Founded by Thomas Dent Mutter in 1858 for medical research , the museum 's contents include medical oddities , anatomical and pathological specimens , and antique medical equipment . Anatomical specimens include the conjoined liver of Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker ; and a section of the brain of Charles J. Guiteau , who assassinated President Garfield . Medical instruments include a wooden stethoscope and Marie Curie 's quartz-piezo electrometer Their library was established in 1788 and served as Philadelphia 's main medical library for over 150 years . It is now a research library specializing in the history of medicine . '' De sedibus et causis morborum '' ( On the Seats and Causes of Disease ) by Giambattista Morgagni was one of the first acquisitions of the library . This book , published in Venice in 1761 , was given by Morgagni to John Morgan , a founding fellow of the College . The library 's collection includes over 400 editions printed before 1500 , known as '' incunabula '' , which is the second-largest collection of medical incunabula in the United States . Over 12,000 other rare books including '' De motu cordis '' ( On the Motion of the Heart ) ( 1628 ) by William Harvey and '' De humani corporis fabrica '' ( On the Fabric of the Human Body ) ( 1543 ) by Andreas Vesalius are in the collection
assassinated
Assassination of James A. Garfield
College of Physicians of Philadelphia