Auto-Icon Auto-Icon Tweets by @TranscriBentham Auto-Icon At the end of the South Cloisters of the main building of UCL stands a wooden cabinet, which has been a source of curiosity and perplexity to visitors. The cabinet contains Bentham's preserved skeleton, dressed in his own clothes, and surmounted by a wax head. Bentham requested that his body be preserved in this way in his will made shortly before his death on 6 June 1832. The cabinet was moved to UCL in 1850. Not surprisingly, this peculiar relic has given rise to numerous legends and anecdotes. One of the most commonly recounted is that the Auto-Icon regularly attends meetings of the College Council, and that it is solemnly wheeled into the Council Room to take its place among the present-day members. Its presence, it is claimed, is always recorded in the minutes with the words Jeremy Bentham - present but not voting. Another version of the story asserts that the Auto-Icon does vote, but only on occasions when the votes of the other Council members are equally split. In these cases the Auto-Icon invariably votes for the motion.

Stories of the Auto-Icon's regular attendance at Council meetings are, however, myths. Bentham had originally intended that his head should be part of the Auto-Icon, and for ten years before his death (so runs another story) carried around in his pocket the glass eyes which were to adorn it. Unfortunately when the time came to preserve it for posterity, the process of desiccation, as practiced by New Zealand Maoris, went disastrously wrong, robbing the head of most of its facial expression, and leaving it decidedly unattractive. The wax head was therefore substituted, and for some years the real head, with its glass eyes, reposed on the floor of the Auto-Icon, between Bentham's legs. In 1948 the head was placed inside a specially constructed wooden box to give it more protection. The box was too large to fit inside the Auto-Icon and so it was displayed on top of the case containing the Auto-Icon until 1956, when it was put on a plinth over the door to the Cloisters leading to the eastern staircase. (UCL Archive: Bentham Box File 3).

Extract from Bentham's Will My body I give to my dear friend Doctor Southwood Smith to be disposed of in a manner hereinafter mentioned, and I direct ... he will take my body under his charge and take the requisite and appropriate measures for the disposal and preservation of the several parts of my bodily frame in the manner expressed in the paper annexed to this my will and at the top of which I have written Auto Icon. The skeleton he will cause to be put together in such a manner as that the whole figure may be seated in a chair usually occupied by me when living, in the attitude in which I am sitting when engaged in thought in the course of time employed in writing. I direct that the body thus prepared shall be transferred to my executor. He will cause the skeleton to be clad in one of the suits of black occasionally worn by me.

The body so clothed, together with the chair and the staff in the my later years bourne by me, he will take charge of and for containing the whole apparatus he will cause to be prepared an appropriate box or case and will cause to be engraved in conspicuous characters on a plate to be affixed thereon and also on the labels on the glass cases in which the preparations of the soft parts of my body shall be contained ... my name at length with the letters ob: followed by the day of my decease. If it should so happen that my personal friends and other disciples should be disposed to meet together on some day or days of the year for the purpose of commemorating the founder of the greatest happiness system of morals and legislation my executor will from time to time cause to be conveyed to the room in which they meet the said box or case with the contents therein to be stationed in such part of the room as to the assembled company shall seem meet. Queens Square Place, Westminster, Wednesday 30th May, 1832. The original will of Jeremy Bentham is available from the National Archives .

However, the head proved an irresistible target for students, especially from King's College London, who stole the head in 1975 and demanded a ransom of £100 to be paid to the charity Shelter. UCL finally agreed to pay a ransom of £10 and the head was returned. On another occasion, according to legend, the head, again stolen by students, was eventually found in a luggage locker at a Scottish Station (possibly Aberdeen). The last straw (so runs yet another story) came when it was discovered in the front quadrangle being used for football practice, and the head was henceforth placed in secure storage. After the incident of 1975, a memo (3 Nov 1975) instructed that the head be put in the Strong Room of the Records Department. In 2005 it was relocated to the Conservation Safe in the Institute of Archaeology. It was decided that as 'human remains', it was inappropriate to put the head on public display, and since then permission to view has been granted only in exceptional circumstances by the curator of the College Collections.

