STATUS OF HUMAN DISSECTION IN THE UNITED STATES 255 



ever, in respect to post-mortems has been largely ignored; he be- 

 lieves that many ot these are unnecessary and that this part of the 

 legislation should be upheld. Many subjects are buried there at 

 the expense of religious and charitable organizations. Recently, 

 a provision was made in the statute that bodies can be willed 

 for use and this trend should be encouraged. He has found that 

 the supply of the unclaimed varies with the economic conditions, 

 that more are available during times of unemployment. There 

 may be fewer in the future due to social security, pensions, death 

 benefits and the like. 



At the Teaching Institute in Anatomy and Anthropology, 

 held at Swampscott, Massachusetts, in 1955, it was brought out 

 that cadaver supply is a perennial problem; that 13 per cent of 

 the schools have shortages for basic anatomical teaching; that 

 one-third do not have enough for upper classmen or postgraduate 

 courses. The methods suggested which might be utilized to com- 

 pensate for scarcity were the following: more students to a cadaver 

 and the use of preparations, slides, models, material from ampu- 

 tations and movies. Possible ways to increase the supply con- 

 sisted of such considerations as appealing to welfare agencies, hos- 

 pital superintendents, physicians, and medical students; revamp- 

 ing the laws, legalizing the bequeathing of bodies; decreasing the 

 number of autopsies and cultivating public interest. It was unani- 

 mously decided that teaching without human dissection is not 

 an acceptable standard in medical education (Report of Third 

 Teaching Institute, 1956). 



One aspect of the problem which has not been mentioned 

 in the whole question, is that of the role of undertakers. Meyer 

 ('30) notes this in an article published in 1930. The author de- 

 clares that, in the state of California, funeral directors vied for 

 bodies of the unclaimed because if not buried by relatives, they 

 stood to make a good profit. Some actually trafficked in dead 

 bodies. 



It was Meyer's opinion that it was "not the people at large 

 who oppose anatomists having bodies of unclaimed dead, but a 

 few financially interested individuals who rely for protection 

 against exposure upon the possibility of taking advantage of pub- 

 lic ignorance, sentiment and belief." 



