What is it: A museum dedicated to unique artifacts important to medical history and research.

What is it: A museum dedicated to unique artifacts important to medical history and research.
What's there: 25 million artifacts, including body parts from 6,000 Civil War soldiers; hearts, brains and bones; and body parts from historical figures; a large collection of microscopes; an early kidney dialysis machine; and a collection of artificial legs.
Who visits: Military personnel, physicians, nurses, paramedics; tourists, students, scholars and Civil War buffs.
Background: Founded in 1862 to document the effects of war wounds and disease. Until the late 1960s, the museum was on Washington's National Mall, although it is not part of the sprawling Smithsonian Institution. The museum is a unit of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.
Resource: For more information, visit http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum