There’s a Cabinet of Curiosities at Amsterdam’s NEMO Science Center, the Vrolik Collection. This display is one of many examples of the differences between Science Centers in Europe and America. There are some “gross-out” displays in American Children science centers, but lion penises and elephant clitorii are definitely not something we find in our centers here in the states.
 Conjoined twin monkey |
From the NEMO description of this display:
During their lives, Gerard Vrolik (1175-1859) and his son Willem Vrolik (1801-1863) began a collection for the ‘Museum Vrolikanium’. Housed in the residence of Gerard Vrolik, the museum was very well known in Europe at that time. Together, father and son collected for 70 years, resulting in an enormous collection of 5103 specimens.
Many of these specimens were used for scientific research. At that time, one often had to rely on such specimens because many techniques that we now use did not yet exist.
See the complete flickr set here. <warning>These images might disturb some readers</warning>
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