subjects which were necessary to supply the schools of anatomy. The
consequence was, that medicine and surgery suddenly assumed new
life--started from the torpor in which they had been spell-bound--and
made an immediate, and rapid, and brilliant progress. The new seminaries
constantly sent into the world men of the most splendid abilities, at
once demonstrating the excellence of the schools in which they were
educated, and rendering them illustrious. Pupils flocked to them from
all quarters of the globe, and they essentially contributed to that
advancement of science which the present age has witnessed. In the 19th
century the good people of Scotland, that intelligent, that cool and
calculating, that most reasonable and thinking people, have thought
proper to return to the worst feeling and the worst conduct of the
darkest periods of antiquity. There is at present no offence whatever
which seems to have such power to heat and to exalt into a kind of
torrent the blood which usually flows so calmly and sluggishly in the
veins of a Scotchman. The people of 1823 (to compare great things with
small) emulate the spirit of those of their forefathers who “_were out
in the forty-five_;” the object, to be sure, is somewhat different, but
it is amusing to see the intensity and seriousness of the excitement.
About twelve months ago an honest farmer of the name of Scott, who
resides at Linlithgow, apprehended a poor wight who was pursuing his
vocation, we presume, in the church-yard of that place; and this service
appeared so meritorious to the people in his neighbourhood, that they
absolutely presented him with a piece of plate. In the winter sessions
of 1822-3, a body was discovered on its way to the lecture-room of an
anatomist in Glasgow, and, in spite of the exertions of the police,
aided by those of the military, this gentleman’s premises and their
contents, which were valuable, were entirely destroyed by the mob. For
some time after this achievement, it was necessary to station a military
guard at the houses of all the medical professors in that city. In the
spring circuit of the justiciary court last year at Stirling, while the
judges were proceeding to the court, the procession was assaulted with
missiles; several persons were injured, and it was necessary to call in
the protection of a military force. The object of the mob was, to
inflict summary punishment on a man who was about to be tried for the
exhumation of a body. We happen to know that the most disgraceful
proceedings were some time ago instituted in that town against a young
gentleman of respectable family and connections, who was in fact
expatriated, and whose prospects in life were entirely changed, if not
ruined, because he had too much honour to implicate his instructors in a
transaction which would have put them to inconvenience, and in which
they had engaged from a desire faithfully to discharge their duty to
their pupils. Within the last five years three men were lodged in the
county gaol at Haddington, charged with a trespass in the church-yard of
that town. So enraged was the mob against them, that an attempt was made
to force the gaol in order to get at them. On their way to the court the
men were again attacked, forced from the carriage, and severely maimed.
After examination they were admitted to bail; but, when set at liberty,
they were assailed with more violence than ever, and were nearly killed.
On the 29th of June, 1823, being Sunday, a most extraordinary outrage
was perpetrated in the streets of Edinburgh. A coach containing an empty
coffin and two men, was observed proceeding along the south bridge. The
people suspecting that it was intended to convey a body taken from some
church-yard, seized the coach. It was with difficulty that the police
protected the men from the assaults of the populace: the coach they had
no power to preserve. The horses were taken from it, and together with
the coffin, after having been trundled a mile and a half through the
streets of the city, it was deliberately projected over the steep side
of the mound, and smashed into a thousand pieces. The people following
it to the bottom, kindled a fire with its fragments, and surrounded it
like the savages in Robinson Crusoe, till it was entirely consumed. In
this case there was no foundation for their suspicions. The coffin was
intended to have conveyed to his house in Edinburgh the body of a
physician who that morning had died in a cottage in the neighbourhood. A
similar assault was some time ago made on two American gentlemen, who
went to visit the Abbey of Linlithgow after nightfall. The churchyards
of the “gude Scots” are now strictly guarded by men and dogs;
watch-towers are erected within the grounds, and _mort-safes_ as they
are called, that is to say, strong iron frames are deposited in the
ground over the graves. These people sometimes declare that they will
put an end to anatomy, and certainly they are succeeding in the
accomplishment of this menace as rapidly as they can well desire. The
average number of medical students in Edinburgh is 700 each session. For
several years past the difficulty of procuring subjects in that place
has been so great, that out of all that number, not more than 150 or 200
have ever attempted to dissect; and even these have latterly been so
opposed in their endeavours to prosecute their studies that many of them
have left the place in disgust. We have been informed by a friend, that
he alone was personally acquainted with twenty individuals who retired
from it at the beginning of last session, and who went to pursue their
studies at Dublin, and we know that vast numbers followed their example
at the end of the winter course. The medical school at Edinburgh, in
fact, is now subsisting entirely on its past reputation; in the course
of a few years it will certainly be at an end, unless the system be
changed. Let those who have the prosperity of the university at heart,
and who have the power to protect it, consider this before it be too
late: they may be assured it is no idle prediction; for we give them
notice that it is at this moment the universal opinion and the current
language of every well-informed medical man in England.
