Beginning in the early to mid-19th century, medical photography became an invaluable new form of communication between physicians and their professional colleagues and students to convey facts about patients and disease. An outstanding archive of such medical photography, dating from the 1850s to the 1940s, resides in the collection of the Mütter Museum, one of the last and best known medical museums from the 19th century, with an annual visitorship exceeding 80,000.