The NMHM, and by extension the AFIP, has experienced a variety of numbering systems since its inception in 1862. A knowledge of these complex systems is essential for proper daily operations of the various museum collections. No one system is complete or independent; unfortunately each has been applied at different times and to different parts of the collections.
AMM System I:
Dates: 1862 - c. 1875
The first numbering system used in the Army Medical Museum reflects that the museum founders were physicians with a focus on the study of disease and trauma. As a result, this system eventually became unworkable from a collections management sense.
At this time the museum collections were divided into three numbered sections: Surgical, Medical, and Microscopical. Items included in each section were numbered consecutively starting at 1. The Surgical Section (Sect. I) contained material taken during or related to surgical operations, including skeletal specimens, fluid-preserved specimens, bullets, photographs, plaster casts, and "materia chirurgica". The Medical Section (Sect. II) contained fluid-preserved specimens of various diseases that were not treated surgically. These include specimens of typhoid fever, swamp fever, TB, dysentery, and the like. The Microscopical Section (Sect. III) consisted of prepared microscopic tissue sections and photographs taken of them. Upon acquisition, the specimen or object would be assigned to one of these three sections and assigned a consecutive number within the series. This number is similar to what today would be considered the accession number although not totally analogous since each specimen or object received from a donor in a "lot" would each receive its own section number, and materials donated as a group could be assigned to more than one section.
Once a specimen, photograph, or object was placed in one of these sections, it was then assigned to particular pathology category that was hierarchically arranged. These categories, similar to the current AFIP pathology codes, were developed by museum doctors and reflected contemporary medical knowledge. By combining the pathology category codes with the Section number, the specimen, photograph, or object could be assigned a unique identification number and hence is most analogous to a modern day catalog number. For example, "XXVI, 4629 A 3 101" refers to one photograph of a "group of officers who had undergone amputation for gunshot injury." In this case, the components represent the following:
XXVI: category of "Photographs, drawings and maps"
4629: the consecutive number assigned within one of the three Sections
A : subcategory of "the Army Medical Museum Series of Photographs"
3 : the third volume of photographs taken at the AMM
101: photograph 101 within a consecutively numbered series.
A more pertinent example in light of the eventual growth of the AFIP would be an anatomical one. "XIX, 1440 A B a 1" is:
XIX: Organs of Respiration
1440: Surgical Section number of the specimen
A: Gunshot Injuries
B: Secondary Conditions
a: Without Operation
1: First example of the above type in the catalogue.
The specimen is a shot wound of the larynx.
This original system is evident in the extensive 1866 Catalogue of the AMM and Medical and Surgical History. To a large degree, the basics of this system would be carried over into the next. Although many specimens and objects previously accessioned under this system would be re-assigned to new numbering systems throughout the history of the Museum, some would only be associated with this original system. This original system can be of considerable use in reconstructing a missing or lost file.
AMM System II
Dates: c. late 1860s World War I
The AMM system was further refined at some point in the late 1860s as the Surgical Section underwent a number of changes. Apparently, the holdings of the Surgical Section were culled with a number of specimens being discarded or transferred to other sections. In late 1867, the Anatomical Section (Sect. IV) was established for the nonpathologic specimens of anatomical interest including the majority of the Museum's Native American specimens. Another example of Anatomical Section specimens is a series of crania showing anatomical differences of the palate. Between 1899 and 1904, the AMM and the Smithsonian Institution engaged in a series of transfers that resulted in the majority of the holdings of the Anatomical section - Native American specimens of normal anatomy - being transferred to the Smithsonian.
Although the exact dates are not clear, additional sections were also established after 1867 and significant portions of the Surgical Section materials were transferred to them. The Comparative Anatomy Series (CAS) (Sect. V) contained veterinary specimens of pathologic and normal interest. Much of this material was transferred to the US National Museum that would become the National Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Man of the Smithsonian Institution. The holdings of materials related to Native Americans including projectiles, medicine kits, and some anatomical specimens were rolled into a section established for "Indian curiosities," the Miscellaneous Section (Sect. VI).
