Surgeons' Hall Museums

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Lonely Planet review

Surgeon's Hall houses a fascinating trio of museums. The History of Surgery Museum takes a look at surgery in Scotland from the blood-letting and amputating barbers of the 15th century to the body-snatching anatomists of the 19th. The Dental Museum displays a wince-inducing collection of extraction tools, while the Pathology Museum houses a gruesome but compelling 19th-century collection of diseased organs and tumours pickled in formaldehyde.

Surgeons' Hall was built in 1832 to house the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The highlight of the History of Surgery Museum is an exhibit on Burke and Hare, which includes Burke's death mask and a pocket book bound in his skin.