Amongst the strange institutions which have been started within the
last few years is that of ‘The Society for Mutual Autopsy,’ which
commenced its existence in Paris in the year 1876. No balloting or any
elaborate system is necessary to become a member. A proper introduction
with a fee of five francs suffices, and an engagement to will your body
to the Society for the purpose of dissection after death. In order to
prevent the friends and relatives of the dead from frustrating the
intentions of the testator, by disposing of the corpse in the usual
manner, a proper legal form has been drawn up and inscribed in the
Rules. This Society, which consists of about two hundred members, a
dozen of whom are ladies, contains amongst its members many men eminent
in the medical world in Paris, as well as distinguished in science
and art. The theory of the founders is, that in consequence of the
difficulty of obtaining for post-mortem examinations any other subjects
but those of the lowest classes, whose faculties are naturally warped
or otherwise undeveloped, much benefit must accrue to science by an
opportunity being given for the dissection of persons of cultivated
understanding, and particularly by making observations on the brain.
Between twenty and thirty of the members of this Society generally
dine together once a month at a restaurant near the Halles, where they
pass a congenial evening, although there is a touch of ghastliness in
the gathering. When one of their community is missing at the banquet,
instead of lamenting over his departure, every one listens with rapt
interest to the surgeon’s explanation of the post-mortem examination he
has made.