An adjunct system in what would become the Otis Historical Archives was also instituted during this time as the photographs originally assigned to the Surgical Section were transferred to independent photographic collections. The Surgical Photograph (SP) collection was established for the photographs previous assigned to SS 4627-4629 and SS 4719. Their number within the series was retained as the SP number. Our example "XXVI, 4629 A 3 101" became Surgical Photograph 101 (SP 101). By 1878, the bound volumes of photographs numbered according to the Surgical Section had been individually renumbered as parts of the Contributed Photograph collection. This collection would eventually number well over 4,000 photographs when it fell into disuse following WWI. Similar to the situation with the Surgical Section photographs discussed above, the photomicrographs of the Microscopical Section were renumbered into a new collection known as the New Series.
In addition, a Provisional Pathological Section (PPS) and Provisional Anatomical Section (PAS) were instituted for materials maintained by the Army Medical Museum but not considered worthy of permanent inclusion in the museum holdings. Most of this material was transferred to McGill University in Montreal in 1907 following a disastrous fire in their medical school, although some were assigned PS or AS numbers for permanent inclusion into museum collections.
Concurrent with the discarding or transferal of specimens to other sections, the Surgical Section continued to be used as an active numbering system. The Surgical Section numbers associated with "de-accessioned" specimens were re-used and assigned to new Surgical Section specimens or objects. The result of recycling the Surgical Section numbers was that it no longer functioned as a unique identifier for specimens within the Museum's collection. For example SS 6461 was originally a right mammary gland. It was discarded by Dr. Lamb per the orders of Dr. Woodward on April 14, 1875. SS 6461 was then re-assigned to a humerus, ulna, and radius specimen from the Gibson Collection on September 25, 1875. This practice also destroyed the inherent chronological nature of the numbering system. Prior to the recycling of the Surgical Section numbers, lower numbers always represented specimens that were acquired earlier. Following the culling and the re-use of the numbers, the direct association between SS number and date of acquisition was broken for a portion of the collection.
At some point in the late 1800s, the decision was made to rename the Surgical Section to the Pathological Section (PS). At this time, fluid-preserved specimens from the Medical Section were folded into the Pathological Section. Medical Section numbers 1-1741 were sequentially assigned PS 7448-9191 and the Medical Section fell into disuse. Although a set of index cards cross-referencing most of the Museum's numbering systems exists, the Medical Section is not cross-referenced to its Pathological Section numbers or to any of the other Museum numbering system. The original Medical Section logbooks were annotated with the new PS numbers, and these represent the only cross-reference for this range of PS numbers (7448-9191). Today, Medical Section numbers are only maintained to reference the individual photographs of dysenteric colons bound as Photographs: Camp Fever and Camp Dysentery. (It should be noted that the original Medical Section numbers were assigned to the actual colons and not to the photographs of them.)
Apparently the transition from the Surgical Section to the Pathological Section was fraught with difficulties. Ranges of PS numbers appear not to have been assigned (e.g. 7097-7251) while other ranges appear to have re-assigned higher PS numbers (eg. PS 7449-7454 became PS 9200-9205). In addition, there are a number of logbooks that duplicate the run of SS/PS numbers (logbooks SS 6155-7189, PS 6718-7448) suggesting that some logbooks represent a re-copying of the acquisition information following the intellectual transition.
In 1906, a new classification system based on that of McGill University was adopted on orders of Dr. Carroll, the museum curator. Based on a decimal system, a discussion of this arrangement can be found in Lamb's unpublished manuscript, A History of the U.S. Army Medical Museum, 1862-1917, pp. 126-136. The system lasted until the summer of 1907 when a new museum curator was appointed; it was dismantled by Lamb who preferred the earlier system.
