^ 



[X] 



DISSECTION ON THE EUROPEAN CON- 

 TINENT AND IN ASIATIC COUNTRIES 

 DURING THE MODERN PERIOD-A.D. 



1650 to 1958 



H, 



.uman dissection, as practiced in the European countries dur- 

 ing the modern period, has been characterized by stability and 

 lack of drama and struggle. This probably accounts for the fact 

 that relatively little has been written on the subject during this 

 interval. Anatomizing began there six centuries ago; laws were 

 enacted early which were soon modified and liberalized. The 

 use of executed criminals as the sole source was uniformly elimi- 

 nated. This removed the infamy which has had such a neutraliz- 

 ing effect in respect to obtaining an adequate supply of subjects. 

 The problem on the Continent, in late years, has been related 

 principally to the interest and actions of burial, insurance and 

 church societies which provide funds for interment. 



Outside of Japan, human anatomizing is almost nonexistent 

 in the Asiatic countries about which reports have been made. 

 The following is a review of the main events which have oc- 

 curred in some of the countries of Europe and Asia. 



A. France 



It appears tliat dissection has had a rather successful history 

 in France. There, the National Faculty of Medicine was author- 

 ized to accept all those bodies, which remained unclaimed for 

 twenty-four hours after death, from civil hospitals, prisons and 

 almshouses. As early as 1790, France repealed the law permitting 

 dissection of murderers, which removed one of the main stigmas 

 attached to the practice. Approximately 16 sous were paid to at 

 tendants in the hospitals for each body. This policy was backed 



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