140 HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



move. Filthy linen dissecting gowns that never reached the laun- 

 dry were the accepted apparel worn (Guttmacher, '35). 



Courses were presented twice yearly, beginning the first of 

 October and January 20th. A 10 guinea fee was paid by the stu- 

 dent for the privilege of dissecting and another 10 for attendance 

 at lectures. In the latter, discourses were given on general anatomy, 

 the bones and the head (Guttmacher, '35). 



In order for a hospital or other recipients to obtain the body 

 of an executed criminal about the year of 1748, it was necessary 

 to meet the criteria prescribed by law. A hanging, the common 

 method of execution, was ordinarily scheduled for Monday morn- 

 ing at eight o'clock and the cut-down at nine. In London, the lat- 

 ter was performed by a man named Calcraft, alias Jack Ketch. 

 When death was announced, the body was placed on a large 

 cart with collapsible sides and taken to 33 Hosier Lane, in West 

 Smithfield. It was accompanied by the City Marshall, wearing a 

 typical cocked hat and ornate habiliments. At this address, the 

 president of the College, members of the court and sometimes spe- 

 cial visitors were assembled. The clothes and fatal rope were 

 removed from the subject. The stout cord, used for the execu- 

 tion, was kept; it was worth money because it could be exhibited 

 to the morbidly curious at the public houses for so much a view. 

 It was required that the City Marshall be in attendance and prop- 

 erly witness the anatomizing. He made the ceremony as brief as 

 possible; a superficial incision in the chest sufficed; following this, 

 he beat a hasty retreat, riding his gaily decorated charger to re- 

 port to his superiors that the procedure was properly discharged 

 according to statute. While doing this, the opening in the ca- 

 daver at 33 Hosier Lane, was stitched; the corpse was then re- 

 moved by an old museum attendant, named Pearson, in a liglit 

 cart to the hospital to which it was allotted (Guttmacher, '35). 



Although a number of private anatomical institutions were 

 opened during the early half of the 18th Century, it was the de- 

 velopment of a school in London by William Hunter (1718-1783) 

 which was most noteworthy. This surgeon-anatomist was instru- 

 mental in inaugurating dissection by the students in the ruitcd 

 Kingdom. He had visited Paris to study the French methods and 

 had noticed that parts of cadavers were dissected by class mnu- 



