ANATOMY - SMITH, Elias.

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Smith's American Manikin for Schools and Physicians. An educational model depicting male anatomy. It was positioned as a cheaper and more user-friendly alternative to Louis Auzoux's papier-mâché manikins, themselves an accessible innovation from earlier wax models. The American Manikin represents a crucial step in the widening accessibility and popularization of anatomy and is a precursor to the mass-produced teaching models of the 20th century.The model is double-sided, one face depicting muscles, nerves, tendons, and the spinal column, and the other showing muscles, veins, and bones. The latter face has alphabetically labelled hooks onto which illustrated steel attachments can be affixed. When all the plates are in place, the model can be "dissected" by removing each layer in sequence, eventually revealing the skeleton. Several of the attachments have additional diagrams on the reverse; for example, the attachment illustrating the nerves of the brain also features a diagram of the inner ear on the other side.First produced in 1888, the manikin was designed by Elias Smith (1828-1913), who also published the Atlas of Colored Plates Illustrating Features of Anatomy (1889). Smith was an enterprising businessman who held patents for bicycle saddles and dental equipment. The accompanying advertisement booklet makes extensive reference to the American Manikin's superiority over Auzoux's French model. The attachment for the model's hand is illustrated with the company's calling car

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