Little Shop of Horrors

Are you interested in anatomy and physiology? Do you also want to see some absolutely terrifying medical oddities? Well have I got the place for you!

This bison penis, shockingly, is one of the less harrowing specimens you're about to see

As part of our orientation and tour of the Manipal University campus and its resources, one of our host faculty escorted us to the Manipal Museum of Anatomy and Pathology, a multi-room collection of preserved animal and human body parts. Some of the specimens were gleaned from the Kasturba Hospital here on campus, while others have come from farther afield. The museum is open to the public (a crowd of bored-looking schoolchildren was filing through while we were there) but it is particularly useful for the University's nursing and medical students as they review anatomy and disease processes.

Rachel is the Vanna White of elephant skulls

Just your daily reminder to wear sunscreen, NBD

We debated whether the owner of this gangrenous foot had merely had an amputation and might still be alive, and if he was, whether or not he ever visited his necrotic appendage on display

This massively enlarged scrotum is the result of an infection with a parasitic worm

This specimen was the only one in the museum that bore no label of any kind

Look at these various worms spilling forth from the intestine. Look until you can no longer muster the will to go on.

Undescended baby teeth in their natural habitat

If there's one thing I've learned in the medical field, it's that if you develop joint mice, you're gonna have a bad time

Conjoined twins can developed in many ways; these are thoracopagus, meaning they are fused from the upper thorax to lower belly, and share a heart

This baby had a malformed twin attached to its face

This label said "fetus with facial abnormalities"

Anencephaly occurs when a baby is born with an absent or underdeveloped brain. As one of my textbooks once stated, "it is a condition incompatible with life." Now that I've seen it in person I can see why.

Another case of anencephaly, although the label on this tank editorialized a bit with "anencephalous monster." Harsh.

The fetus at right exhibits cyclopia - the presence of only one eye

Someone whispered "this baby looks like Donald Trump," and then I couldn't unsee it.

As we were examining the fetus collection, a timid Indian woman approached three or four girls from our group, including me, and wordlessly motioned to her phone. I smiled and nodded, oblivious to the fact that she was attempting to ask permission to take a photo with me. By the time I realize what was going on it was too late; we were posing awkwardly together while her friend snapped a picture. What the woman intends to do with a slideshow of photos with strange white girls surrounded by embalmed babies, I have no idea.

The next post will be less gruesome. Promise.