210 HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



furnished from the large seaports in the neighboring states. This 

 meant a considerable transportation problem since the nearest 

 sizeable harbor was about 200 miles distant. It was usual for all 

 medical colleges to have rules forbidding dissection but they 

 weren't necessarily observed; they were made primarily to mislead 

 the public. Dissection material was undoubtedly obtained from 

 nearby graveyards in this case (Waite, '45c). 



Castleton Medical College became involved in the following 

 incident, called the Hubbardton Raid: In 1830, 300 men from 

 neighboring Hubbardton marched on the school because the 

 grave of a woman, in their community, had been found empty. 

 The mob surrounded the building, entered the premises and after 

 a search found a headless body hidden in the wainscoting. During 

 the siege, a student walked through the crowd with the head, 

 wrapped-up and hid it in the hayloft of a neighboring barn. The 

 entire matter was settled without an arrest being made when 

 both parts of the corpse were returned for reburial (Waite, '45a). 



The college offered a summer course in anatomy. In the 

 catalogue, this was written up as follows: "It is especially the 

 design of this institution to offer facilities and means so ample 

 for the acquirement of a thorough knowledge of anatomy that 

 county students shall not be compelled to resort to the cities at 

 an increased pecuniary expenditure and the exposure of health 

 and morals" (Chapin, '51). 



D. The University of Vermont School of Medicine— 

 A.D. 1822 to 1958 



The University of Vermont School of Medicine is one of 

 the oldest in the United States, being founded in 1822. Through- 

 out its history, it has had a chronic and troublesome problem in 

 obtaining anatomical material, particularly in its early days. In 

 1804, the state formulated a law making it a felony to rob graves. 

 Vermont physicians, in 1835, made an unsuccessful attempt to 

 have a suitable law passed but it wasn't until 1870 that judges 

 were permitted to assign the bodies of executed criminals to 

 medical schools. The state led, however, in enacting a mandatory 

 code in 1884 which directed that any body buried at public ex- 

 pense, whether from town or state institution be surrendered for 



