This thread reminded me of what happened last year when I interviewed at Tulane.
During our introduction to Tulane, we were told that between interviews we should visit a small room that contained specimens of babies who died with congenital birth defects. I was one of the first to interview that day, so I ended up being the first to head up to the museum room (my interviewer prompted me to check it out as well). When I finally found the room, it was locked and I had to search out a secretary with a key. She then lets me into a small room, full of glass cabinets from floor to ceiling, and shuts the door behind me. All of the sudden I was in a small room completely full of babies just like the one pictured in this story. I am pretty sure that I saw one that must have suffered from the same defect as this child. The craziest were two specimens of a child (children?) where two completely normal looking heads were side by side on one set of shoulders. It was exactly what you would imagine a person with two heads to look like. The strange part was how far along these two specimens were (not to mention the fact that there were two of them=four heads total) Based on their size, they must have been very close to full term and I wonder if they were live births. I remember there being another child with a head the size of a large watermelon, as well as what must have totaled hundreds of other strange specimens. I have to admit that being all alone in that room, I was a little freaked out.
They later told us how lucky they were to have the museum because nowadays they would be unable to ethically amass such a collection. I guess they put it together well before our current ethics were established.
I wonder if this collection survived Katrina (I imagine it did, as at the time of my interview it was on the second floor).
