Thus, the skull of a patient who had been confined in the mental institution known as the Irrenturm, with a calligraphic description of the presumed localisation of emotive centres in the brain according to Gall's concept, is displayed in the fourth case. It reminds the viewer of the diminutive trinkets, which were greatly admired and sought-after in Gall's time.

The fifth case is devoted to the anatomist, Josef Berres, who was Josef Hyrtl's teacher. An example of his printed work, which achieved fame as the forerunner of modern histology, is on display: nobody at the time dreamt that the depicted cells would gain such great importance a few decades later as a result of the observations made by Theodor Schwann and Rudolf Virchow. Empress Maria Theresia's Constitutio Criminalis lies open at a page for viewing, next to a picture of Joseph von Sonnenfels, the philosopher who advocated the abolition of torture.

The sixth wall showcase, situated below the portrait of Anton von Beinl- Bienenburg, successor to Giovanni Alessandro von Brambilla, is concerned with the history of the Josephinum. A picture inside the case depicting its endowment (copied from stained-glass windows at Laxenburg palace) shows Emperor Joseph II discussing the plans for the Josephinum with his Protochirurgus, Brambilla and the master builder, Isidore Canevale. An original specimen of Emperor Joseph's signature complements the display in this cabinet. The seventh (and last) wall-case is unusual in being dedicated to a medical specialty, namely ophthalmology, the Klinik fuer Ophthalmologie having been established in 1812.

Obstetrics was the first specialty to emerge in Austria, however, preceding ophthalmology. Joseph II inaugurated the new department and appointed Lucas Boer as chief in 1789. The first of four free-standing glass cabinets documents the beginnings of this specialty, and the description of the labour house in "Nachricht an das Publikum" lies open for the visitor to read. The neighbouring cabinet shows the instruments of a barber-surgeon. The third such cabinet commemorates the introduction of vaccination. Finally, the fourth of these cabinets shows the gadget used for undertaking tobacco enemas, a procedure to which reanimating properties were ascribed in cases of apparent death, but which also found a therapeutic place in the management of intestinal worm infestation.

The following text is based on Erna Lesky's guide to the institute (2nd edition 1979):

The second room with its 27 showcases is mainly devoted to presenting the Vienna Medical School of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Here an attempt has been made to do justice to all fields of medicine, a difficult task considering the prodigious advances pioneered in Vienna during that period.

Thus, Carl von Rokitansky laid down the modern concepts of pathological anatomy, and Joseph Skoda those of physical diagnostics, whilst dermatology was introduced as specialty by Ferdinand von Hebra. Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis identified the cause of puerperal fever in 1847 and Theodor Billroth performed the first successful gastrectomy on January 29, 1881.

Max Nitze demonstrated his cystoscope and Johann von Mikulicz-Radecki presented his oesophagoscope. Carl Koller introduced cocaine as a local anaesthetic and, as from the turn of the century, his friend Sigmund Freud developed the theory of psychoanalysis and its implementation. These were epoch-making discoveries, equalled at the beginning of the 20th century by Karl Landsteiner's discovery of the blood groups, Julius Wagner-Jauregg's endeavour to combat general paralysis of the insane by inducing malaria to produce a "therapeutic" fever, and the development of logopaedics by Emil Fröschels.

These events and advances are richly illustrated by the documents, pictures, instruments and preparations on display in the showcases of the "Wenckebach Room", among them specimens taken from the stomach of the patient who underwent Billroth's first successful gastrectomy and a subsequent post mortem specimen.

The sphygomomanometer with which Gustav Gärtner measured the blood pressure, as well as the ophthalmoscope used by Eduard Jaeger and the instrument with which Clemens von Pirquet carried out his skin tuberculin test are all on display here. Alongside these personal memorabilia of the famous innovators of the Vienna Medical School is a row of stethoscopes once belonging to the great Viennese specialists in internal medicine, ranging from Skoda to Karel Frederik Wenckebach.

Helmut Wyklicky