The legal status of dissecting

✍ Scribed by Jenkins, George B.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1913
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 713 KB
• Volume: 7
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0003-276X
• DOI: 10.1002/ar.1090071103

✦ Synopsis

At the suggestion of Dr. Mall' I have endeavored to collect all the data obtainable concerning the question of dissection; considering the laws regulating the supply of material, the sources from which such material is usually obtained, the character, that is, the age and sex of the subjects, how preserved and transported, and such other details as could be obtained that would be of value.

One is struck by the fact that it has been only comparatively recently that any laws have been enacted upon this important subject. Prior to that time the various states, chartered, or otherwise recognized numerous medical colleges, anatomical schools, and such, but made no legal provision by which they could secure material for dissection, demonstration, and so forth, and as such material was indispensable, various questionable means were employed to secure it, such as ' body-snatching ' and 'grave-robbing.' As the demands grew, competition became so sharp that these methods were not only widely practiced, but through connivance with those having charge of bodies, many people paid their last tribute of sorrow over an empty grave. This keenness of competition further led to an increased cost of bodies; so one thing led to another until even graver crimes than those m-entioned were perpetrated. These obnoxious practices finally became intolerable to the more advanced men, who saw that such things were bringing medical schools and medical teachers into disrepute with the public. So the more progressive of these men took steps to secure the enactment Bar Association, for courtesies extended.