Things are not always what they appear to be

Computed tomography scan of a bird mummy

Since September 4, 1944, the collection of Pauls Stradiņš has included a mummified animal. Since then, from generation to generation, museum specialists have always claimed that it is a mummified cat, and that is what was stated in the relevant documentation. The situation changed on January 19, 2012, however, when computer tomography was conducted on the mummy to ascertain what kind of animal it was.

What a surprise! It turned out that the mummified animal was not a cat at all – it was a bird. We don’t know yet what type of bird it is, but the mummy and the computer tomography images will be available to all who are interested in the new museum exhibition “Beauty Comes From the Inside: Visualisation in Medicine.” The exhibition will open on February 23.