Posted on 01/18/2023 10:50:17 PM PST by BenLurkin
A British museum will remove the bones of a true-life giant in an effort to honor the deceased’s final wishes, but trustees want to retain the remains in the interest of “bona fide research.”
“John Hunter and other anatomists and surgeons of the 18th and 19th centuries acquired many specimens in ways we would not consider ethical today and which are rightly subject to review and discussion,” trustees of the Hunterian Museum wrote in a statement.
Irishman Charles Byrne reached a staggering height of 7-foot-7, earning the nickname of the “Irish Giant.” Upon his death in June 1783 at the age of 22, he asked his friends to ensure he received a proper burial at sea so that doctors wouldn’t try to dissect his body.
But for over 200 years Bryne’s skeleton has remained on display at the Royal College of Surgeons’ Hunterian Museum, which houses the collection of anatomist John Hunter, who bribed someone with £500 to replace Byrne’s remains in his coffin so that he could acquire them for himself.
Hunter initially displayed the remains in his home, but sold his collection in 1799 to the government, which then turned the collection over to the college. The display caused an immediate stir, with contemporary newspaper accounts noting that Bryne’s skeleton captured the imagination of “the nobility and gentry… the faculty, Royal Society and other admirers of natural curiosities.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Take a scan of the bones and print a replica and then honour the wishes and promises.
I'm surprised they never did a facial reconstruction on him like they've done with so many other skulls.
It seems they have....
http://theanalyticalportrait.weebly.com/charles-byrne-details.html
He must have found it hard to walk with that pole up his butt.
Funniest post of the day....
You won the internets...
Obama managed to do it, no problem
Related?
https://scienceinfo.net/the-truth-about-the-mysterious-redhaired-giant-at-lovelock-cave.html
Q: What do the Pyramids, the Parthenon and the Eiffel Tower all have in common?
A: They were all too big to put in the British Museum.
Unbelievable history is stored there!
Bury the poor man .
There is nothing to learn .
Evil researchers.
It's probably what killed him. And that concerns me, because my little sister once informed me that I have a stick up mine too.
One heck of a Shillelagh ya get there...
Given that the original Irish were a fairly short people, this must have been amazing to his contemporaries. An old joke:
Q. What's five feet tall and a mile long?
A. An Irish parade.
Thanks!!
This topic was posted , thanks BenLurkin.
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