--- title: Strange Medical Mummies Displayed In Traveling Exhibit description: The Burns Collection consists of human cadavers from the early 1800s that were anatomically dissected and preserved to teach anatomy and surgery to medical students. For the first time this portion of the collection is on display to the public as a part of traveling exhibit "Mummies of the World: The Exhibition." canonical: https://time.com/3092090/burns-collection-exhibit-mummy/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-18T18:17:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:07:56.214Z article:section: Health og:title: Strange Medical Mummies Displayed In Traveling Exhibit og:description: The Burns Collection consists of human cadavers from the early 1800s that were anatomically dissected and preserved to teach anatomy and surgery to medical students. For the first time this portion of the collection is on display to the public as a part of traveling exhibit "Mummies of the World: The Exhibition." og:url: https://time.com/3092090/burns-collection-exhibit-mummy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7d8ea4eab49cb69/69869ed806f2c108873303f1/burns-collection-mummy-08.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: burns-collection-mummy-08 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Strange Medical Mummies Displayed In Traveling Exhibit twitter:description: The Burns Collection consists of human cadavers from the early 1800s that were anatomically dissected and preserved to teach anatomy and surgery to medical students. For the first time this portion of the collection is on display to the public as a part of traveling exhibit "Mummies of the World: The Exhibition." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7d8ea4eab49cb69/69869ed806f2c108873303f1/burns-collection-mummy-08.png?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # These Mummified Cadavers Helped Teach Medical Students in the 1800s by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Aug 18, 2014 6:17 PM UTC  A child mummy is a part of the Burns Collection that is traveling with the Mummies of the World: The Exhibition. A child mummy is a part of the Burns Collection that is traveling with the Mummies of the World: The Exhibition.American Exhibitions, Inc. 2014 by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Aug 18, 2014 6:17 PM UTC  A child mummy is a part of the Burns Collection that is traveling with the Mummies of the World: The Exhibition. American Exhibitions, Inc. 2014  A Burns collection specimen shows part of the head, neck and shoulder area, with an emphasis on the anatomy of the neck area. American Exhibitions, Inc. 2014  A Burns Collection child mummy has been fully prosected. Most of the internal organs have been removed, although the heart is clearly visible. The age of the child is not known, but it is slightly older than an infant. American Exhibitions, Inc. 2014  A Burns Collection specimen showing different anatomical structures. This head has been fully dissected to show various blood vessels and connective tissues in great detail. American Exhibitions, Inc. 2014  A Burns Collection specimen has been fully prosected. Most of the internal organs have been removed, although the heart is clearly visible. The age of the child is not known, but it is slightly older than an infant. American Exhibitions, Inc. 2014  A Burns Collection specimen that was used to teach anatomy to medical students. American Exhibitions, Inc. 2014  The Burns Collection, dating from the early 19th century was created by Allan Burns (1781-1813), a young man from Glasgow, Scotland. American Exhibitions, Inc. 2014  A Burns Collection specimen that shows different anatomical structures. This head has been fully dissected to show various blood vessels and connective tissues in great detail. American Exhibitions, Inc. 2014 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3092090/burns-collection-exhibit-mummy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3092090/burns-collection-exhibit-mummy/"},"headline":"These Mummified Cadavers Helped Teach Medical Students in the 1800s","datePublished":"2014-08-18T18:17:03.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:07:56.214Z","description":"The Burns Collection consists of human cadavers from the early 1800s that were anatomically dissected and preserved to teach anatomy and surgery to medical students. For the first time this portion of the collection is on display to the public as a part of traveling exhibit \"Mummies of the World: The Exhibition.\"","url":"https://time.com/3092090/burns-collection-exhibit-mummy/","keywords":["medicine","Research","Surgery","Museum"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7d8ea4eab49cb69/69869ed806f2c108873303f1/burns-collection-mummy-08.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7d8ea4eab49cb69/69869ed806f2c108873303f1/burns-collection-mummy-08.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"burns-collection-mummy-08","caption":"A child mummy is a part of the Burns Collection that is traveling with the Mummies of the World: The Exhibition.","creditText":"American Exhibitions, Inc. 2014","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/medicine/","name":"medicine"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3092090/burns-collection-exhibit-mummy/","name":"These Mummified Cadavers Helped Teach Medical Students in the 1800s"}}]}] ```