Biomaterial Database

William Hunter's casts of the gravid uterus at the University of Glasgow. 2001

N A McCulloch, and D Russell, and S W McDonald

Laboratory of Human Anatomy, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland.

The Hunterian Collection at the University of Glasgow possesses 11 plaster casts showing the pregnant uterus. Three correspond to Plates I, IV, and VI of Hunter's The Anatomy of the Gravid Uterus Exhibited in Figures (1774), progressive stages of dissection of the same specimen. A further three casts show consecutive stages of dissection of a uterus containing a fetus presenting by the breech. The other specimens show a normal pregnancy at about 6 months, a normal full-term uterus with the fetal head becoming engaged, a breech presentation with placenta previa and the umbilical cord around the fetal neck, and an obstructed labor with distended bladder and colon. The 10 on display show realistic coloring and are mounted on black wooden stands. An 11th specimen, amateurishly painted, is not on display. The casts differ in their style; some show only the abdomen, pelvis, perineum, and thighs, others show the full torso. They also differ in the amount of detail shown. The first three casts show the cut femur and muscles at the transected ends of the thighs, also shown in some of the plates in the Gravid Uterus. Although these features enhance the artistic impact of both the engravings and the casts, the authors are unconvinced that Hunter deliberately used them to achieve this, as has been claimed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008488	Medical Illustration	The field which deals with illustrative clarification of biomedical concepts, as in the use of diagrams and drawings. The illustration may be produced by hand, photography, computer, or other electronic or mechanical methods.	Illustration, Medical,Illustrations, Medical,Medical Illustrations
D009774	Obstetrics	A medical-surgical specialty concerned with management and care of women during pregnancy, parturition, and the puerperium.
D011247	Pregnancy	The status during which female mammals carry their developing young (EMBRYOS or FETUSES) in utero before birth, beginning from FERTILIZATION to BIRTH.	Gestation,Pregnancies
D011263	Pregnancy Trimester, Third	The last third of a human PREGNANCY, from the beginning of the 29th through the 42nd completed week (197 to 294 days) of gestation.	Pregnancy, Third Trimester,Trimester, Third,Last Trimester,Last Trimesters,Pregnancies, Third Trimester,Pregnancy Trimesters, Third,Third Pregnancy Trimester,Third Pregnancy Trimesters,Third Trimester,Third Trimester Pregnancies,Third Trimester Pregnancy,Third Trimesters,Trimester, Last,Trimesters, Last,Trimesters, Third
D004210	Dissection	The separation and isolation of tissues for surgical purposes, or for the analysis or study of their structures.	Dissections
D005260	Female		Females
D005333	Fetus	The unborn young of a viviparous mammal, in the postembryonic period, after the major structures have been outlined. In humans, the unborn young from the end of the eighth week after CONCEPTION until BIRTH, as distinguished from the earlier EMBRYO, MAMMALIAN.	Fetal Structures,Fetal Tissue,Fetuses,Mummified Fetus,Retained Fetus,Fetal Structure,Fetal Tissues,Fetus, Mummified,Fetus, Retained,Structure, Fetal,Structures, Fetal,Tissue, Fetal,Tissues, Fetal
D006113	United Kingdom	Country in northwestern Europe including Great Britain and the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland, located between the North Sea and north Atlantic Ocean. The capital is London.	Great Britain,Isle of Man
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults