Phenomenal Bodies

Welcome to this Phenomenal Bodies exhibition at the University of Edinburgh. This audio described tour has been created specifically for blind and visually impaired people by Accessibility Intern Mieke Shaw, with the support of Vocal Eyes consultants Kirin Saeed and Lonny Evans. It can be accessed [via MediaHopper] and features descriptions of all 12 objects featured in the exhibition. Each description lasts between 2 and 4 minutes and the full tour is around 40 minutes in length. The descriptions can be accessed by scanning the QR code at the start of the exhibition, which is located on the far-right wall.

From anatomical models and drawings to digital visualisations, the University of Edinburgh collections reflect pioneering work to understand the human body. This display explores the history of technologies in the field of disability, highlighting medical innovation and tools for research and teaching. By using 3D scanning and audio description, we also hope to use technology to make our exhibitions more inclusive and widen access to our collections.

Our display forms part of Phenomenal Bodies: Exploring disability in Scottish academic collections, a project co-ordinated by the University of St Andrews. The project features a series of exhibitions of historic collections across Scotland, designed with accessibility in mind and shaped by individuals and communities with lived experience of the themes that they explore. Phenomenal Bodies aims to start open and inclusive conversations about the history and representation of disability and is complemented by an online exhibition. [A QR code to this can be found on the introductory panel at the start of the exhibition, on the far-right wall.]

Our display features objects from the Lothian Health Services Archive and the University of Edinburgh’s Anatomy Museum. It has been co-curated by Amy Cawood, Louise Williams, and Malcolm MacCallum. The display is split across two cabinets, each of which explores a different theme. Cabinet one contains objects which relate to eye health, anatomy and patient engagement around visual impairment. Cabinet two contains objects which relate to the development of artificial limbs.

Further information on access and orientation to the exhibition can be found in the next description. We hope you enjoy it.

The Phenomenal Bodies exhibition is located in the Centre for Research Collections, on the 6^th Floor of the University of Edinburgh Main Library at 30 George Square. If you would like a supported visit, please get in touch via email in advance to heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk and we will arrange a staff member to guide you. Otherwise, you are welcome to attend the exhibition anytime during our opening hours, which are 10:00-16:00 on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, and 10:00-18:30 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

The best car drop-off point is on the West side of George Square. There are also disabled parking spaces directly in front of the library, also accessed via the West side. From there, it is an approximate 75 metre walk along uneven cobbled paving to the front of the library. You will need to go up a level to reach the entrance, via a set of 6 steps, or else a u-shaped ramp. Once you are facing the library, the entrance doors are on the left and the exit doors are on the right. There are three glass entrance doors; two are manual and the third on the right is power-assisted, with a button on a metal column slightly in-front and to the right of the door. You will pass through a second identical door after this one, also with a power-assist button, before reaching the inner vestibule. A set of swipe access gates will be in front of you. If you do not have a library card, please turn to the right and walk a short distance, where you will find a reception desk. The staff member at the desk will let you through the next glass door into the main foyer.

The main foyer is a large space with high ceilings lit by overhead fluorescent lighting, with little natural light. It contains a staffed helpdesk, bench and chair seating, and occasional stalls or other displays. It is usually busy and there may be a lot of foot traffic in the area during your visit. There are two lifts diagonally across the space to the right, approximately 23 metres away. The call button is located between the lifts. Inside the lifts, when facing the door, the buttons are on the right-hand side. The main foyer is on the ground floor and the exhibition is on the 6^th floor. The buttons have Braille numbers and the one you need is on the top right.

When you exit the lift on the 6^th floor, you will be in a wide corridor facing the exhibition, which starts on the far-right wall. Here you will find the introductory text, large-print guides, contained in a plastic holder attached to the wall, and the QR code which will take you to the audio described tour. To the left of the introductory text is the first display cabinet and to the left of this is a set of glass double-doors which lead to the Centre for Research Collections Reception area. To the left of those doors is the second display cabinet.

