Nymiranina

The meticulously extracted nervous system of a 19th-century woman on display at Hahnemann Medical College

Harriet Cole who worked as part of the custodial staff at Hahnemann Medical College in the 1880s. After she died from tuberculosis at age 35, Dr. Rufus B. Weaver, a professor of anatomy, carefully extracted her entire nervous system. Or at least that’s how the story goes.

When Weaver completed his preparation of the nervous system, the scientific community praised his accomplishment without much attention to the person who made it possible. The story of “Harriet Cole” emerged over the following decades, and archivists at Drexel University (whose medical school was formerly Hahnemann Medical College) are still piecing together the truth of her identity.

Over the course of five months in 1888, Weaver cut away flesh to reveal and remove the cerebrospinal nervous system. The nerves were first wrapped in gauze for protection, and then every single strand was covered with a white, lead-based paint and shellacked. Weaver mounted the entire system for display, the nerves arranged in the shape of the human body. Using zinc chloride, Dr. Weaver preserved the entire nervous system, thereby creating an excellent study tool for students.

Weaver told a fellow doctor about the project during a trip to Europe after his extraction of the nervous system. The doctor’s response: “It is impossible, there is no such thing in all this United Kingdom, and if it had been possible it would have been done by some one.” Weaver replied quietly: “So it has, by some one in the States.” The poor British doctor must have been frightfully irked.

Weaver said he intended for the nervous system to serve as an educational tool at the medical college, a destiny it certainly fulfilled. But it also found a far wider audience when Weaver took the display to the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. It received an exhibition medal and the blue-ribbon Premium Scientific Award.

Little is known for sure about “Harriet,” the Black woman who supposedly donated her body to science. But her nervous system remains famous today, with images appearing in hundreds of textbooks, laboratories, and medical offices across the United States and beyond. The nervous system has undergone some restoration over the years, most notably by the Hahnemann-educated cardiologist Dr. George Geckeler in the 1960s.

Today the nervous system of “Harriet Cole” stands in all its surreal glory inside the Drexel University College of Medicine, enclosed in a glass case outside the entrance to the bookstore.

I only finished my first research project out of many, but I already learned some game-changing things that I wish I knew earlier.

1. It’s okay to mess up. In fact, it should be encouraged (within reason). You learn so many more intimate details about your work from mistakes than from successes. PCRs fail even when you’re careful, and animal models don’t behave like they’re supposed to. Undergrad labs can make you feel stupid when your experiment doesn’t work, but in research, mistakes happen all the time. Document them and learn from them. 

2. There’s a lot of waiting around. Experiments can be slow. Progress in your project can be even slower. Manage your time between experiments so that it’s not wasted; read, write a chapter, scribble some ideas, or just close your eyes and think. All time is valuable. 

3. If you can figure out a new way to do something, do it. There might not be a formal protocol you have to follow. If you think of an efficient way to observe something, go for it. Practice thinking outside the box. 

4. There’s a lot less rules than you think there are. Of course, follow lab safety rules. But the lab is a resource- use it. You don’t have to walk on eggshells somewhere you belong. 

5. Stay true to your findings. This isn’t an undergrad laboratory course. You’re looking at novel stuff here. Don’t play up or fake your data to impress your supervisor. That helps no one- tell it like it is. Believe in your work. 

6. Your lab mates are not here to criticize you. They are your colleagues and mentors- ask them for help if you need it. Your work is important to their work too. You matter just as much as them. 

I can’t possibly list all the things I learned, because this research experience has changed how I think in such integral ways, but here are a few anyway. I’m sure this is only the beginning.