Accession Number System (AIP - AFIP)
Dates: WWI - present
This system is the current AFIP Accession system. The Army Medical Museum grew rapidly during World War I as the US military was forced to cope with the results of mechanized and chemical warfare. The AMM fielded detachments in Europe to document war injuries and diseases much as it had during the Civil War. Specimens and objects collected during this time were assigned consecutive numbers (starting with number 1) as they arrived in the museum. In general, specimens that had older museum numbers were not renumbered according to this system, but were designated as "Series A". Items obtained by the museum after 6 April 1917 were assigned to "Series B". It was hoped that the Series A material could be incorporated into the new system at some time in the future. Several thousand specimens were reaccessioned during the 1930s. Many more skeletal materials were done later, possibly during the late 1950s; current museum management techniques stress the maintenance of original systems, and this has been discontinued. An additional problem was the retention of original records even though specimens had been discarded. It would be pointless to assign a new number to a destroyed specimen, but the wealth of data in the records was too valuable to dispose of. These original records are now housed in the Otis Historical Archives under the original AMM numbering series.
Upon the foundation of the Army Institute of Pathology (AIP) in 1945, the museum became a subordinate division of the Institute and no longer set policy regarding accession numbers. However, Series B from 1917 continued numerically. Occasionally throughout this time material from Series A was reaccessioned into Series B that had become the AIP accession series.
With the formation of the AFIP in 1950, the series was continued. Today, this series is the current AFIP accession series and numbers well past 3 million cases. However, the AFIP accession numbers were given in blocks to department to use, and, consequently, there are many gaps in the numbering series.
WWI/Reeve and Medical Illustration Service Photographic numbers:
Dates: 1917 - 1953
The photographs taken by museum divisions during WWI and acquired from the Signal Corps became the basis of a new photographic series in the AMM. Photos were no longer grouped by topic but simply assigned a consecutive number much like the accesion system. Today this series is in the OHA after its transfer from Medical Illustration Service (MIS) at various times throughout the 1980's and is known as the WWI/Reeve collection. The name results from the fact that at some time it was split into two halves and the material related to the war was labeled WWI while the later material was named after the museum photographer Roy Reeve. This series ran from 1917 until 1953 when it was superseded by the current MIS series. This was more an illustration series than a museum archival collection so original material was frequently re-photographed and then discarded including earlier museum photographic series. The current MIS series is prefaced by a two-digit year and then assigned consecutive numbers. For a brief period individual photographs were assigned an AFIP accession number in the 200,000 range, but this was fortunately short lived since there were no practical advantages to this method.
MM series:
Dates: c. 1955-1959
Presumably, museum staff found the collections needed an independent numbering system. The lack of a consecutive numbering system in the museum made it impossible to determine whether an object or specimen was in the collections. Since the AFIP accession numbers were and are generally used for patient-related cases, this system did not hold up for the range of museum acquisitions.
As a result, the museum instituted the Medical Museum (MM) numbering system. This was a short-lived cataloguing system used during the 1950's and consisted of a four-digit number prefaced by MM. Since the numbers were assigned sequentially without any regard to provenance, they were of little use and were probably discontinued by 1959. However, the numbers were physically placed on a large portion of the museum's historical and anatomical collections as well as books. An incomplete cross reference index card system and a set of logbooks exists from this series. A small percentage of the collection is accessioned by MM number only, which presents problems in retrieving documentation.
M- series:
Dates: 1960 - present
The next attempt at a strictly museum based numbering system was the M- system. This was a two part, six digit number prefaced by "M-". It was mainly a cataloging number, i.e. all syringes would be grouped under the first three-digit number and a specific syringe would be assigned the second three-digit number consecutively. Since M-151,XXX was the syringe cataloging number, and 261 syringes were in the collections, the series runs from M-151,000 to M-151,261. This numbering system is still used as the catalog numbering system in the Historical Collections with an extra two digits added to the final three to allow for growth; in other words, instead of 1000 entries the system can accommodate 100,000 entries (e.g. M-151,261 would be M-151,00261). An attempt was made to assign an M- series to anatomical and archival collections, but failed due to a lack of specialization. All skeletal material was assigned into three non identifying prefix series, making it impossible to differentiate between a cranium and a femur by the number and thus proved useless in practice. The fluid-preserved collection also received a run of these numbers. A small set of fluid-preserved specimens were assigned the prefixes 906 and 984 and pertained to museum (not AFIP) accessioned specimens. In the 1970s and early 1980s museum staff used 'M-' numbers as accession numbers. This practice has been abandoned in all collecting divisions.
