Be among the first to choose one of the 139 Hyrtl Skulls to “adopt.” Save a 150+ year old skull & have your name in the Mütter Museum!

You can help conserve and preserve a skull by becoming a sponsor for an annual subscription fee of $200. Your contribution will help offset initial costs associated with the cleaning, repair, and remounting of your chosen skull. Additionally, your subscription will be acknowledged as part of the skull mount in the permanent Hyrtl Skull Exhibit in the Mütter Museum. The subscription period for this initiative will begin July 1, 2012 and end December 31, 2013.

http://www.collegeofphysicians.org/saveourskulls/

At well over £100, this skull-adopting lark certainly isn’t cheap, but that said, I am sorely tempted! I guess perusing a catalogue of skulls up for sponsorship is a tad bizarre - my boyfriend certainly thought so. I think he was freaked out by the names and biographical details that were recorded - I found myself engrossed in the stories such nuggets of information suggested, but it made him feel just downright uncomfortable. 

Anyway, my ’favourites’ include Julius Farkas, aged 28 and a soldier from Hungary who shot himself in the heart due to “weariness of life” (know the feeling!) and Girolamo Zini, aged 20 and from Italy, who was a rope-walker and, perhaps unsurprisingly, died of a broken neck.

I absolutely love the part at the end of the video in which the curator tries to sell the idea as being perfect for that hard-to-buy-for special someone! Speaking of which, it’s my birthday soon… ;o)

(Source: youtube.com)