Cabinets of curiosities were private collections of curious objects that were put together by aristocrats, rich merchants and travellers. Over the centuries, the human body has assembled its own collection of curiosities, as generation after generation of anatomists have named body parts after animals, plants, tools, and weapons. These things are not in themselves curious, but it is indeed curious to find them inside the human body.

The Human Body's Cabinet of Etymological Curiosities is a collection of "etymogrammes", pencil illustrations that represent the etymology of anatomical terms. You will learn that some body parts are named after fruits and vegetables, while others are named after musical instruments, and others still are named after birds and other animals. Each illustration is accompanied by a short paragraph that explains where the body part is, what it does and how it got its name. Related words are also given, so sometimes the information may stray a little off the topic of anatomy, but that is the beauty of a cabinet of curiosities: you never know what you might find inside !