Papers relative to the question of providing adequate means for the study of anatomy.

  • Ferguson, Robert, 1799-1865.
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Papers relative to the question of providing adequate means for the study of anatomy. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    But whatever may have been tlie extent of the difficulties which have heretofore obstructed the Council in the execution of their duty, they may well be regarded as insignificant when compared with those which they have to encounter at the present moment. The large prices which have of late been given for anatomical subjects have operated as a premium for murder. If the Council of the College continue to require that those who present themselves for examination shall have studied practical anatomy, w’ho can venture to say that crimes similar to those which have just now filled the public with dismay will not be again committed ? More criminals will undoubtedly arise ; new victims will be added to the list; and the medical profession^ will be necessarily degraded from the high station which it ought to hold as having in its relations to society no object but that of conferring benefit on others. ' The Council have no expectation while the law remains as it is at present, and surgical students continue to cultivate the science of anatomy, that any means can be contrived which will prevent a repetition of the horrible offences to which they have just alluded. Attention and constant suspicion on the part of the teachers may effect much, but not all that is requisite. It is vain to imagine it always possible to distinguish the body of a person who has been murdered from that of one who has died a natural death. The very individuals who have lately suffered on the scaffold would pro- bably have escaped detection if they had been more circumspect and wary in their conduct. Nor can all the precautions with which it is desirable the study of anatomy should be conducted, be adopted under the existing laws. In the other countries of Europe, anatomy is taught only under a licence, and in certain places appointed by the government, and an exact register is preserved of all the bodies consigned for dissec- tion. But it is a contradiction to suppose that any such licence can be granted, or such register preserved in this country, where the study of anatomy is barely tolerated, and where not only the pro- curers of dead bodies, but the anatomical teachers and students, are alike engaged in illegal pursuits. In offering this representation to his Majesty’s Government, the Council are not without hopes that some plan may be devised by the ■Legislature calculated to remove the serious evil of which they now complain. At the same time they beg leave to declare on their