As you walk between the cabinets, there is a slight downhill and then uphill tilt, marked by indented blue triangle arrows side by side in the carpet, which contrast with the rest of the speckled floor. The same thing is done for the entrance to reception, except here the arrows are one behind the other. The doors to reception are glass and will be held open. Through here is the reception desk, where, during opening hours, a member of staff will always be available to help. There are backless, foldout chairs available for you to borrow from the Reception desk and sit on in front of the cabinets. The Reception space also includes a variety of comfortable seating, including a backed bench and cushioned stools if you would like a longer rest at any point. Toilets, including an accessible toilet, are located at the back of Reception, behind the desk. Please ask a staff member who can direct or guide you.

The corridor where the exhibition is located is a busy through space and staff or users may be walking or wheeling trolleys behind you as you enjoy the exhibition. There is quite a lot of background noise, including people talking, the whoosh of the lifts moving, doors opening and closing, routine beeping of store alarms, and sometimes weather sounds from outside. We would therefore recommend that you listen to the audio descriptions using headphones and we have sets available to borrow from the Reception desk. 

The two cabinets are the same size and run from floor to ceiling. Although the displays they house are often changing, these cabinets are a permanent exhibition space. For this exhibition, the cabinets have been fitted with a vinyl backing, so the objects are only visible from the outer side. This backing is white on the side facing the objects, and purple with white speckles on the reverse. Each cabinet is split into two sides by a grey metal frame. Within each side are floating glass shelves supported by sleek silver metal rods. 

Both cabinets have the same interior layout, with two shelves on the left side and three shelves on the right. More vinyl, the same purple colour with white specks, is stuck to the front of the glass cabinets, forming curving borders for the shelves. The cabinets are internally lit with soft, warm bulbs that cast a gentle, diffused light over the objects. This contrasts with the bright white overhead lighting of the entryway, which can sometimes be reflected in the glass. 

There is additional accessibility information, including sensory maps, available on our website. You can also get in touch via email at heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk if you cannot find the information you need and we’ll be happy to help.

On the left-hand side of the first cabinet, there are two floating glass shelves. Our first object is on the top shelf.

Here, on a landscape A5 piece of paper, is a watercolour medical illustration of a single left eye. The creamy paper is mounted on a piece of brown cardboard. The painting is circular and in the centre of the page. There is no background; the painting is suspended like a full moon in an empty sky. The image filling the circle is a close-up of an eye, which is wide open, staring blankly out towards us. The pupil is deep black and surrounded by the iris, which is dark green overlayed with curling striations of light blue, which darken to black at the edges. 

Reflected in the iris are some elements of the room the sitter is in. There is a four-panelled window in the top right corner and a strip of yellow light along the bottom. A ring of inflamed pink surrounds the iris, and a network of bright red blood vessels spreads across the white of the eyeball. From the upper eyelid, a dense but short layer of straight ebony eyelashes grows. Similarly, the lower eyelid is decorated with sparse, short black lashes, and fine lines create wrinkles, indicating the subject has a few years of smiling and frowning to their name. 

The skin of the subject is a mottled, flushed cream. Delicate layers of blues and purples shade the skin above the eyelid, creating a sense of depth to the hollow of the eye below the brow. 

The brow itself is dark brown, thin and straight, with a few outlying hairs painted with fine brushstrokes. The right side of the brow meets the bridge of the nose, which is suggested by a few painted highlights but is cropped from the image. A few highlights also signify the cheekbones and inner eye. At the bottom left of the painting is the small black inked signature of the artist J.G. 

This painting was previously housed with hospital case notes and was one of many used as diagnostic tools at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. Whereas illustrators now have multiple imaging technologies at their disposal, hand-drawn and painted work on paper was once the only way to render some of the very precise detail needed to communicate how medical conditions and procedures looked, even with the advent of medical photography and X-rays. 

These early twentieth-century watercolours of eye conditions show the power of medical illustration as a communicative tool, and demonstrate the flourishes used by the artist (such as fine wrinkles under the eyes) that may not add anything to the diagnosis but do highlight the patient behind the picture. 