Many people have speculated as to exactly why Bentham chose to have his body preserved in this way, with explanations ranging from a practical joke at the expense of posterity to a sense of overweening self-importance. Perhaps the Auto-Icon may be more plausibly regarded as an attempt to question religious sensibilities about life and death. Yet whatever Bentham's true motives, the Auto-Icon will always be a source of fascination and debate, and will serve as a perpetual reminder of the man whose ideals inspired the institution in which it stands. Jeremy Bentham welcomes visitors. Find out how to visit the Auto-Icon or view our 360-degree rotatable ' Virtual Auto-Icon ' from your computer. For more information on the Auto-Icon, including its history, travels and preservation, visit the UCL Museums website . Further reading 2) Jeremy Bentham, Proves Economists are Sometimes Weird and Great Thinkers - YouTube 2) Jeremy Bentham, Proves Economists are Sometimes Weird and Great Thinkers Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading...

Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Jun 4, 2015 Notes for Economics Many people consider economists a gloomy lot. Other less kindly critics view this field as one that attracts the chronically depressed. This may be true. However, we are not bereft of our colorful characters. For example, the nineteenth-century English author, jurist, philosopher, utilitarian economist, and legal and social reformer Jeremy Bentham could not have gone to his reward without some sense of humor. Leaving a large endowment to University College London, Bentham set forth in his will that his remains be wheeled solemnly into the Council Room of the school so that he may take his place at all regular meetings of the College Council. Since his earthly demise in 1832, the meeting minutes have recorded him as “present but not voting.” When not in attendance at meetings, Bentham resides as an Auto-Icon framed by a wood and glass case positioned in a main lobby of the college. He intended that his head should be part of his Auto-Icon, which includes his fully dressed and padded skeleton.

However, when the time came to preserve Bentham’s head for posterity through a method of desiccation practiced by the Maori Tribe of New Zealand, the process went disastrously wrong. It robbed the face of most of its expression and left it decidedly unattractive. The college then substituted a wax head atop the body with Bentham’s real head reposing on the floor between his feet, both in his display cabinet and at meetings. Unfortunately, the real head of Jeremy Bentham became a target for a roving band of Economics students from King’s College London. These rogues stole the head and held it for ransom. The final thread of tolerance by University College broke when officials discovered the head being used for soccer practice on their front quadrangle lawn. After this incident, the powers that be removed Bentham’s noggin and placed it in more secure storage. Today, Bentham’s fully attired skeleton, surmounted with the wax head, can be seen as he sits in his lobby cabinet. Bentham left his fortune to the University College London with the condition that his clothed skeleton and preserved head would always be present at council meetings. Since 1832, he has been present but not voting.

His clothed skeleton and wax head can be seen in its glass cabinet in the college lobby. His preserved head has been stolen a number of times and even used as a soccer ball on the front lawn. It now is kept separately under lock and key. Category Top 10 World Famous Human Body Parts - Listverse Top 10 World Famous Human Body Parts LordZB December 2, 2012 Lots of celebrities find fame and fortune because they possess a particularly valuable or desirable body part. There are stories of people who insure their limbs – or other parts – for ridiculously huge sums, because their entire career is based on lovely legs or a darling derriere. While some body parts are famous in life, others gain renown once they are removed from their famous body. Here are ten of the most famous preserved body parts, and the stories of how they came to survive the death of their owners. 10 Cromwell’s Head When justice fails to find someone living to charge with a crime, it has often happened that a corpse has been put on trial. After the restoration of King Charles II, the body of Oliver Cromwell was dug up and held accountable for the execution of his predecessor and father, Charles I.

Cromwell’s body was hanged publicly, and its head was cut off and put on display at Westminster Hall. Heads for display were usually tarred so that they could remain on show for a long time – and this is precisely what seems to have happened with that of Cromwell. A storm eventually dislodged the head from its pike, and it was stolen by a guard. Since then the skull, still with preserved flesh attached, has passed through several hands, including a museum of curiosities and a private owner. The head was finally put to rest in 1960, in the grounds of Cromwell’s old college in Cambridge. The exact site of burial has been kept secret, in order to protect the head from further molestation. 9 Bentham’s Head I recently wrote a list which mentioned the remains of Jeremy Bentham, the utilitarian philosopher, being used as a memorial statue. This was in line with Bentham’s wishes. For the last decade of his life, Bentham carried around the glass eyes he wanted to be used to replace his own when he was turned into his own statue.

