HUMAN DISSECTION IN ENGLAND-A.D, 1510 to 1958 151 



Not all the bodies unearthed by the resurrectionists around 

 the London area were sold to anatomists within the city. Some 

 were shipped to other parts of the United Kingdom. In 1826, 

 three casks were found on Georges' Dock, Liverpool, labeled "Bit- 

 ter Salts," which were consigned for shipment to Edinburgh. 

 They remained there overnight and the following morning, the 

 stench attracted attention. The police who were notified, made 

 an investigation and found eleven dead bodies contained therein, 

 salted and pickled. The source of these was traced to the rear 

 of the home of a Reverend McGowan. Four other similar barrels 

 filled with subjects were found; there was additional incriminating 

 evidence. No marks of violence were found on any. When the 

 minister was questioned by the mayor of the city, he was sur- 

 prised; he defended himself by saying that he had rented the 

 cellar to a man named Henderson who was supposed to be an oil 

 trader and that he was totally unaware of the true nature of the 

 situation. The specimens were buried in the parish cemetery, as 

 they were found, and the resurrectionists responsible were never 

 apprehended. 



There were certain outstanding members of the medical pro- 

 fession who had been trying to impress the government for an 

 alteration of the law, which they considered weak: such men as 

 John Abernethy, Charles Bell, Everard and Benjamin Home, Ben- 

 jamin Brodie and Astley Cooper. Largely through their efforts, 

 they interested such distinguished individuals as Henry War- 

 burton, a member of the House of Commons, and Thomas Wak- 

 ley, editor and founder of Lancet. The influence of this group 

 was largely responsible for the formation of a select committee 

 in the House of Commons in 1828 to make inquiries into the 

 possibility of legalizing dissection. 



Surgeons, anatomists, police and resurrectionists testified at 

 this preliminary session. The Burke and Hare murders in Edin- 

 burgh (cf. Chapter XIV) prompted Mr. Warburton to intro- 

 duce his Anatomy Bill in Parliament; it passed Commons but not 

 the House of Lords. It contained some of the following stipu- 

 lations: all bodies were required to be buried after use, but it 

 contained no provisions for Christian rites nor was it clear on the 

 licensing of schools. Resurrectionists who were apprehended 