An excellent system of anatomical plates, which has been well received
by the profession, has lately been published by Mr. Lizars, a lecturer
on anatomy and physiology, in Edinburgh. This gentleman states that he
has been induced to undertake the work, in order to obviate the most
fatal consequences to the public; as far, at least, as a reference to
art, instead of nature is capable of obviating those consequences. He
affirms, that the difficulty of obtaining instruction from nature has
risen to such a pitch, owing to the extraordinary severity exercised by
the legal authorities of the kingdom against persons employed in
procuring subjects for dissection, as to threaten the ultimate
destruction of medical and anatomical science. In his preface to the
second part of his work, he apologizes to his readers for dividing one
portion of it from another, with which it ought to have been connected;
but states that he has been compelled to do so from the prejudices of
the place, which prevented him for upwards of five months, from
procuring a subject from which he might make his drawings. “In place of
living,” he says, “in a civilized and enlightened period, we appear as
if we had been thrown back some centuries into the dark ages of
ignorance, bigotry, and superstition. Prejudices, worthy only of the
multitude, have been conjured up and appealed to, in order to call forth
popular indignation against those whose business it is to exhibit
demonstratively the structure of the human body, and the functions of
its different organs. The public journals, from a vicious propensity to
pander to the vulgar appetite for excitement, have raked up and
industriously circulated stories of the exhumation of dead bodies,
tending to exasperate and inflame the passions of the mob; and persons,
who, by their own showing, are friendly to the interests of science,
have, in the excess of their zeal that bodies should remain undisturbed
in their progress to decomposition, laboured to destroy in this country,
that art, whose province it is, to free living bodies from the
consequences inseparable from accident and disease. And, which is worst
of all, the prejudices of the multitude have been confirmed and rendered
inveterate by the proceedings in our courts of justice, which have
visited with the punishment due only to felons, the unhappy persons
necessarily employed in the present state of the law, in procuring
subjects for the dissecting-room.”
He then goes on to state that, until anatomy be publicly sanctioned in
Edinburgh, the school of medicine there can never flourish; that, upon
the present system, young men obtain a degree or a diploma after a year
or two of grinding, that is, of learning by rote the answers to the
questions which the examiners are in the habit of putting to the
candidates; that ignorant of the very elements of their profession
numbers of persons thus educated annually go to the East and West
Indies, and to the army and navy, where they have the charge of hundreds
of their suffering fellow creatures, to whom they are in fact the
instruments of cruelty and murder. In the preface to the 4th Part, he
adds, that when Part II. was published, in the early part of the
session, he took occasion to express his sorrow for the degraded state
of his profession, and the threatened ruin of the Medical School of his
native place, owing to the scarcity of subjects: that, for doing this,
he has incurred considerable censure; that he regrets that he has yet
found no reason to alter his opinion, for the winter session is now
near its conclusion, and, he candidly declares, that such has been the
scarcity of material, that _no teacher of anatomy or surgery has been
able either to follow the regular plan of his course, or to do his duty
to his pupils_; the consequence of which has been, that many of the
students have left the school in disgust, and gone either to Dublin or
Paris; while a still greater number, deprived of the means of
dissecting, have contented themselves with lectures or theories, and
with grinding; and entered on the practice of their profession ignorant
of its fundamental principles.
Much of this opposition on the part of the people arises from the
present mode of procuring subjects. Fortunately, there is in Great
Britain no custom, no superstition, no law, and we may add, no prejudice
against anatomy itself. There is even a general conviction of its
necessity; there may be a feeling that it is a repulsive employment, but
it is commonly acknowledged that it must not be neglected. The
opposition which is made, is made not against anatomy, but against the
practice of exhumation: and this is a practice which ought to be
opposed. It is in the highest degree revolting; it would be disgraceful
to a horde of savages; every feeling of the human heart rises up against
it: so long as no other means of procuring bodies for dissection are
provided, it must be tolerated; but, in itself, it is alike odious to
the ignorant and the enlightened, to the most uncultivated and the most
refined.