Unfortunately, the process of preservation used on the head transformed it into something rather grotesque, and so the final statue had a waxwork head. Bentham’s own head became the focus of student pranks after it was placed in University College London. Because of this it has been removed to a museum and can only be viewed with special permission. 8 Einstein’s Brain Einstein’s brain is perhaps the most famous organ of the 20th century. The brain became synonymous with genius, and remains an item of fascination for neuroscientists. Within hours of Einstein’s death, his brain was removed for study to try and understand the source of his insights. Several interesting differences between his brain and other people’s were noticed. After the initial study, however, the brain went missing – with no one knowing for certain what had happened to it. Sections of the brain had been given to researchers but the main portions of the brain were still with the doctor who had removed it. The travels of the brain which changed 20th century physics have been documented in several books and films. 7 Einstein’s Eyes The bodies of saints were often raided for relics as soon as they died. Einstein – secular saint of the modern day – was no exception.

As well as taking the brain from Einstein’s corpse, the doctor who dissected him also removed his eyeballs. While his brain may have been a legitimate object of study, it is hard to see what Einstein’s eyes could teach us. The eyes were passed to another of Einstein’s doctors and they remain in his possession today. Rumour has it that they are locked in a safe deposit box in New York. When asked why he has kept the eyes the new owner said it was to keep Einstein with him. 6 Galileo’s Finger Galileo suffered greatly for his refusal to deny his belief that the Earth travels around the sun. He was kept under house arrest by the Church, for saying what every school child knows today. After his death he was buried in a modest tomb. As soon as later generations recognised his greatness, he was removed to a grand mausoleum. During the move, his admirers decided to take relics – and one of these was the middle finger of Galileo’s right hand. The finger can now be seen in the Museum of the History of Science – named after Galileo – in Florence.

The preservation of a middle finger has given Galileo the ability to eternally flip off the church, which only formally apologised for its mistake regarding heliocentricism in 1992. 5 Napoleon’s Penis While the Napoleon complex, which associates short stature with a drive for power, may be based on a historical misunderstanding – Napoleon being of an average height for the time – there may still be a Freudian explanation for his urge to conquer Europe. After his death, an autopsy was performed on the emperor to establish why he died. Napoleon’s heart and stomach were officially removed – but the servant of the doctor who performed the examination recorded privately that various other unspecified parts were taken. For decades, rumours have existed that one of these parts was the Emperor’s penis. The penis has been auctioned several times and displayed. The thing now known as Napoleon’s Napoleon seems to be a genuine body part of the great conqueror, but no one quite agrees as to whether it is a penis or not. The preserved member, about an inch long, has been described variously as a tendon, a piece of leather, a grape, and a shrivelled sea horse.

4 Buddha’s Tooth Gautama Buddha was the spiritual teacher who founded Buddhism in the 6th century BC in India. As with many religious figures, things associated with the life of Buddha became objects of veneration for followers. After Buddha’s death, he was cremated on a sandalwood pyre and his body entirely consumed, except for one of his canine teeth. The tooth was kept as a sacred relic. When wars between Indian states occurred through history, the tooth was one of the most wanted objects of plunder. After several giftings and relocations, the tooth finally ended up in Kandy, Sri Lanka, where it is held in a large gold reliquary to this day. 3 Henri IV’s Head During revolutions, even the dead are not safe from violence. During the French revolution the tombs of former kings were desecrated, and their bodies scattered. Henri IV, called ‘The Good’ and founder of the Bourbon dynasty, suffered the indignity of being dug up nearly 200 years after his death. His head was detached, and passed between collectors of macabre items.

The identity of the head was not confirmed until 2010, however, when a team of scientists studied the head and compared it to known portraits of the king and the death mask of the monarch. The head has since been reburied by descendants of the king. 2 Lincoln’s Skull Fragments At the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Maryland, several relics of Abraham Lincoln are held. After the president was shot, he received the best medical treatment available at the time – but it was impossible to save him. Removing the bullet lodged in the president’s skull also presented a challenge: it ended up dislodging a blood clot, and a number of fragments of the skull the bullet had shattered. These were not returned for burial with Lincoln’s body, but have been preserved, and can be seen alongside the bullet. 1 Rasputin’s Penis Rasputin’s penis had a rather colourful life while still attached to its owner. Since his death, it has continued to be an object of fascination. Rasputin had a reputation for using his penis as a method of spreading his holy message amongst women. He became a hated figure, among the common people and nobles alike.

