This walking stick belonged to Charles Darwin. It's made from whalebone and an ivory-carved skull pommel with emerald eyes. The cane is my favourite random memento of the thousands on display at the Wellcome Collection. Over two floors of well-lit cabinets you'll find eccentric tidbits from human history like: an 800-year-old mummified Peruvian, Aleister Crowley's stash container, a Chinese torture chair, a shrunken head from an Amazonian tribe. It's a bit like rummaging through Indiana Jones' basement.
Napoleon Bonaparte's silver toothbrush. c.1790
The mummified male body of a Peruvian Indian. c.1200
The sandals of an Holy Fakir in India. c.1870
Florence Nightingale's moccasins. c.1850
Charles Darwin's walking stick. 19th century
Shoes for the bound feet of a Chinese concubine. c.1870
Snuff container made from ram's head and silver. Scottish. c.1880
A toothless, syphilitic skeleton from one of London's buried graves for paupers and prostitutes.
A shrunken head. c.1850
Chastity belt. 19th century.
Really fat guy.* The Wellcome Collection is opposite Euston Station and it's free to get in.
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Napoleon Bonaparte's silver toothbrush. c.1790
The mummified male body of a Peruvian Indian. c.1200
The sandals of an Holy Fakir in India. c.1870
Florence Nightingale's moccasins. c.1850
Charles Darwin's walking stick. 19th century
Shoes for the bound feet of a Chinese concubine. c.1870
Snuff container made from ram's head and silver. Scottish. c.1880
A toothless, syphilitic skeleton from one of London's buried graves for paupers and prostitutes.
A shrunken head. c.1850
Chastity belt. 19th century.
Really fat guy.* The Wellcome Collection is opposite Euston Station and it's free to get in.