But the capital objection to this practice is, that it necessarily
creates a crime, and educates a race of criminals. Exhumation is
forbidden by the law. It is, indeed, prohibited by no statute, either in
England or in Scotland: in both it is an offence punishable at common
law. There is a statute of James the First, which makes it felony to
steal a dead body for the purpose of witchcraft; there is none against
taking a body for the purpose of dissection. In the case of the King
against Lynn (1788), the Court decided that the body being taken for the
latter purpose, did not make it less an indictable offence; and that it
is without doubt cognizable in a criminal court, because it is an act
“highly indecent; at the bare idea of which nature revolts.” It is
punishable, therefore, by fine or imprisonment, or both: in Scotland it
is also punishable by whipping, and even by transportation.
We expected better things of America. We cannot express our astonishment
and indignation, when we found that the state of New York has actually
made it felony to remove a dead body from the place of sepulture for the
purpose of dissection, without providing in any other mode for the
schools of anatomy. This is worse than any thing that exists in any
other part of the world. If these pages should meet the eye of any of
our American brethren, we intreat them to read with attention, the facts
which have been stated in the former part of this pamphlet, and to
consider with seriousness the mischief they are doing. It will not be
believed in England, that such scenes can have been witnessed in
America, as were actually exhibited there scarcely a month ago. To
satisfy our readers, however, that we do not misrepresent the state of
things in that country, we transcribe the following accounts from _The
New York Evening Post_, of _May_ 20th:--“At the late Court of Sessions,
Solomon Parmeli was indicted for a misdemeanor, in entering Potter’s
Field, and removing the covers of two coffins deposited in a pit, and
covered partly with earth. _The statute of this state making it a
felony, to dig up or remove a dead human body with intent to dissect
it_, did not embrace this case; because the prisoner had not dug up or
removed the body. Mr. Schureman, the present keeper of Potter’s Field,
suspected that some person had entered it for the purpose of removing
the dead; and, after sending for two watchmen, and calling his faithful
dog, he went to ascertain the fact. On arriving at the grave, he found
his suspicion confirmed; and requested the person concealed in the pit,
to come out and show himself: no answer being given, Mr. Schureman sent
his dog into the pit, and in the twinkling of an eye a tall stout fellow
made his appearance, and took to his heels across the field. The night
being dark, he might have effected his escape had it not been for the
sagacity and courage of the dog, who pursued him for some distance; but
at last came up with him, seized and held him fast until the arrival of
Mr. Schureman and the watchmen who secured him. The jury convicted the
prisoner, and the Court sentenced him to six months’ imprisonment in the
Penitentiary. _The young gentlemen attending the Medical School of this
city will take warning by this man’s fate. They may rest assured, that
the keeper of Potter’s Field will do his duty, and public justice will
he executed on any man, whatever may be his condition in life, who is
found violating the law, and the decency of christian burial!_” The same
paper gives the following account of a transaction, which took place at
Hartford, in Connecticut, May 17. “Yesterday morning, two ladies were
taking a walk in the South burying ground, when they discovered a
tape-string, and a piece of cloth, which upon examination was found to
be the piece that was laced upon Miss Jane Benton’s face, who came to
her death by drowning, and was buried a few days since. The ladies then
went to the grave, and found that it had been disturbed--that she was
taken out of her coffin, and a rope around her neck. The circumstance
has produced great excitement in the public mind; and every one is on
the alert to discover the perpetrators of this unfeeling, brutal act.
_The citizens turned out in a body yesterday, and interred the corpse
again._”
These scenes are highly disgraceful, and disgraceful to all, though not
_alike_ to all, parties. We do not blame the Americans for abolishing
the practice of exhumation; but we blame them for stopping there. We
maintain, that it is both absurd and criminal, to make this practice
felony, without providing in some other method for the cultivation of
anatomy.
In Great Britain, the law against the practice of exhumation is not
allowed to slumber. There may be other cases which have not come to our
knowledge; but we have ascertained that there have been 14 convictions
for England alone during the last year. The punishments inflicted have
been imprisonment for various periods, with fines of different sums. The
fines in general are heavy, considering the poverty of the offenders.