It was a conspiracy of nobles who finally murdered Rasputin – and, it is claimed, castrated the body. The organ of Russia’s greatest Casanova can now be seen at the Erotica Museum in St. Petersburg, which purchased it from descendants of a maid who, in turn, claimed to have rescued it from the scene of Rasputin’s murder. More Great Lists Top 10 Most Shocking Mummies in the World | Fox News Top 10 Most Shocking Mummies in the World Published September 20, 2011 Facebook 0 Twitter 0 livefyre Email Print Egyptian mummy heads. (MATHEW IMAGING) Mention the word mummy, and you probably think of the shiny case of King Tut or the linen-bandaged walking dead in a George A. Romero film. But if you haven't seen a real mummy (a.k.a. a body whose skeleton and skin have been preserved) since you were on a school trip, this is a good time to get reacquainted.

In recent decades, excavators have dug up remarkably well-preserved mortal remains at locations across the globe--in Italy , Peru , and the Philippines --that have changed a good deal of what we know about the history of preserving the dead. So come with us on a crash course of the world's most "magnificent" corpses. Catacombs of the Capuchins, Palermo, Italy More On This... Ancient Mummies Had 'Modern' Disease Around 1599, Capuchin monks discovered that the catacombs under the church of Santa Maria della Pace (Our Lady of Peace) on the outskirts of Palermo were ideal for preserving the dead. For the following three centuries or so, monks drained and dried more than 6,000 corpses in the subterranean corridors beneath the monastery, dressing them up in their Sunday best and propping them up along clammy corridors. Later generations of monks apparently doctored the mummies because while some of them are now vile, decomposed, and contorted, their clothes are usually stuffed with hay and their skeletons are often held together by wire. Other mummies are lifelike, though, including one girl who's been nicknamed Sleeping Beauty.

But make no mistake: This is as far from a Disney fairy tale as you could get. Admission about $4.20, Piazza Cappuccini 1 , Palermo, 011-39/091-212-117. El Brujo Archaeological Complex, near Trujillio Peru In the mid-2000s, excavators at El Brujo, an archaeological site about 435 miles north of Lima, were startled to dig up a mummy that was covered with well-preserved tattoos. They named her the Lady of Cao, after the Huaca Cao Viejo, the nearby temple-like structure built by the Moche, a pre-Inca culture. Then in 2009, they opened the Museum of Cao, displaying the 1,700-year-old corpse along with the grave goods (such as war clubs and gold jewelry) found near her tomb. The museum presents theories suggesting that Senora Cao was a dignitary or a member of royalty and illustrates how her people, the Moche, excelled at making ceramics and other crafts in the pre-Colombian era.

Best to visit with a guide from Trujillo (the nearest town, about 37 miles south) with a vehicle to take you on the unmarked dirt roads. Admission $4.20, private tours start at about $70 for two people, 011-51/44-291-894. South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, Bolzano, Italy Watch where you hike. In 1991, a pair of Germans walking through the Tyrol Mountains near the Italian border chanced upon a human figure poking out of a thawing glacier. Authorities later used CSI-style forensic analysis on the body, nicknamed tzi, to determine that it had been shot in the shoulder by an arrow and then mummified by natural processes. The 5,300-year-old body is on permanent display at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, along with the clothing remnants, shoes, bearskin hat, quiver, flint dagger, and copper ax discovered around him. Come face-to-face with tzi, and you'll experience the closest you may ever come to time travel, given how he is unusually well preserved.

Admission about $13, Via Museo at Via Cassa di Risparmio , Bolzano, 011-39/04-7132-0100. Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, Cairo, Egypt For an audience with 11 ancient emperors, step into the dimly lit Royal Mummy Room and the adjacent exhibition, The Journey to Immortalityon the upper floor of the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. "Silence, please!" barks the museum guards, insisting on respect for the earthly remains of famous conquerors Seti 1, his son Ramses II, and Queen Hatshepsut, who was identified in 2007. The desiccated bodies generally look peaceful--sleepy almost--and many still have hair. If you look up Ramses V's nostrils, you can see a hole in his skull, a vivid example of how the mummification technique involved scraping out brain matter. Afterward, be sure to pop into easily missed Room 54 to see cat, monkey, and crocodile mummies. In ancient Egypt, animals could be venerated as if they were people.

