The Hunterian

Studio apartments in Manhattan aren't big enough to house "cabinets of curiosities" (although several friends consider 47 Pianos to be one).  Maybe that's why I was so utterly taken with The Hunterian, tucked away in the magnificent University of Glasgow since the early 19th century. 

 

Dr. William Hunter collected many of the items on display.

Queen Charlotte employed his services as an obstetrician.  If the Visible Man had been a pregnant woman . . . 

Could this placenta be royal?   

Hunter also studied anatomy.  Can you guess what these are?

But Hunter's passion for collecting ranged far beyond body parts.  From dinosaur legs

and feet

to Jamaican giant galliwasps,

red-billed quelela nests from sub Saharan Africa

and South American harlequin beetles.

The ancient world interested Dr. Hunter, too.  These stone carvings were recovered from the Antonine Wall, built by the Romans to keep out the Caledonians.  We visited a section on the final leg of our 1,500-mile road trip.

Centuries later, this is how Chinese calligraphers drew a map of the world.

We had some trouble finding The Hunterian until a woman pointed to this University of Glasgow tower.

The university has become associated with Hogwarts, possibly because of locations used for the Harry Potter movies.  I couldn't tell you because I've read none of the books nor seen any of the movies, surely my most glaring pop-culture deficit.

Thom was so taken with campus he wondered if he could enroll.

Once upon a time he would have been grilled by his professors in the Blackstone Chair.

A gate in front of the main entrance memorializes the most distinguished graduates of the university's first 500 years.  It's been around since 1451!

Alumni include economist Adam Smith whose statue also graces Edinburgh's Royal Mile.