266 HUMAN DISSECTION. ITS DRAMA AND STRUGGLE 



on December 5, 1831. The Warburton Anatomy Act, an important 

 piece of legislation, was then hurriedly passed on August 1, 1832. 

 It sounded the death knell for body snatching in the British Isles. 



Each individual country of the civilized world has had its 

 own problems in respect to its anatomical laws and dissection. 

 Ireland is one which stands unique in the early history of anatomy, 

 because it had an unlimited source of subjects. Responsible for 

 this to a large extent, was perhaps its poor economic status. In 

 Dublin, a center of medical education, the anatomists had access 

 to Bully's Acre, where many paupers were buried. In 1826, 600 

 to 800 cadavers were used in the schools in that city. It was cal- 

 culated that as many as 1,500 to 2,000 were removed in that 

 year, many of which were exported to England and Scotland. The 

 trade in these became so great, because high prices were received, 

 that the local anatomical teachers began to suffer. The standards 

 of teaching became low during the Crimean War (1854-1856), 

 between Russia and Turkey. England allied herself with the 

 latter which immediately created a need for army surgeons. There 

 was a rush of students into medical schools so that the standards 

 fell; cramming was widely practiced and the grind-rooms were 

 filled to overflowing. 



The history of dissection in France has been characterized 

 by lack of emotional incidents. Anatomy was more stabilized 

 there than in the British Isles and the country was never highly 

 infested with resurrectionists. This was due to the early develop- 

 ment of adequate anatomical laws which did not permit dis- 

 section of executed murderers, removing one of the main stigmas 

 attached to the practice. To violate a sepulchre meant fine and 

 imprisonment. Before pathology began to claim a share of the 

 bodies for autopsy purposes, the medical school in Paris received 

 as many as 2,000 per year, afterwards 1,000 to 1,200. The policy 

 of permitting students to dissect began early. Exhumation did not 

 exist and the people did not oppose dissection although some had 

 an aversion to it. On the whole, there was a deep conviction of 

 its utility. Cadavers were cheap for the students and they were 

 free to doubt and dispute what they were taught. 