Below the medical eye illustration on the second shelf is a handbook called 

There are 27 ‘moon type’ characters shown, including two letter Zeds. The basic premise of the type is to simplify the shapes of the Latin alphabet into a single stroke or a less cursive shape, adopting simple lines that either curl smoothly or are starkly angular.  This makes each letter more clearly distinguishable by touch. 

For instance, a capital D in moon type consists of a single curve – open to the left - without the finishing vertical stroke connecting the curve ends. Or a capital T is just a horizontal line without the downstroke.

Some letters, such as H and G, are changed completely – H becomes a circle with a raised dot in the centre. 

To aid understanding, the Latin alphabet that accompanies each letter has dotted sections that detail which parts of each letter have been omitted to create the raised, moon version below. 

Under the alphabet, the author provides a textual example of the type using the phrase ‘God is love’, in both alphabets – the L and O of LOVE are unchanged in moon type, but the G resembles a walking stick with a curved handle, and the E is simplified to a right angle missing two of its short horizontal lines.

Accompanying text reads: ‘The above alphabet consists of 8 of the Roman letters unaltered, 14 others with parts left out, and 5 new and very simple forms which may be easily learned by the aged and persons whose fingers are hardened by work.’ At first, Moon printed texts himself. From the beginning, the invention of the type was tied into Moon's evangelical Christian faith - he wanted to bring scripture to those whose lack of sight meant that they couldn't read the Bible in conventional ways. 

Moon's Alphabet was also adaptable to many different languages (particularly helpful to the travelling evangelical mission community). The sheer variety of texts, formats and ways to consume reading (without being treated as an object of pity or potential vessel for conversion) offered by our collections shows just how far reading for blind and visually impaired people has come since the earliest examples we hold. 

Mounted on the glass between the dividing central metal frame and the vinyl sticker on the left side of the cabinet is a 3D printed tactile example of the alphabet and the phrase ‘God is love’, which you are welcome to explore through touch. This is just to the left of the object on display. 

Moving to the right-hand side of the cabinet, where there are three shelves, on the top shelf is a 3D teaching model of an eye. It is made from colourfully painted plaster and displayed in a worn black painted wooden box with a green-painted interior. The box measures 32 x 27cm. 

This is a sagittal dissection of the eye, which shows an eyeball sliced in half on the left surrounded by fat, muscles, and the skull, with the optic nerve leading off to the right. The eyeball is concave and about the size of half a grapefruit that has been hollowed out. It is made of shiny plaster, painted pale blue and traced with red veins.

Moving left to right across the model, we start with the eyelids that enclose the eyeball. These muscles are represented by two thin walls of red plaster with a gap in the middle. Moving in through this gap, you meet the white ridge of the cornea. This forms a round protrusion on the eyeball. Behind the cornea, in the concave hollow of the dissected eyeball, is the iris. This is a light blue wall with a semicircle removed from its top ridge to show where light would pass through it to the lens, which is directly behind it. 

The lens is almond-shaped and protrudes out of the hollow eyeball. At the base of the lens, a thick, undulating line of deep red is etched into the surface of the eye, representing the ciliary body. Behind this, the pale blue interior of the eyeball is peppered with a spidery network of blood vessels that can be traced to their source artery, alongside the optic nerve, which is on the far right of the eyeball. In this model, the nerve is depicted in white, flanked by two pale blue walls representing the protective dural sheath that surrounds it. The nerve continues to the right until it meets the wooden box. 

Surrounding the eyeball and optic nerve are seams of bright yellow plaster representing fat. These areas are hemmed in by bands of grisly red muscles which stretch around the eyeball. Next to these muscles lies the orbit of the eye – the structure of bone which supports and protects it. There is no beautification in this model; it is a clinical and scientific view of human anatomy that is rather visceral. Each anatomic part is labelled with a small black number, further dissecting the physical structures of the eye and echoing its purpose as an active teaching aid. For example, number 18 is the cornea.

Below the plaster model on the middle shelf, we have 3D printed Contemporary Anatomy Teaching Models 1 and 2 and an accompanying braille sheet. 

