202 



HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



"T," on the other hand, did not fare so well. The exertions 

 made in the running from his pursuers, together with the strenu-j 

 ous efforts in freeing himself from his captors, precipitated 

 hemorrhage from his lungs. Although a stout and well-forme< 

 man, he had a recurrence of the complaint, followed by cough, 

 tuberculosis and eventually a premature death. Warren state( 

 that he was a man of elevated character, thought his passing w< 

 a loss to society and that he fell a victim of the narrow-minde( 

 prejudices existing at the time. Further, he wondered if th< 

 masses had not reverted to primitive times of superstition am 

 witchcraft. 



John C. Warren cited the case of another pupil of his wh< 

 had a propensity for procuring subjects and liked to work alonej 

 He was picked up by the police while in the South Burial 

 Ground, during the late evening, looking for the grave which h< 

 had marked during the day. Taken to the station, he was releasee 

 on the condition that he appear at the courthouse the following 

 morning. When the session convened, he listened quietly to his 

 accuser's charge of intent to body snatch. Then, he broke out int( 

 a tirade, accusing them of conspiracy to extort money, of at- 

 tempting to ruin his reputation and threatening them with action. 

 The watchmen were astonished by this attack and became meek, 

 In analyzing the situation, the judge could not find an act ol 

 illegality and so discharged him. This particular student eventui 

 ally obtained his medical degree and settled in Mexico City^ 

 where he established a practice (Warren, 1860). 



Outside of these difficulties, both major and minor, Johi 

 C. Warren highly enjoyed dissecting and making anatomic* 

 preparations for demonstrations for himself, his students an< 

 any others of the profession who might be interested. It becam< 

 his primary occupation and his chief pleasure; he regarded it 

 an agreeable relaxation from his professional pursuits and in on< 

 sense, his daily meat and drink. The practice held more chai 

 for him than games, plays or parties. 



It is interesting that John C. Warren was one of the firs! 

 in the United States to utilize the embalming method for th< 

 preservation of cadavers. He first used a combination of rumj 

 arsenic and corrosive sublimate. By this method, he was abl( 



