Dr Florence Sabin (1871–1953): Her work with Friedrich Ziegler (1860–1936) to make a wax model of the brainstem

Abstract

Dr Florence Sabin is remembered for her research on cellular histology at the Johns Hopkins Medical School and the Rockefeller Institute. This paper highlights her first project while she was just an Intern at the Johns Hopkins Hospital (1900–1901), when she undertook to make a wax model of an infant's brainstem, using a ‘stacked wax plate’ method. She then collaborated with artist Friedrich Ziegler to construct a set of larger wax brainstem models, designed to reveal the internal neuroanatomy. The use of wax embryo models for research and teaching embryology was popular during the late nineteenth century but quickly became obsolete during the twentieth century, overtaken by improved research techniques and audio-visual teaching aids. Examples of Ziegler's models can still be found in some medical museums; however the Sabin/Ziegler brainstem model is very rare.