Trinomial system:
Dates: 1987 - present
The current museum system was established in 1987 by the museum registrar, Kelly Mathers. It is based on the Smithsonian Institution's registering system. It is an all inclusive tracking system for all registrarial transactions including accessions, catalog numbers, and loans. The trinomial system is comprised of a nine-, twelve-, or fourteen-character identification code. The fifth and tenth characters are periods that separate the numerical components of the code. The first four digits always reflect the year of the transaction. The sixth character represents the type of registrarial transaction. The seventh, eighth, and ninth characters are reserved for the consecutive number assigned to each transaction. The tenth through fourteen characters are optional and are used only when the system is being applied as a catalog numbering system. In these cases, the last two or four digits represent the sequential catalog number applied to that accession. For example,
1987.0001 |
first accession of 1987 |
1987.0017.59 |
catalog number of the 59th specimen in the 17th accession of 1987 (used for accessions of 99 or fewer objects) |
1990.0003.0654 |
catalog number of the 654th specimen in the third accession of 1990 (used for accessions of 100 or more objects) |
1999.2001 |
accession number reserved for all FIC anatomical specimens for 19991 |
1998.3033 |
33rd non-accession acquisition for 1998 |
2001.6003 |
third out-going loan of 2001 |
2000.7004 |
fourth incoming loan of 2000 |
1988.8002 |
second temporary custody transaction of 1988 |
1997.9054 |
54th out-going receipt of 1997 |
Nonaccession numbers are used as a holding number for material that the NMHM does not want to formally accession but that may be of use. An example would be a microscope used for demonstrating techniques to the public on the museum floor. This microscope would not get the same level of care as an accessioned one. Over the years, the definitions and uses of the nonaccession series varied within and between collecting divisions. The review of accession procedures in 1998 resulted in the decision that within Anatomical Collections human materials are to be associated with accession numbers due ethical considerations about their care and practical considerations concerning their disposal. This accessioning procedure is in no way intended to limit the use of anatomical specimens for teaching or demonstration purposes.
The hope in establishing this system was it would avoid the questions custody that exist under the AFIP accession system since all specimens and objects accessioned under this system would clearly be part of the Museum's holdings. This may not be true, however, of AFIP accessioned items. During the early years of use, this system was consistently applied in such a manner. Although no attempt was made to retroactively apply the system to existing Museum collections, any object newly acquired by the Museum received a trinomial accession number, including AFIP accessioned items that were formally transferred to the Museum. This practice soon fell into disuse and only accessions unassociated with any AFIP numbering/accessioning system were assigned a trinomial number.
For a brief period of time (1995-1997), in an attempt to bring some consistency to the numbering systems used in the Anatomical Collections, it was decided to only recognize AFIP accession numbers and the trinomial system as "valid" numbers. Specimens not already assigned one of these numbers were to be assigned a trinomial number, as they were encountered in the collection. This explains the large number of "found in collection" (FIC) numbers assigned to the Anatomical Collections during this period. This practice was abandoned since it is not possible to dissociate the specimens from their historical numbers. Certain information can only be referenced back to the specimens using old numbering systems (e.g.: Medical and Surgical History references the specimens by SS or Med. Sect. numbers). Therefore, those numbers must be cross-referenced and tracked. Adding an additional number to track and cross-reference only inserts an extra level of complication to an already cumbersome system.
Additional Numbering Systems:
From 1976 through 1986, an abortive attempt was made to institute a binomial system based on the year of accession. This was meant to be a temporary number, presumably until an AFIP accession number could be assigned. An example would be 76.01.
