anatomy

Edinburgh has a wealth of medical collections, thanks not only to its role in the Enlightenment and the diaspora of graduates from the large medical school, but also to recent developments in medical heritage. Concentrating on the collections of the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy Department and Surgeons’ Hall Museums at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, this paper charts the complex and connected histories of the material culture of anatomy, pathology and surgery in the city.

From origins in their heartlands in Easter Ross, clan Munro produced no fewer than three distinct medical dynasties, all descended from Hugh Munro, 9th Baron Foulis (c1352–1425), 12th chief of the clan. This paper describes what we believe to be a unique family of related medical dynasties which were influential in Edinburgh, London and the Scottish Highlands.