DISSECTION. 



273 



Through the liberality of the Ptolemies, dis- 

 section became a regular part of the study of 

 medicine. Herophilus and Erisistratus here 

 became eminent as the first human anatomists : 

 and tlie latter is reported to have been so zeal- 

 ous in his pursuit that he dissected not only 

 the dead body, but the living as well. Of him 

 Tertullian writes: "He was a butcher, who 

 dissected six hundred men to discover nature, 

 and hated man to learn the structure of his 

 frame. 1 ' Alexandria became the medical cen- 

 ter of the world, and Galen is said to have 

 traveled thither from Pergamus to see a 

 skeleton. With the dark ages, came a decline 

 in the study of medicine. The Mohammedans, 

 into whose hands Alexandria had passed, for- 

 bade dissection, since it was inhibited by the 

 Koran. AbdallatirT was the only exception to 

 this rule, and was obliged to study the bones 

 of the body in cemeteries. The cremation of 

 the corpse in Rome prevented the practice of 

 dissection in that city, and Marius and Galen 

 were content to dissect apes. 



In 1315. Mondini dissected two female sub- 

 jects in the University of Bologna, and dis- 

 sected and demonstrated one in the following 

 year. He was followed by Leonardo da Vinci, 

 Matthew de Gradibus, Achillini, and Gabriel 

 de Zerbis. all of whom dissected the human 

 body, privately and publicly. Jacobus Sylvius 

 taught in Paris in the sixteenth century, dem- 

 onstrating his lectures on the lower animals. 

 The greatest practical anatomist of early mod- 

 ern times, however, was Andrew Vesalius, who 

 freed the medical world from the authority of 

 Galen's ape anatomy, and was the founder of a 

 new school, that which prevails at the present 

 day. His investigations on the human cada- 

 ve a new impetus to the study of anato- 

 my, and it was only the dearth of bodies and 

 the lingering prejudice against' dissection that 

 restrained the enthusiasm of his many follow- 

 ers. Such names as Eustachius, Fallopius, 

 Arantius, Variolus. and Vidius. multiply with 

 the beginnings of the new science. 



Even at this time, when dissection was fre- 

 quently carried on by the teachers of anatomy, 

 it was never practiced by medical students, in 

 the progress of time, however, practical anat- 

 omy gained in favor, and the thousands of stu- 

 dents from all parts of Europe who attended 

 the Italian schools of medical learning, carried 

 their enthusiasm back to their native lands. 

 Public feeling on the subject did not diminish, 

 however, and was wrought still higher by re- 

 peated grave-robberies, especially in England. 

 Recognizing the necessity of laws to govern 

 dissection, Henry VIII, in 1540. granted to the 

 College of Surgeons and Barbers four felons 

 annually for dissection ; and, in 1565, Queen 

 Elizabeth gave the same privilege to the Col- 

 lege of Physicians. These are the first two 

 instances in hi-tory of legislation on this troub- 

 lesome su'nject. General dissection did not 

 flourish yet, and as late as the middle of the 

 eighteenth century, a fine was imposed for dis- 

 VOL. XXVIH. 18 A 



secting outside of Barber- Surgeon's Hall. Will- 

 iam Hunter was the first to overstep these lim- 

 its, and, following his example, hundreds of 

 men in the profes.-ion had their private dis- 

 secting-rooms In 17-VJ. George II decreed 

 that all murderers executed in London and 

 Westminster should be delivered to the medi- 

 cal schools. Executions were not numerous 

 enough to supply the needs of the colleges, and 

 a class of men arose, known as resurrection- 

 ists, who rifled the grave- yards, and who mul- 

 tiplied so rapidly that in 1828 there were over 

 one hundred regular resurrectionists in Lon- 

 don. The evil grew so monstrous that in 1829 

 Parliament appointed a committee to frame a 

 law that would remedy existing troubles and 

 provide an adequate supply for the medical 

 schools. This committee called in as wit 

 most of the eminent anatomists of the United 

 Kingdom, and the testimony of Sir Astley 

 Ccoper is interesting for its incidental state- 

 ment of the value of dissection: ''Without 

 dissection there can be no anatomy, and anato- 

 my is our polar star ; for without anatomy a 

 surgeon can do nothing, certainly nothing 

 well. ... I would not remain in a room with 

 a man who attempted to perform an operation 

 in surgery who was unacquainted with anat- 

 omy ; he can not mangle the living if he has 

 not operated on the dead." The committee 

 recommended that "all persons throughout 

 the kingdom, of every rank and degree, who 

 die without kindred or friends, or who are 

 unclaimed by kindred or friends within a cer- 

 tain period, be appropriated to dissection, the 

 body after dissection being buried with funeral 

 rites.'' Three years later the Warburton 

 anatomy act was passed, which practically 

 embodies these suggestions, and which gov- 

 erns the disposition of the unclaimed dead in 

 the United Kingdom at the present day. As a 

 preamble the bill has the following paragraph: 



Whereas, A knowledge of the causes of diseases, 

 and methods for treating and curing them, can not be 

 acquired without anatomical examination ; and where- 

 at, crimes are committed to secure bodies, which are 

 not numerous enough, for the prevention of such 

 crimes and for the protection of the stiidv of anatomy 

 it shall be legal for the Secretary of State and the 

 Cliief Secretary of Ireland to grant a license to prac- 

 tice anatomy to any professor or teacher of anatomy, 

 medicine, or surgery. 



Inspectors of schools of anatomy are provided 

 for, whose duties consist in keeping as full re- 

 turns as possible of subjects dissected, and who 

 are required to see that the law is rigidly en- 

 forced. Executed murderers are exempt from 

 dissection under this act. According to a law 

 passed by Parliament in 1871. a body must be 

 interred within two months after it has been 

 secured, except when it is obtained in October, 

 when six months are allowed. 



In the United States, the first law on the 

 subject of dissection was passed by Xew York 

 State in 1789. A more comprehensive law 

 was enacted in 1854, which, with its various 

 amendments, stands to-day as follows: 



