DISSECTION DURING THE MODERN PERIOD 107 



by the schools o£ heaUh. To violate a sepulchre, meant three to 

 twelve months imprisonment and a 60 to 200 franc fine (Bailey, 

 1896; Guttmacher, '35; Harrington, '05; Mackenzie, 1824). 



It was the chief of the anatomy department at the Faculty of 

 Paris who was required to send carriages to pick up and trans- 

 port the unclaimed bodies; they were sewed up in mats and no 

 public excitement existed over this arrangement. Before pathology 

 began to claim a share of subjects for autopsy purposes, the medi- 

 cal school received as many as 2,000 per year, afterwards 1,000 

 to 1,200. Theatres of anatomy existed in all the great hospitals 

 and a license was needed to conduct classes. The policy of per- 

 mitting students to dissect started early in France; each student 

 was charged 5 to 10 francs per cadaver. After anatomizing, the 

 bodies were again wrapped in mats or cloths, carried to the local 

 cemetery where they were buried; the cost for this was about 12 

 sous. With this system, exhumation was not a problem; it was 

 learned that the French people did not oppose dissection although 

 some may have had an aversion to it. On the whole, there was 

 a deep conviction of its utility (Abernethy, 1825; Harrington, '05). 



The French, through Petit, Lieutard and Desault in the 

 1750's, gave a new orientation to anatomy by advocating the prac- 

 tice of dissecting from the surface of the cadaver to the depths 

 beneath, until bone was reached. Eventually many English stu- 

 dents were attracted to Paris where they found that every aid was 

 given to promote anatomical science (Doolin, '51). 



In 1834, Astley Cooper made a tour of France and described 

 visiting anatomical departments. He attended one having four 

 large rooms, two of which had numerous bodies in them. Three 

 and one-half to eight francs were charged the students who dis- 

 sected, depending upon whether the subject had been opened 

 or not. A large garden was accessible where they could either sit 

 and relax or stroll about for a change. The pupils worked in 

 groups of three on a cadaver: one reading, one dissecting and one 

 drawing (Cooper, 1843). 



Oliver Wendell Holmes went to Paris to study medicine 

 IHpbout the same time and found that the students were free to 

 doubt and dispute what they were taught. He personally paid 50 

 sous, about one-third the price of a chicken dinner for a cadaver; 



I 



