182 HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



was founded. Probably more has been written about New England 

 than any of the others. 



1. New England 



a. Harvard University— 1782. 



b. Dartmouth College— 1797. 



c. University of Vermont— 1822. 



2. Middle Atlantic 



a. University of Pennsylvania— 1765. 



b. Columbia University— 1767. 



3. South Atlantic 



a. University of Maryland— 1807. 



b. University of Virginia— 1827. 



c. Johns Hopkins University— 1893. 



4. East North Central 



a. University of Michigan— 1850. 



b. Ohio State University— 1907. 



There are also data available on medical schools which had 

 a transient existence and some attention will be given to them. 



The exact status of human dissection in colonial times is 

 difficult to determine. Records of such events are rare because 

 there were no medical colleges or journals which existed during 

 the period. The only other source of communication was by means 

 of a few newspapers, which largely excluded such items, because of 

 public antipathy to the procedure. There was probably more 

 anatomizing going on than can be revealed. This was generally 

 true of conditions elsewhere. 



Since early New England was governed by the common and 

 statutory laws of England, there was nothing which provided anv 

 penalty for the exhumation of a human body. Removal of a gar 

 ment or other apparel, however, constituted a felony under tin 

 underwritten law. A dead human subject, in itself, was and is 

 still not legally regarded as property. Because of this situation, it 

 became necessary for colonial assemblies to enact specific supple 

 mentary statutes to try and prevent body snatching. 



One of the first legal codes established was that known as 

 "The Body of Liberties," which was adopted in Massachusetts in 



