114 HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



H. Other Asiatic Countries 



1. The Philippine Islands 



One medical school exists in the Philippines which provides 

 instruction over a six-year interval. Modern anatomy is taught 

 there as in the United States. The Filipinos make good students, 

 especially when under the direction of foreign instructors 

 (Clark, '13). 



2. Indochina 



One French medical school held classes in Indochina, in 

 1913, and served of little practical value. The courses were abbre- 

 viated and were given as a means to an end; little effort was made 

 toward an evolution to higher education. The institution served 

 more as a training groimd for minor technicians than for medical 

 students (Clark, '13). 



3. Iran 



According to Garrison ('33), who visited that country, onlyj 

 one medical school existed, which was located at Teheran. Teach- 

 ing was highly unsatisfactory according to modern standards. Dis-j 

 section was totally neglected due to its forbiddance by Moham-| 

 medan law. Because of fear of polluting earth and "water, bodies o£| 

 the dead were left exposed on a "Tower of Silence," to be eaten! 

 by birds. Cremation and burial were considered to be religious] 

 violations of the greatest magnitude. Contact with the dead w; 

 a great sin, resulting in contamination which required purifi-j 

 cation by washing with the urine of cattle. The people visualizec 

 a spirit of putrefaction, in the form of a plaguing gadfly, ema- 

 nating from a cadaver. 



