The Odditorium

[Bart Ell]

A little girl looks at a pool of ducklings while receiving tests

[Bart Ell]

These baby cages were used in apartments in the 1930s to make sure the child got enough fresh air and sunlight.

[Bart Ell]

Snake wine is an alcoholic beverage produced by infusing whole snakes in rice wine or grain alcohol. The drink was first recorded to have been consumed in China during the Western Zhou dynasty and considered an important curative and believed to reinvigorate a person according to Traditional Chinese medicine. It can be found in China, Vietnam and throughout Southeast Asia.

The snakes, preferably venomous ones, are not usually preserved for their meat but to have their "essence" and snake venom dissolved in the liquor. However, the snake venom is denatured by the ethanol; its proteins are unfolded and therefore inactive.