The Chick and the Dead by Carla Valentine

Author:Carla Valentine
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Seven

Abdominal Block: ‘Pickled Punks’

Bruises on the fruit.

Tender age in bloom.

—Nirvana, ‘In Bloom’

The anatomical displays at Victorian medical museums and carnival freak shows which I alluded to earlier consisted of a melange of curios: incredible examples of ‘mermaids’, which were actually composites of monkey and fish skeletons, and, of course, bearded or tattooed ladies, the proverbial Strongman and individuals in the unfortunate position of having unusual deformities. In addition to these clichés, genuine human tissue specimens had laymen in awe, as they were preserved examples of their own, hitherto unseen, body parts. Those titillating female Anatomical Venuses, and smaller wax moulages of body parts, also had the general public attending these carnivals in droves. However, one of the biggest draws was the ‘pickled punks’, an old carny term for preserved whole baby specimens. Of course, we never use the term ‘pickled punks’ in a contemporary museum setting because it’s anachronistic and unethical. Yet despite the more modern way in which they are educationally referenced and displayed – as foetal or perinatal specimens – they still remain contentious and create a huge divide in opinion on the ethics of display.

* * *

The different methods of organ removal used in mortuaries meant that after the cardiorespiratory block had been extracted the APT would usually move on to the coeliac block – the pluck of organs containing the stomach, pancreas, liver and spleen. Then the genitourinary block containing the kidneys, adrenals, bladder and genital organs would be removed.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw the uterus and ovaries of a normal, albeit deceased, woman during my early training. ‘That’s it?’ I’d shouted furiously, causing the heads of the other APTs and doctors in the room to turn towards me. I couldn’t believe how small they all were! After all the years of menstrual cramps and all the discomfort I’d experienced due to PMT, I imagined the uterus to be a bright red demonic entity covered in spikes which would bare its teeth at me as I attempted to remove it. Instead, it resembled a little pink plum, and the ovaries two matching fleshy almonds. They looked so harmless. I was shocked that something that insipid could cause so much woe! Of course, I (begrudgingly) got used to the uniformity of size and colour of these organs until the first time the uterus I exposed really was a lot larger than it was supposed to be and I had to alert the pathologist.

‘Doc, can you come and take a look at this?’ I’d asked, unsure how to proceed.

He came over and palpated the organ before making a careful, long incision to reveal a tiny, angelic baby nestled inside the dead woman’s uterus. It was exactly like the final reveal of what Joanna Ebenstein described as the ‘tranquil foetus curled in the womb of the wax Anatomical Venuses of old’, their sex specifically used as a tool to teach students about the creation, development and even destruction of life.

The womb can also be a tomb.

Mortuary

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