They were recently developed by Jonathan Shammas and Tammie Hunter, both Anatomy students, based on anatomical models from the Edinburgh University Anatomy Museum collection. They build on the technologies of their predecessors to make the anatomy of the eye more accessible through modern techniques. 

Both models are replicas of the eyeball that can be disassembled like a Russian doll to explore 6 different internal structures of the eye. Here, the eyeball is enlarged to about the size of a tennis ball, and they are made from a durable, hard plastic so they can be handled as teaching aids. 

Model 1 is displayed pieced together into a ball shape with the optic nerve protruding like a cable from its back. This model, along with the braille sheet, is displayed on the back half of the shelf, furthest away from us. In front of these is Model 2, which is displayed dissected into its six different parts. 

Model 1 was developed first by Jonathan and was designed to be used in conjunction with an audio pen, with information that a user could listen to as they broke down the model. The information guides the user through each of the layers, their function and some common conditions that impact eyesight, which result from damage to these parts of the eye. 

The goal of this model was to help blind and visually impaired people understand their conditions. However, Model 1 is very smooth textured, and all the layers were the same grey colour, making it difficult to feel the difference between them and limiting its utility. 

Following on from this, Tammie developed Model 2, making some significant changes to the design. Here she moves away from the traditional colours employed by anatomy models like muted reds, creams and browns and instead opts for vibrant hues of grass green, sky blue, hot pink, sunshine yellow, coal black and bright white. 

The 6 model parts are the same as Model 1, except that each layer is created with a distinct texture ranging from the delicate wavy grooves of the iris to the mountainous zigzag of bumps on the sclera. Instead of using an audio pen, Model 2 is accompanied by a Braille information sheet to explain more of the eye’s function. 

As the models are significantly larger than life, closer to the size of a tennis ball than an eyeball, the Scottish Sensory Centre advised that, before exploring the models, it would be helpful to hold an object the same size as an eye to help with size perception. This led Tammie to use puffy sand a cost-effective material, which has a similar texture to an actual eyeball (though the real thing would be more jelly-like), to create a life-size eyeball for people to hold first, before using the scaled-up model. 

These tactile models are an exciting innovation, and this process of adaptation could be used in any subject which relies on visual information for teaching. Such models can enrich learning experiences for everyone, not just students or people who are blind or visually impaired. 

Below the contemporary models, on the lowest shelf in the cabinet, is a 3D teaching model of the eye made from wood, plaster and glass. It was made by the Medical Supply Association in Edinburgh. It is a topographical eye model, which shows the spatial relationships between the eyeball and skull. The model is mounted on an angular wooden base and measures 31 by 25 cm. 

It is worn with use, as students were encouraged to dismantle it to familiarise themselves with the different parts of the eye.

The colourfully painted model has a white painted plaster and glass spherical eyeball protruding from the front, about the size of a small bowling ball. Running round the centre of the eyeball is the dividing line, which gapes slightly, revealing how the model can be prised apart. This rests on a creamy yellow plaster section representing the orbit of the eye, which is the part of the skull that contains and protects it. Here, the orbit resembles a crescent moon cupping the eye. The outer layer of the eye, also known as the sclera, forms a white sphere; on its round outer surface, three deep burgundy bands of sinewy muscle support eye movement.

At the front of the eyeball is the circular cornea, which is made of glass, mimicking the transparency of this tissue. The cornea performs two primary jobs: defending against foreign objects entering the eye and refracting light as it passes into the eye. Removing this first layer reveals the iris. The iris is light blue, striated with pale yellow lines. The iris expands or contracts to allow more or less light to reach the pupil, allowing vision to adapt to changing light levels. Removing this layer reveals the lens, here a small glass sphere tucked within. The front of the lens glass is grooved, the rest of it is smooth and is decorated with red and purple blood vessels. 

Taking the lens out of the model exposes the optic nerve, which emerges from the rear of the lens and reaches the back of the model. The optic nerve is what connects the information that the eyes receive to the brain to allow us to create images. 