Admission $10, separate ticket price to see mummies $16.80, Al-Mathaf al-Masri, Maydan Tahrir, Downtown, Cairo, 011-20/2-579-6974. Museo Arqueológico, Azapa Valley, Chile Despite widespread belief to the contrary, Egyptians may not have been the first ancient civilization to preserve their dead. Mummies from 5,000 to 2,000 B.C.--at least 2,000 years older than the Egyptian mummies--have been found in what is now northern-most Chile. The Chinchorro people embalmed their dead, swapping out internal organs and muscles with clay, reeds, and other materials. Skin was, um, reupholstered and given a black or red finish.

Four of these mummies, roughly 4,000 to 7,000 years old and mostly discovered in 1983, are on display in the Azapa Valley's superb Museo Arqueológico, San Miguel de Azapa (Museum of Archaeology in San Miguel de Azapa), which covers Peruvian history from 8,000 B.C. up to colonial times. Lean into the glass cases to see how some skin and hair remain on the bodies. Admission about $2, Camino Azapa , eight miles from Arica, 011-56/58-205-551. Ivolginsky Monastery, Buryatia, Russia Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov was the spiritual leader of Ivolginsky Datsan (Ivolginsky Monastery), the most important Buddhist monastery in Russia at the time of his unexplained death in 1927. When Itigilov's body was exhumed in 2002, it was almost lifelike, sitting upright in the lotus position and looking meditative.

Ever since, during the annual summer Maitreya Festival and other select times, purple-robed monks display the remarkably composed body of the 12th Khambo Lama under glass on the upper floor of the main temple. The religious complex is about 14 miles southwest from the nearest town, Ulan-Ude, in the Russian republic of Buryatia. While the bus ride is only 35 rubles ($1.15), it's best to hire a guide with a vehicle to navigate and translate, for 1,500 rubles, or about $50. Admission free, Ivolginsky Datsan , Buryatia. Timbac Caves, Kabayan, Philippines You'll need a guide to see the 500-year-old Timbac Caves mummies near Mount Pulag National Park--the locals don't like their Ibaloi ancestors visited without a proper chaperone. As it happens, the guides are tremendously helpful.

They'll lead you on the two-hour drive (or five-hour hike) to the site, unlock the iron gates that now protect the cave entrances, and pop open the coffin lids so you can see the flaking skin and protruding bones up close. Unlike mummifiers elsewhere in the world, the Ibaloi left the internal organs inside the bodies and merely dried the corpses out with heat and smoke and then bathed them in herbal preservatives. Get additional background and additional mummy sightings back in the village of Kabayan at a branch of the National Museum of the Philippines. Admission to Kabayan Branch of the National Museum of the Philippines about $.50, admission to caves about $2.30, guide from the visitor's center of Kabayan about $30, Kabayan, 011-63/2-527-4192. Vietnam History Museum, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam Step into Room 4 at the Vietnam History Museum, a pagoda-like structure by the Botanical Gardens in Ho Chi Minh City, and glimpse the mummy of Mrs. Tran Thi Hieu, who died in 1869 at around age 60.

Found 17 years ago during a scientific excavation, the body remains in remarkably good shape. Researchers identified her based on a silk monogrammed item of clothing with a woman's name on it, which was found next to the corpse. Mrs. Tran is now housed underneath glass and wearing traditional Vietnamese burial garments; her rings, bracelets, and other jewelry are displayed in an alcove. Expect to overhear local visitors muttering "Troi oi" (or, "Oh, my!"). Enough said. Admission about $.72, 2 Nguyen Binh Khiem , District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, 011/84-8382-98146. Lenin's Mausoleum, Red Square, Moscow, Russia Every 18 months, the body of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (known worldwide as Lenin) is re-coated in paraffin, then re-dressed in a dark, Swiss-made suit, his eyes and lips left carefully sewn shut.

His mausoleum on Red Square--once one of the most visited mausoleums in the world--is a stark pyramid of red, gray, and black stone, designed by the Soviet Union's Immortalization Commission. Ironically, Lenin had never wanted his body to be on display, having instead asked to be buried in a private plot next to his mother's grave in St. Petersburg. But his political successor, Joseph Stalin , wanted to showcase the body like a holy relic, presumably to inspire patriotic feelings in the Russian people. Another irony: This temple to Communism is no longer state run, and it's said that Lenin's skillful embalmers offer their services on the private market, commanding sky-high prices for their handiwork on others. Admission free, Red Square. Jeremy Bentham's Vault, University College, London, United Kingdom He may have died in 1832, but students in a campus building at University College, London, can still see English philosopher and jurist Jeremy Bentham.