In Otis Historical Archives, two numbering systems were instituted and discarded. The first was started around 1973 when the Archives was essentially functioning as a library. Four digit accession numbers assigned to books duplicated both the AMM system and the AFIP system and have only proven to be annoying and difficult. They do not refer to any records, but only to a master log. The second system was begun around 1983, and used the National Archives as a model. Record group (RG) numbers were assigned to archival collections. For example, all photographs that could not specifically include in earlier museum photographic series were placed under the number RG 541 with no regard as to their original provenance. With no numbering system, the photographs are impossible to find. A system like this is practical for extremely large collections such as Records of the Surgeon General's Office at the National Archives where an item by item description is impossible but not for an archives the size of the AFIP's. Currently collections are named for the collector/donor or for their content (i.e. the Blumberg collection; the Fort Erie collection) and are assigned a trinomial accession number so the deed of gift and accession records can be maintained.
The creation of a Guide to the Collections of the National Museum of Health and Medicine lead to an additional numbering system. In order to create an index to the guide, Asst. Archivist Joan Redding assigned each collection a new unique number with a prefix identifying the collecting department, for example OHA 172. Although originally conceived off as a static publication, the Guide continues to be updated with new collections added to the Guide as they are processed. In the Archives, it was decided that the alphabetical listing of the collections by name should be maintained. In addition, the sequential aspect of the Guide numbering system was also maintained by expanding the numbers assigned to the new collections by two decimal places. For example,
OHA 108 |
Barnes Collection |
OHA 108.05 |
Barondes Collection |
OHA 109 |
Bayne-Jones Collection |
The Guide was placed on the Web as index to the Museum's collections, and although the artificial numbers were no longer required, they remained as part of the document mounted to the Web. As a result, outside researchers began citing these numbers to reference collections.
Although difficult to reconstruct, there seems to have been several fluid-preserved collections that were received by the museum that were not assigned either AFIP/AIP accession numbers or museum accession numbers. Most of these collections are from hospitals throughout the U.S. Fortunately, they are not very large in number, thus making it possible to include them under the current trinomial systems as Found In Collections (FIC) accession numbers. The FIC number assures us that the collection has been reviewed and cataloged, and that all possible documentation has been located for the collection. An example is a collection of various tissues from the Norristown State Hospital. The museum received several hundred specimens from this hospital sometime during the 1970s. These were maintained under their original autopsy number until 1987 when they were assigned museum accession number 1987.0011 following receipt of a proper deed of gift. Records for this collection are now stored under the museum accession number.
Other fluid-preserved specimens may have been assigned the letters A-, Q-, P- or S- as a prefix. "A-" identifies a Walter Reed Hospital autopsy number from the 1950's. "Q-", "P-", and "S-" prefixes are log numbers corresponding to "A-" numbers and further research may shed light on the origin of these specimens. The prefix WRA corresponds to specimens received directly from Walter Reed Army Medical Center Hospital during the 1960 70s and are frequently the same as the A- number.
Two accessions, 1994.0050 and 1994.0051, are associated with two fluid-preserved collections from Cornell University. Each of the collections had been catalogued by the Cornell Medical College and are, therefore, associated with a number of cataloging numbers from the Cornell system including a numbering system that incorporates pathology and topographical classification of the specimens. Information on the catalog numbers along with an inventory of the specimens is present in the accession file. To date, no additional catalog numbers have been assigned to these specimens.
Finally, there is a numbering series associated with the dry bone anatomical preparations for which no information is available. These specimens are labeled with "8897-XXX" and are not associated with any other museum numbering system. The specimens clearly represent more than one individual and are associated with bones of the skull.
As can be seen by this short report, the need for maintenance of previous numbering systems is essential for the reconstruction of information on a given specimen, photograph, or object. Indeed, this task comprises a significant portion of museum collections staff time and effort. Although this report may appear somewhat confusing to non museum collections personnel, we hope it has shed some light on the various numbering systems employed by the Army Medical Museum, the AFIP, and the NMHM.
1 The special category for FIC numbers was established in 1998. Anatomical Collections was assigned 1998.2001, and the Historical Collections was assigned 1998.20002. Every year, each of the collections is assigned one accession number for all FIC specimens/objects, and they are catalogued within this single accession number.