The optic nerve of this model has sadly broken in half; a botched repair was attempted with Sellotape, scarring the object permanently with a yellowing line. Removing the lens exposes the retina, which forms the back of the eye and is responsible for converting light into nerve signals, which it sends to the optic nerve. This is painted a dark chocolate brown. 

Behind this is the other half of the sclera (the white of the eye), which is not removable from the model. Behind the sclera lies a tangle of arteries and capillaries which surround the optic nerve and are a striking crimson against the cream of the orbit. To the right of these, three bands of muscle are visible extending from the white of the eye along the orbit to the back of the model. 

This is the last item in the first cabinet. Please feel free to move over to the left-hand cabinet – or take a break and come back!

Welcome to the left-hand cabinet. This is the same layout as the first one, with two shelves on the left side and three shelves on the right side. Our first two objects are on the top shelf on the left side, displayed side by side. 

The first object on the left is an A4 page of David Gow’s handwritten notes dating from 1996. It details his ideas for the development and marketing of the PRODIGITS experimental partial hand system. David Gow developed a number of pioneering hand and arm prosthetics for adults and children. 

University of Edinburgh graduate David Gow joined the Bioengineering Centre at the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital in 1981. He continued his work both inside and outside the NHS throughout his career. These notes and diagrams, from the Lothian Health Services Archive, chart the development of Gow’s thought and practice. 

The A4 lined paper has a margin on the left, and Gow’s notes and sketches are jotted down in black ink across the main body of the page. We get the sense of his thought processes moving swiftly as the text is quickly scrawled and the sketches are hurriedly shaded in. Gow had titled the page - ‘PRODIGITS – Artificial hand + arm system.’ Below this are three subtitles in a row: ‘Activator, Batteries and Electronics.’ 

Running beneath this, descending in a line down the margin, are four simple hand sketches. Each hand is side-on to us, drawn with two pincer-like digits, with each diagram referring to a different part of the design. Labels to the right of each drawing refer to the parts which are the focus, such as the ‘wrist rotator,’ which is drawn as a circle residing within the rectangle of the prosthetic wrist. 

The lower half of the page features publicity ideas. The first idea is boxed-off. It shows a sketch of the hand and forearm labelled ‘disassembled skeleton.’ Another skeleton arm is depicted next to a mirror, which reflects back the PRODIGITS arm. Along with the slogan, ‘On reflection, an altogether better system.’ 

Below this boxed-off sketch is a smaller drawing of a jigsaw with the text ‘missing piece with PRODIGITS.’ 

Finally, there is a drawing of six building blocks, the top three fitting together to spell out ‘PRODIGITS.’ A note reads ‘Building blocks, children playing. Their future in our hands, chips – child’s play.’

This focus on marketing the hand towards children reflects the adaptive nature of this prosthetic, as it was designed with children in mind and could be fitted on someone as young as four. A small note at the top of the margin also references this intention, it reads ‘Ages 5 - Adult (4) sizes.’ 

This hand model was so easily adapted in size because it was made with individual motors fitted inside each finger. This motor system was new to prosthetics, and Gow was inspired by his wife’s exercise bike, demonstrating the creative way of thinking that powered his innovative work. 

To the right of the notes page is a small, unassuming red notebook that measures only 12 x 20cm. It is a work diary belonging to University of Edinburgh graduate David Gow from when he was working as a Research Associate in the Bioengineering Centre at the Princess Margaret Rose Hospital in 1981.

The lined notebook is open to a double page detailing the development of a circuit for what would become an artificial arm. The page on the left has a sketched diagram, and the right page is filled with Gow’s handwritten notes, scrawled in black ink.

The diagram is in the centre of the page and maps out the circuit of the arm in two overlapping rectangular shapes, with electrical components dotted around it. In the centre of this is a third, smaller rectangle, which is labelled System PosN Servo. At the top of the circuit is an arrow pointing right, indicating Force. Following the circuit around, we come to a square labelled Amp and further on a rectangle labelled Lock, as well as other electrical symbols contained within a circle. A much paler note is jotted down at a slant at the bottom left of the page, which reads 'force transfer function.' 

The text on the right is dated October 1981. It reads ‘First ‘sanctioned' (in quotation marks) discussions with Eddie about mechanical feedback on a servo.' The rest of the page details Gow's ideas for a new force feedback system, which he also mentions he discussed with Iain. The idea is a design which recognises the relationship between the variable angle and force in a feedback loop.

In less scientific terms, an artificial arm which recognises the relationship between how hard the wearer presses with their finger, or how much an object weighs down on the arm and relates that force to the angle at which they need to hold it, creating a much more cohesive movement that is more intuitive for the wearer. 

Below those objects on the lower shelf is a photograph album from Edenhall Hospital, which was operated by the Red Cross, depicting scenes from hospital life between 1915 and 1960. The hospital offered convalescence and rehabilitation to amputees, and patients even made artificial legs in the joinery workshop. 

The album measures 33 x 23cm and is bound in an orange-tinted brown leather. It is open at a double-page spread. The binding of the album is delicate, only just holding together. 

The pages are made of black card, which has faded, and the edges are worn. On the left page are two paper flyers that have been collaged into the album, and on the right, five black and white photos. The flyers are arranged neatly side by side; they are printed in black on white paper, now yellowing with age.

 On the left is a concert programme. At the top of the page, the event title is within a decorative border of flowers arranged like painted tiles. It reads – Edenhall hostel, 12^th August 1918, Musselburgh. The text below, in bold, curving script, advertises the Grand Concert by the B-Hoys at 9.15 prompt. Below this, the chairman, pianist and designers are credited. 

The other flyer has advertisements and features five different ads, descending down the page. The first reads “LEGS” in capital letters, and in brackets below, “please don’t pull them.” This joke reflects a humorous attitude which is present throughout the album. The other ads are for legs, crutches and walking sticks. 

The black and white photos on the facing page are arranged in two rows with three portrait-oriented images above and two landscape-oriented photos below. The top left image shows two male soldiers in army uniforms standing close, side by side, near a grassy hill. 

They both have an upper limb deficiency, and the fabric of the sleeve closest to one another is folded back up to their shoulders. Strong shadows indicate a sunny day, and both men are smiling at the camera. The rest of the images are similarly of hospital residents recuperating outdoors, including a wheelchair user with a dog on their lap and an amputee on crutches. 

The Hospital was opened in Kelso but moved to Musselburgh after Edenhall’s managers acquired Pinkieburn House, once home to the Lindsay family. This album spans both locations and is one of the few original artefacts to survive from this period of the hospital’s life. It provides an invaluable glimpse into the day-to-day life of patients and the technologies that were available to them. 

On the top shelf of the right-hand side of the cabinet is a poster advertising the limb of the future, measuring 30 x 46 cm. At the bottom of the poster is the date 1998 in bold red letters. The poster features an image of a prosthetic arm, which extends from the top right corner to the bottom left, dividing the poster diagonally and is annotated with various blocks of text. 

The mechanical limb is at an angle, meaning only three of its digits and its thumb are represented. It is made from gleaming, silver metal, black carbon fibre and bright orange plastic. It is articulated at the elbow joint with a wheel labelled potentiometer. The limb rests on an image of the arm-like, pink, rubber sleeve casing that will contain it. This casing mirrors the gesture of the mechanical arm by lightly touching the index finger to the thumb. Demonstrating how the mechanical base can be housed within a naturalistic cover that does not impair its function. 

The content, entitled: 'Limb of the future,' details the 'greater versatility' this limb offers the patient through its modular design and construction.'  Text explains 'The basic principle' in simple terms. 

It describes how the "worm and wheel' mechanism is used throughout the limb: by fixing the wheel, the rotation of the worm raises the lower section. 

An illustration in the top left corner depicts this process, showing a fixed wheel as a yellow circle with indented edges being turned by the worm, represented as a grey spiral like a screw. Red arrows indicate the turning, and labels clarify that as it rotates, the worm moves around the wheel. A label below indicates that this process is powered by a motor beneath the worm. 