Bentham willed his body to a scientist in the hope of being useful to the emerging study of anatomy, and he was so keen on this idea that, for years before his death, he reportedly carried around the glass eyes needed to adorn the head. Upon his death, scientists preserved the body, but they swapped Bentham's head with a wax effigy by a French artist. Since World War II , the school has shown the body in a wooden case topped with plate glass; Bentham is wearing his own clothes and holding his favorite wooden stick. Find him at the main campus hall on Gower Street by entering the South Junction and looking for a hall called the Cloisters; the exhibit is in an alcove opposite from the large windows. Admission free, Gower St ., 011-44/20-7679-2000. SEE MORE POPULAR CONTENT: Video Economist: Jeremy Bentham--Economist Bizarre - YouTube Video Economist: Jeremy Bentham--Economist Bizarre Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. The interactive transcript could not be loaded. Loading...

Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Published on Dec 2, 2013 Notes for Economics 5:20 Fabian Socialists An excerpt from our somewhat esoteric feature-length documentary Wall Street Greed. More info at: TEXT Many people consider economists a gloomy lot. Other less kindly critics view this field as one that attracts the chronically depressed. This may be true. However, we are not bereft of our colorful characters. For example, the nineteenth-century English author, jurist, philosopher, utilitarian economist, and legal and social reformer Jeremy Bentham could not have gone to his reward without some sense of humor. Leaving a large endowment to University College London, Bentham set forth in his will that his remains be wheeled solemnly into the Council Room of the school so that he may take his place at all regular meetings of the College Council. Since his earthly demise in 1832, the meeting minutes have recorded him as "Present, but not voting." When not in attendance at meetings, Bentham resides as an Auto-Icon framed by a wood and glass case positioned in a main lobby of the college.

He intended that his head should be part of his Auto-Icon, which includes his fully dressed and padded skeleton. However, when the time came to preserve Bentham's head for posterity through a method of desiccation practiced by the Maori Tribe of New Zealand, the process went disastrously wrong. It robbed the face of most of its expression and left it decidedly unattractive. The college then substituted a wax head atop the body with Bentham's real head reposing on the floor between his feet, both in his display cabinet and at meetings. Heads Will Roll! Unfortunately, the real head of Jeremy Bentham became a target for a roving band of Economics students from King's College London. These rogues stole the head and held it for ransom. The final thread of tolerance by University College broke when officials discovered the head being used for soccer practice on their front quadrangle lawn. After this incident, the powers that be removed Bentham's noggin and placed it in more secure storage. Today, Bentham's fully attired skeleton, surmounted with the wax head, can be seen as he sits in his lobby cabinet.

Bentham the Polymath However, let us turn to Jeremy Bentham the person as social reformer, utilitarian economist, and philosopher. Bentham is remembered best as a leading advocate for social reform and the reform of the British prison system, which had degenerated into inhumane work houses and hellholes. In searching for a solution, he designed the Panopticon, an institutional building in the round. Though Bentham conceived the basic plan as being equally applicable to hospitals, schools, poorhouses, daycares, and madhouses, he devoted most of his efforts to developing a design for a Panopticon prison, which he described as a new mode of obtaining "power of mind over mind." The design concept consisted of a circular structure with an inspection house at the center. From this vantage point, the staff of the institution could watch the inmates housed around the perimeter without their knowledge of being watched. A real prison based on Bentham's design was never built. However, there are twenty-five prisons internationally that are Panopticon-inspired, including one in Illinois.

Bentham's Master-Mind Group As a leader of the intellectual movement in Europe and America during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Bentham was joined by contemporary polymaths such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe of Germany and John Ruskin of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in England. Furthermore, Bentham allied himself with fellow Unitarians, including Joseph Priestley, Harriet and James Martineau, and economist John Stuart Mill, all of whom were leaders in the movements for factory reform, prison reform, public health, temperance, rights of women, and the abolition of slavery. In accord with their beliefs, Bentham and many of his entourage crossed over into the Fabian Socialist organization 257 060314 London's oddest museum exhibits | CNN Travel Horniman Museum and Gardens , 100 London Road; +44 208 699 1872 3. Jeremy Bentham’s skeleton Bentham was a child prodigy who grew up to become a giant of British political philosophy and social reform at the turn of the 19th century.

