HUMAN DISSECTION IN THE MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES 217 



structing his pupils in the art of dissection (Hartwell, 1881a; 

 Middleton, '32; Packard, '33). 



The academic life of Shippen was at first intimately as- 

 sociated with that of John Morgan regarded as the principal 

 founder of medical education in America. The latter is de- 

 scribed as having been impulsive, fervent, positive and a states- 

 manlike organizer, whereas the former was judged to be calm, 

 cautious, far-seeing, self-possessed and at times subservient to 

 a crafty nature (Middleton, '27). 



The paths of Shippen and Morgan crossed in Britain, where 

 they had studied together in part, under the Hunters; there the 

 pair probably discussed the possibility of establishing a school 

 in Philadelphia. On returning to America in 1765, Morgan pre- 

 sented a plan for organizing a medical department before the 

 Trustees of the College of Philadelphia. It was approved and on 

 May 3rd of that year, he was elected to the first professorship 

 offered, that of. Theory and Practice of Physic; upon application, 

 Shippen was appointed Professor of Anatomy and Surgery (Pack- 

 ard, '02). 



John Morgan had this to say about anatomy: "It is Anatomy 

 that guides the doubtful steps of the young votary of medicine 

 through an obscure labyrinth, where a variety of minute objects 

 present themselves in such a group as, at first to perplex his 

 imagination .... 



"As a skillful pilot informs himself of the last bank of sand 

 or shoal where he is to avoid navigating his ship; so every follower 

 of medical pursuits should be intelligent in the minutia of Anat- 

 omy, if he wishes to practice with ease to himself, and to the 

 benefit of the patient . . ." (Middleton, '27). 



The first cadaver that Shippen received was that of a Negro 

 who had committed suicide by cutting his throat with a broken 

 glass bottle. He immediately encountered difficulties because the 

 citizens of the city were not used to tolerating dissections of 



I human bodies. They became suspicious that graves were being 

 robbed; opposition developed, a mob formed and attacked his 

 anatomical lab in 1765; windows were broken with stones and a 

 musket ball was shot through his carriage, with the mistaken idea 

 that he was in it. Shippen escaped through a back alley. The 

 I 



