"As a medical student in Paris, Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux (1797-1880) noticed that there was often a shortage of human remains available for doing human dissections. Dissections were an essential part of studying medicine. However, even if a body was available, it could only be used once before it began to decompose. To deal with the shortage of bodies, Auzoux began producing accurate anatomical models that could be taken apart piece by piece. The models were sturdy and inexpensive, especially when made with the secret papier-mâché mixture that Auzoux had developed (Image 1). The mixture contained cork and clay as well as paper and glue.
Introducing papier-mâché as a modelling material was a radical change from earlier modelling techniques. In previous centuries, anatomists and artists made their anatomical models using wax. While wax models could reproduce anatomical details very accurately, the material was very expensive and too fragile to be handled frequently because the wax would lose its shape. Papier-mâché, on the other hand, was sturdy enough to produce detachable models that could be used again and again, at less than a tenth of the price of similar wax models."
-from the University of Cambridge website about the Whipple Museum collection that houses some of Auzoux's models.
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"As a medical student in Paris, Louis Thomas Jérôme Auzoux (1797-1880) noticed that there was often a shortage of human remains available for doing human dissections. Dissections were an essential part of studying medicine. However, even if a body was available, it could only be used once before it began to decompose.
To deal with the shortage of bodies, Auzoux began producing accurate anatomical models that could be taken apart piece by piece.
The models were sturdy and inexpensive, especially when made with the secret papier-mâché mixture that Auzoux had developed (Image 1). The mixture contained cork and clay as well as paper and glue.
Introducing papier-mâché as a modelling material was a radical change from earlier modelling techniques. In previous centuries, anatomists and artists made their anatomical models using wax.
While wax models could reproduce anatomical details very accurately, the material was very expensive and too fragile to be handled frequently because the wax would lose its shape.
Papier-mâché, on the other hand, was sturdy enough to produce detachable models that could be used again and again, at less than a tenth of the price of similar wax models."
-from the University of Cambridge website about the Whipple Museum collection that houses some of Auzoux's models.
http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/whipple/explore/models/drauzouxsmodels/
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