glows, stays awhile, and slowly fades. Then “ Heart and “ Lungs,” and so on through the whole range *of the body, each organ glowing in some mysterious manner as its title springs into light at_ the base of the pedestal. Then the light grows blight and dazzling, and the whole shining marvel of glass seems to breathe in triumph at its perfection. Dusk falls. There is a' silence, and then once more the soft whirring of the hidden mechanism. „ , , r You walk out of the Dresden Museum of Health somewhat dazed with the wonder of God’s work and of man s.