January 17, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



85 



thereto. The professor of anatomy in the 

 Universitj^ of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia 

 shall call a meeting of said board for organ- 

 ization at a time and place to be fixed by 

 him within thirty days after the passage of 

 this Act. The said board shall have full 

 power to establish rules and regulations for 

 its government, and to appoint and remove 

 proper ofBcers, and shall keep full and com- 

 plete minutes of its transactions, and rec- 

 ords shall also be kept under its direction 

 of all bodies received and distributed by 

 said board, and of the persons to whom the 

 same may be distributed, which minutes 

 and records shall be open at all times to 

 the inspection of each member of said 

 board, and of any district attorney of any 

 county within this Commonwealth. 



Sec. 2. All public officers, agents, and ser- 

 vants, and all officers, agents, and servants of 

 any and every count j^, city, township, bor- 

 ough, district, and other municipality, and 

 of any and every almshouse, prison, morgue, 

 hospital, or any other public institution 

 having charge or control over dead human 

 bodies required to be buried at the public 

 expense, are hereby required to notify the 

 said board of distribution, or such person or 

 persons as maj^ from time to time be desig- 

 nated by said board, or its duly authorized 

 officer or agent, whenever any such body 

 or bodies come into his or their possession, 

 charge, or control, and shall, without fee or 

 reward, deliver such body or bodies, and 

 permit and suffer the said board and its 

 agents, a.nd the physicians and surgeons 

 from time to time designated by them, who 

 may comply with the provisions of this Act, 

 to take and remove all such bodies to be 

 used within this State for the advancement 

 of medical science ; but no such notice need 

 be given, nor shall any such body be de- 

 livered if any person, claiming to be and 

 satisfying the authorities in charge of said 

 body that he or she is of kindred or is re- 

 lated by marriage to the deceased, shall 



claim the said body for burial, but it shall 

 be surrendered for interment, nor shall the 

 notice be given or body be delivered if such 

 deceased jjerson was a traveller who died 

 suddenly, in which case the said body shall 

 be buried. 



Sec. 3. The said board, or their duly au- 

 thorized agent, may take and receive such 

 bodies so delivered as aforesaid, and shall, 

 upon receiving them, distribute and de- 

 liver them to and among the schools, col- 

 leges, physicians and surgeons aforesaid in 

 manner following: Those bodies needed 

 for lectures and demonstrations by the said 

 schools and colleges, incorporated and un- 

 incorporated, shall first be supplied, the re- 

 maining bodies shall then be distributed 

 proportionately and equitably, preference 

 being given to said schools and colleges, 

 the number assigned to each to be based 

 upon the number of students in each dis- 

 secting or operative surgery class, which 

 number shall be reported to the board at 

 such times as it may direct. Instead of 

 receiving and delivering said bodies them- 

 selves, or through their agents or servants, 

 the board of distribution may from time to 

 time, either directly, or by their authorized 

 officer or agent, designate physicians and 

 surgeons who shall receive them, and the 

 number which each shall receive. Pro- 

 vided always, however, that schools and 

 colleges, incorporated and unincorporated, 

 and physicians or surgeons of the county 

 where the death of the person, or such per- 

 son described, takes place shall be preferred 

 to all others. And provided, also, that for 

 this purpose such dead body shall be held 

 subject to their order in the county where 

 the death occurs for a period not less than 

 twenty-four hours. 



Sec. 4. The said board may employ a 

 carrier or carriers for the conveyance of 

 said bodies, which shall be well enclosed 

 within a suitable encasement, and carefully 

 deposited free from public observation. 



