112 HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



four dissecting-rooms. To partially neutralize the crowding, the 

 medical school administration decided to limit the number of en- 

 tering pupils to 1,000. Preference was given to local applicants 

 biu a few were selected from the Austrian dominions (Corre- 

 spondence, '12). 



Later, in the same year, the government relented and granted 

 enough money to build two anatomical laboratories, large enough 

 to permit 250 additional students to dissect. When completed, it 

 was found that twice as many pupils applied as could be accepted. 

 The number of bodies were reported as diminishing between 

 1900 and 1910 whereas the students more than doubled. 



By 1930, the problem apparently, had not improved. Enough 

 cadavers were on hand to keep the institute running for two years 

 provided the number of freshmen was restricted to 250 native Aus- 

 trians. At that time, the law provided that unclaimed bodies dying 

 in state hospitals could be utilized for dissection. Suicides, which 

 were partially anatomized at the Forensic Institute, were turned 

 over to the anatomical departments. Sale of a body during life 

 or the willing of one was allowed but rarely done. 



Very little factualdata exist on other countries in Europe, 

 such as Switzerland and Portugal. Spain does not have a spectacu- 

 lar record in human dissection because the Spanish government 

 was reluctant to authorize the practice. It actually didn't get 

 under way until the beginning of the 19th Century (Harris, '19; 

 Hume, '34). 



F. China 



In China, the medical profession was long looked upon as 

 a fourth- or fifth-rate occupation. The populace regarded sickness 

 as a visitation of god and tended to be passive about it. Human 

 dissection was contrary to their ideas of future life and was gener- 

 ally considered with horror. Of all the branches of western cul- 

 ture, anatomy and pathology may be the last to enter China 

 enough to establish a strong foothold. In 1913, dissection of a 

 Chinaman, especially by a foreigner, was sufficient ground for a 

 first-class riot (Clark, '13; Cowdry, '20a). 