He demanded in his will that his body be dissected and preserved as an “ auto-icon .” And so it was -- although he was given a waxy new head after his real one was rendered terrifying by the preservation process. In 1850 the relic was acquired by University College London, the South Cloister of which he imperiously gazes upon to this day. Come for Jeremy Bentham, stay for … the jar of moles (see 8, below). South Cloister, UCL, Gower Street; +44 207 679 0664 4. Ram’s head snuff 'mull' -- on wheels Not content with making a snuff dispenser out of the head of a large ram, someone in 19th century Scotland thought it would be a good idea to put the whole affair on wheels. Presumably if your eyes weren’t watering enough when this satanic sight coasted across the room after dinner, they soon would be after you’d snorted up a good dose of its contents. Skull-shaped vessels ...

more assorted oddities from the Wellcome Collection.The object is part of a vast collection of medical oddities that form the wonderful Wellcome Collection, most of which is sadly off-limits until spring 2014, when it re-opens after a grand expansion program. Come for the ram’s head, stay for … the vicious Chinese torture chair. More at home in a snuff movie, perhaps. Wellcome Collection , 183 Euston Road; +44 207 611 2222. Check website for details of reopening. 5. Digestive and respiratory systems of a sea cucumber You read that right. This unsurprisingly stringy offering is just one of the incredible array of unusual animal and human body parts on display at the intriguing Hunterian Museum within London’s Royal College of Surgeons. Each container of pickled organs is more confronting than the next (there are jars of pickled jaws, too). Behold, the nasal passage of a minke whale, the anus and urethra of a hyena and a wince-inducing display of syphilis-ravaged human penises.

Come for the cucumber, stay for … the labyrinthine internal organs of a “hellbender” salamander. Hunterian Museum , 35-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields; +44 207 869 6560 6. Churchill’s chamber pot During World War II, Britain carved out a subterranean command center where military leaders and politicians could safely mastermind operations as bombs pounded the streets above. These dank corridors and chambers filled with Bakelite telephones and bulky filing cabinets hosted the country’s wartime leader, Winston Churchill, overnight on three occasions. Next stop after Churchill's chamber pot: the Map Room.Lurking beneath a surprisingly tiny bed is Churchill’s chamber pot, provided in the absence of flushing toilets. Given the then prime minister’s predilection for hosting morning meetings while still under the blankets, it must be hoped that someone was employed to empty it promptly. Come for the chamber pot, stay for … The Map Room -- once the buzzing heart of the bunker. Churchill War Rooms , Clive Steps, King Charles Street; +44 207 930 6961 7.

The ‘Elephant Man’s’ skeleton Another skeleton, but this time with a more woeful story than Jeremy Bentham's above. The unfortunate life of Joseph Merrick, a Victorian man whose severe deformities led him to be known as the Elephant Man, has been well documented, not least in the Oscar-winning David Lynch film of 1980. His story remains fascinating, partly for the continuing scientific disagreement on what caused his condition, but also as a disquieting window on attitudes to disfigurement. READ: 15 of the world's weirdest hotels For that last reason, the Royal London Hospital maintains a museum display about the man who became one of its most celebrated patients. The centerpiece is an exact replica of Merrick’s skeleton created by Gentle Giant, a special effects company that has worked on movies such as Hunger Games and Iron Man. The exhibit also features the hat and shroud Merrick was obliged to don in public to avoid shocking those around him. Come for the skeleton, stay for … the alarming medical tools: hemorrhoid clamps, anyone? Royal London Hospital Museum , St. Philip's Church, Newark Street; +44 207 377 7608 8.

Jar of moles The UCL’s Grant Museum of Zoology is home to possibly the oddest thing on display in London. There isn’t much you can say about a glass jar inexplicably rammed with 18 dark-furred and pink-footed moles other than it is truly a thing of bad dreams. Or terrible delicatessens. The jar has, however, earned cult status via a well-followed Twitter account on which it appears to rail against government spending cuts and the insidiousness of stuffed fish. Come for the moles, stay for … the massive anaconda skeleton. Gripping stuff. Grant Museum of Zoology , Rockefeller Building, University College London, 21 University St.; +44203 108 2052

Question: Whose preserved head can be seen in a large glass case at University College London?
Answer: Jeremy Bentham