XXX PREFACE. 



to the state ; and they have further proposed, that the bodies of 

 the poor who die friendless, or of unknown travellers dying on 

 their journey, shall be delivered to them for dissection. This 

 last proposal is a nefarious one, in a country where dissection 

 forms a part of the criminal law, as a punishment for the most 

 heinous crimes; and which is thus to be inflicted upon innocent 

 persons, provided they are friendless in the place where they 

 happen to die. The first object of anatomists should be, to get 

 this punishment set aside, as the greatest obstacle in the way ; 

 and then, as to the supply of subjects, the practice of the Ger- 

 man and Swedish Universities, in carrying the bodies of the 

 professors and servants of the University to the anatomical 

 theatre for inspection before burial, is the most rational, and 

 might be extended to the whole medical faculty, their wives, 

 and children under age and unmarried, by an Act ordering their 

 bodies to be carried to the nearest hospital, or the senior sur- 

 geon of the hundred, &c. for dissection. If the medical faculty 

 set the example, by soliciting an act to this effect, and thus 

 showing that they do not ask to treat the bodies of others any 

 otherwise than they are willing their own corpse and those of 

 their families should be treated, after the performance of funeral 

 rites over them, there can be little doubt, but that the friends of 

 other deceased persons would, in a very short time, allow the 

 examination of the bodies, or even sell them for complete dissec- 

 tion. Thus those who are benefited by the practice of dissection 

 would alene be forced to contribute their bodies to this purpose, 

 and not the poor and friendless. If the supply thus obtained 

 was not sufficient, the bodies of the beneficed clergy, and of the 

 holders of offices under government, with those of their wives 

 and children, would surely suffice ; and the tacking this condition 

 to the acceptance of these charges and offices in future, would 

 injure none. 



As to the forcible suppression of home-bred, or even unlearned 

 empirics altogether, the trouble and expenses of a law-suit, and 

 the obloquy that attends those who attempt to deprive a man of 

 the fruits of his industry and skill, through the want of technical 

 formalities, are so great, that it is only the strong stimulus of 

 personal enmity, or a feeling that the licentiate's interest is 

 deeply involved in getting rid of a popular neighbour, that 