More explanatory text titled ‘In motion’ breaks down the arm’s operation into three steps: pressure pads, the potentiometer, and the reaction. Down the curve of the forearm, more text explains the advantages of this design, including weight distribution to reduce the total workload on the wearer, and the use of cuttable carbon fibre sections to personalise the limb to an individual's size. It also highlights the realistic appearance achieved through the rubber sleeve that is worn over the prosthetic. 

Beside the hand, text explains that: ‘Early developments, the worm and wheel mechanism was originally developed as a compact joint in artificial fingers.’ In the bottom right corner is a smaller diagram modelling the use of the arm, which is labelled at the four points of the arm’s movement: the shoulder, elbow, wrist, and fingers, which reach towards the centre of the poster.

Below the poster on the middle shelf is a small spiral-bound booklet measuring 19 x 25cm, titled

Thalidomide was a drug given to pregnant women in the 1950s for morning sickness that impacted children’s development in the womb, often resulting in lifelong disability such as limb differences. In response, the booklet aims to address some of the difficulties these children might have faced with clothing and offer them increased independence by creating clothes patterns that were adapted so they could dress themselves. 

The booklet is folded open with only the right page on display. Here, there are text and diagrams in black on white paper.  Under the title ‘Dresses’ are two drawings of designs, one on the upper left and one lower right, with explanatory text beside them. The dresses are shown on a female model indicated by the outline of a girl shown from the chin to the knee. Her facial features are excluded, but the artist has indicated blunt, bobbed hair. The model has an upper limb difference rendered on the first drawing and wears prosthetic arms in the second. 

The first dress is a plain, sleeveless pinafore with a fluted collar and fastenings down the front. The accompanying text explains that Velcro replaces buttons here, and that the dress is ‘Sleeveless for short-armed children’. The second dress is also sleeveless but without a collar, slightly shorter and with a gathered waist. 

The right shoulder of this dress lies open, revealing the Velcro fastening that allows for easy dressing. The text explains that ‘the child can loosen the Velcro by pulling with the mouth’, and that ‘the Roomy back allows space for a CO(2) cylinder if powered arms are worn.’ This booklet reflects the wider ethos of the hospital, which operated in all endeavours with the “needs of the patient clearly in mind.

Below this, on the bottom shelf, is a pamphlet announcing the opening of a larger Bioengineering centre at the Princess Margaret Rose Orthopaedic Hospital, which was focused on developing externally powered prosthetics and other assistive devices like feeding aids, all with a person-centred approach. 

The pamphlet is open at the title page, showing a photo on the left and text on the right.  The grainy black and white photo fills the page. The image is taken from above and shows a young boy, facing us, standing behind a wooden desk. He’s writing in a notebook using a pencil held in his prosthetic right hand. The boy gazes intently at his exercise book, and his face is mostly hidden by his mop of light, wavy hair. He is dressed smartly in dark trousers, a white shirt and a striped tie which is fraying at the ends, and his other hand is also artificial. 

The page on the right has three blocks of black typed text. A heading in capitals reads ‘Edinburgh Central Hospitals Board of Management and Medical Research Council.’ Below this, in the centre, in bigger curling font is ‘Opening of.’ Then returning to capitals, ‘Bio-engineering centre/Princess Margaret Rose Orthopaedic Hospital.’ 

Further text reads: ‘Housing the orthopaedic bio-engineering unit, the medical research council unit for physical aids for the disabled and research projects directly supported by the Scottish Home and Health Department and by the Thistle Foundation.’ At the bottom of the page, the author, Mr Kenneth Allsop, is noted and the date, 28^th of October 1969.

This is the final object in this display case. 

Thank you very much for listening to this audio described tour of the Phenomenal Bodies exhibition at the University of Edinburgh. We hope that you will visit our other exhibitions in the future, details of which can be found on our website. If you have any feedback on your experience of the exhibition, we’d be very grateful to hear it. You can get in contact via email at heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk