glass cases, greatly assisted by attached mechanical devices, helped the understanding of their structure and function.
The adult human body was, in its entirety and in parts, shown in the natural state, in the form of models, paintings, lumières and drawings, all displayed in the most artistic form and executed by artists of the first order, the high walls and high windows admitting a flood of light and rendering inspection thorough and easy. Mechanical devices were in operation for showing contraction of muscles; for explaining the action of the nervous system and the differences between mere reflex action and an action involving the cooperation of the higher nerve centers; for showing the circulation of the blood by a system of capillary glass tubes and the amount of work done by the heart; for demonstrating the function of the special senses and the mechanism of respiration and of voice and sound production.