john barclay (1758–1826) had established an anatomy school in his house in 10 surgeons' square, next to the college of surgeons. this was a great success and established his reputation as one of the most renowned anatomy teachers in europe. his collection of some 2,500 specimens was donated to the museum, but by the 1950s most of this had been donated to other collections, leaving only an elephant skull, three human skeletons and a few other specimens.