A Witness to the History of Veterinary Science – The Stone Necropsy Table
Naturae ingenium dissecta cadavera pandunt; plus quam vita loquax mors taciturna docet
Pedro Virgili moto
This stone necropsy table, an authentic piece of veterinary diagnostic equipment, was used in the post-mortem examination room of the Department of Diagnostics and Infectious Diseases of the State Veterinary Bacteriological Laboratory (VVBL), later reorganised as the State Veterinary Bacteriological Institute (VVBI).
From 1933 onwards, the table was used for diagnostic investigations at one of the most modern veterinary institutions of its time, built to the highest Western European standards. The institute featured a spacious, well-lit dissection hall, laboratories, a crematorium, an electric ozoniser and a team of highly qualified specialists.
The department examined pathological specimens submitted by state veterinary institutions of Lithuania, the Military Veterinary Administration, judicial authorities and private citizens. It carried out histological and bacteriological examinations, assessed products of animal origin, and prepared 172 rare pathological anatomy specimens and 41 parasitological specimens.
During the war years, the institute diagnosed, on average, one case of canine rabies every day.
In 1937 alone, 2,945 diagnostic investigations were carried out.
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Founded in 1936, the Veterinary Academy assumed the functions of the State Veterinary Bacteriological Institute. In 1938, the department was reorganised into the Institute of Pathological Anatomy (later the Department of Pathological Anatomy), headed by Colonel of the Veterinary Corps Dr Juozas Mykolas Užupis (1890–1960).
The photographs show Professor Dr Juozas Mykolas Užupis with students during practical classes in the necropsy hall, the laboratory and beside the macro-specimens in the Museum of Pathology, c. 1955.
Students were taught general and histopathological pathology, veterinary meat inspection, animal necropsy, the identification of pathological changes and the preparation of post-mortem reports.
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Professor Rimantas Karazija, who later became Rector of the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy, began his academic career in this department. After graduating, he worked as an Assistant in the Department of Physiology and Pathological Anatomy. He was photographed at this very necropsy table in his working environment by photographer Aleksandras.
For more than 70 years, this necropsy table formed an integral part of the history of veterinary diagnostics, education and scientific research.
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Principal sponsor – veterinary doctor and Lithuanian émigré Vytautas Maurutis. He studied at the Veterinary Academy from 1940 to 1944, graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover in 1947, emigrated to the United States, where he worked as a veterinary doctor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He passed away in 2012.
Sponsor – Agricultural Cooperative Pienas LT.
Exhibition curator – L. Baršauskienė, Head of the Museum of the Veterinary Academy.