Box of 126 microscope preparations of a spinal column, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1911-1950

Box of microscope slides with eight slide holders, 126 preparations of spinal column of idiot by Dr. A.N. Bruce, Edinburgh, 1910-1950

These slides show sections of the spinal column of an ‘idiot’. These slides were prepared by Alexander Ninian Bruce (d 1968), a Scottish physician and neurologist. The slides also show a number of different staining techniques used in microscopy and histology.

‘Idiot’ is a historical medical term, which is no longer used, to describe a person with a profound intellectual disability. Profound intellectual disability is a psychiatric category used to describe individuals with an IQ of less than 20.