Several persons are, at this moment, suffering these penalties; among
others, there is now in the gaol of St. Albans, a man who was sentenced
for this offence to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of £.20. The
period of his confinement has expired some time; but he still remains in
prison, on account of his inability to pay the fine. Since the passing
of the new Vagrant Act, it has been the common practice to commit these
offenders to hard labour for various periods. Very lately, two men,
convicted of this offence, were sent to the Tread-Mill, in Cold Bath
Fields; one of whom died in one month after his commitment. It is an
error to suppose that these punishments operate to prevent exhumation;
their only effect is to raise the price of subjects: a little reflection
will show that they can have no other operation. At present, exhumation
is the only method by which subjects for dissection can be procured; but
subjects for this purpose must be procured; and be the difficulties what
they may, will be procured: diseases will occur, operations must be
performed, medical men must be educated, anatomy must be studied,
dissections must go on. Unless some other means for affording a supply
be adopted; whatever be the law or the popular feeling, neither
magistrates, nor judges, nor juries, will, or can put an entire stop to
the practice. It is one which, from the absolute necessity of the case,
must be allowed. What is the consequence? So long as the practice of
exhumation continues, a race of men must be trained up to violate the
law. These men must go out in company for the purpose of nightly
plunder, and plunder of the most odious kind, tending in a peculiar and
most alarming measure to brutify the mind, and to eradicate every
feeling and sentiment worthy of a man. This employment becomes a school
in which men are trained for the commission of the most daring and
inhuman crimes. Its operation is similar, but much worse than the
nightly banding to violate the game laws, because there is something in
the violation of the grave, which tends still more to degrade the
character and to harden the heart. This offence is connived at, nay, it
is rewarded; these men are absolutely paid to violate the law; and paid
by men of reputation and influence in society. The transition is but too
easy to the commission of other offences in the hope of similar
connivance, if not of similar reward.
It is an odious thing that the teachers of anatomy should be brought
into contact with such men: that they should be obliged to employ them,
and that they should even be in their power; which they are to such a
degree, that they are obliged to bear with the wantonness of their
tyranny and insult. All the clamour against these men, all the
punishment inflicted on them, only operate to raise the premium on the
repetition of their offence. This premium the teachers of anatomy are
obliged to pay, which these men perfectly understand, who do not at all
dislike the opposition which is made to their vocation. It gives them no
unreasonable pretext for exorbitancy in their demands. In general they
are men of infamous character; some of them are thieves, others are the
companions and abettors of thieves. Almost all of them are extremely
destitute. When apprehended for the offence in question, the teachers of
anatomy are obliged to pay the expenses of the trial, and to support
their families while they are in prison; whence the idea of immunity is
associated, in these men’s minds, with the violation of the law, and
when they do happen to incur its penalties, they practically find that
they and their families are provided for, and this provision comes to
them in the shape of a reward for the commission of their offence. The
operation of such a system on the minds of the individuals themselves is
exceedingly pernicious, and is not a little dangerous to the community.
Moreover, by the method of exhumation, the supply after all is scanty;
it is never adequate to the wants of the schools; it is of necessity
precarious, and it sometimes fails altogether for several months. But it
is of the utmost importance that it should be abundant, regular, and
cheap. The number of young men who come annually to London for the
purpose of studying medicine and surgery, may be about a thousand. Their
expenses are necessarily very considerable while in town; they have
already paid a large sum for their apprenticeship in the country; the
circumstances of country practitioners, in general, can but ill afford
protracted expenses for their sons in London; few of them stay a month
longer than the time prescribed by the College of Surgeons. But the
short period they spend in London is the only time they have for
acquiring the knowledge of their profession. If they mis-spend these
precious hours, or if the means of employing them properly be denied
them, they must necessarily remain ignorant for life. After they leave
London they have no means of dissecting. We have seen that it is by
dissecting alone, that they can make themselves acquainted even with the
principles of their art; that without it they cannot so much as avail
themselves of the opportunities of improvement, which experience itself
may offer, nor, without the highest temerity, perform a single
operation. We have seen that occasions suddenly occur, which require
the prompt performance of important and difficult operations; we have
seen that, unless such operations are performed immediately, and with
the utmost skill, life is inevitably lost. In many such cases there is
no time to send for other assistance. If a country practitioner (and
most of these young men go to the country) be not himself capable of
doing what is proper to be done, the death of the patient is certain. We
put it to the reader to imagine what the feelings of an ingenuous young
man must be, who is aware of what he ought to do, but who is conscious
that his knowledge is not sufficient to authorise him to attempt to
perform it, and who sees his patient die before him, when he knows that
he might be saved and that it would have been in his own power to save
him, had he been properly educated. We put it to the reader to conceive
what his own sensations would be, were an ignorant surgeon, with a
rashness more fatal than the criminal modesty of the former, to
undertake an important operation. Suppose it were a tumour, which turned
out to be an aneurism; suppose it were a hernia, in operating on which
the epigastric artery were divided, or the intestine itself wounded;
suppose it were his mother, his wife, his sister, his child, whom he
thus saw perish before his eyes, what would the reader then think of the
prejudice which withholds from the surgeon that information without
which the practice of his profession is murder?