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As anatomy classes in medical education proliferated in the 19th century, so too did the need for bodies to dissect. Grave robbery proliferated, along with associated social discontent, revulsion, and unhappiness. Conflicts arose between medical practitioners and defenders of bodies, graves and graveyards. This resulted in riots. Social legislation was passed in many countries to address the competing concerns.
The sociopolitical issues of anatomy in America in the 19th century largely stemmed from the increased use of anatomy in the medical curriculum, headed by Xavier Bichat, René Laennec, and other European and American physicians. In America, medical education expanded significantly during this period, with the number of medical schools going from four in 1800 to more than 160 in 1900. The conventional medical establishment became concerned with a possible decline in quality of medical students and the competition of orthodox medicine. [1] : 2
In the face of these pressures, the American medical profession turned to identify with anatomy and European science (then seen as the most advanced and prestigious). [1] : 2 With increasing anatomical emphasis in hospitals and the medical curriculum following changes in European medicine in the early 19th century, physicians in the US similarly sought to set the medical profession apart from alternative medicine and other rivals through increased anatomical studies. As a result, the demand for corpses by medical students for dissection studies grew, which in turn propelled widespread medical grave-robbing, social strife and legislative changes to provide anatomists with legal supplies of cadavers. Medical grave robbery prompted anatomy riots in nearly every medical institution and drove changes in legislatures. [1] : 3–4 The increase in importance of anatomy in medical studies also increased society's interest in the human body, which prompted the popularization of anatomy museums.
The societal funerary obligation to respect the dead made it difficult for anatomists to obtain bodies for dissection. It was legal in most US states to dissect executed criminals, but the number of people executed was insufficient for the growing medical body. Thus, the medical schools had to resort to sourcing cadavers from graves. [1] : 3–4 Ostensibly, authorities were willing to turn a blind eye on the desecration of graves, so long as it involved only the graves of those who had been impoverished or poorly connected.
Christians were particularly against dissections as they believed that only complete bodies could be resurrected. In addition, dissections were commonly associated with executed, i.e., hanged criminals, thus many perceived morbid anatomy for anatomical studies as punishment that is only justified to inflict on the morally condemned. [2]
Medical grave robbing incited widespread anger and abhorrence, resulting in at least seventeen full-fledged anatomy riots in the United States between 1785 and 1855, in Connecticut, Vermont, Ohio, and elsewhere. [1] [ page needed ] Although a law which outlawed body snatching, and allowed executed criminals to be dissected after death, was passed by the New York legislature after the 1788 riot, medical students continued to face a shortage of cadavers, and so grave robbing persisted [2]
These anatomy riots involved citizens attacking medical buildings and the students and staff within them, reclaiming bodies and retaliating against militiamen sent to contain the riots. These attacks were rampant at most medical schools, including the University of Maryland, Franklin Medical College in Illinois, and even Yale University. [3] Some were forced to shut down, sometimes permanently, and others had to relocate. [3] Union troops burned Winchester Medical College in 1862 specifically for using for dissection the bodies of John Brown's son Watson Brown and three African Americans following John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry; [4] it never reopened. In the nineteenth century, the availability of bodies for anatomical studies often determined a medical institution's success. Subsequent to these riots, institutions that could afford it turned to importing cadavers at much higher prices, and those who could not faced shutdown. [1] [ page needed ]
In response to the increasing hospital competition for and public opposition against bodies for pathological anatomy, in 1820s the anatomists in America began demanding legal protection for the acquisition of cadavers. States began passing anatomy acts, or "bone bills," the first of such in Massachusetts in 1831. This legislation allowed medical schools access to "unclaimed" bodies, often those of people who died in workhouses, hospitals or other similar institutions and had no money for proper burial. [1] : 126–135
While supplying anatomists with a steady supply of bodies, the anatomy acts sought to appease the upper and middle classes, assuring them that their bodies would not be plundered after death. Anatomists also appealed to taxpayers by arguing that expenditures could be saved on burying the indigents in society and the poor could be motivated to work harder and not seek social relief. These acts were a form of retributive justice, contending that the poor, like the criminal, owed a debt to society, which could be repaid through offering their bodies for the advancement of medical science. [1] : 126–135
This legislation evoked an outcry from the poor and the egalitarian bourgeoisie. They contended the class basis of such laws and argued that anatomists were no more morally superior than resurrectionists who robbed graves. Contentions over anatomy acts continued in states across America from the mid to late nineteenth century. Three of the five acts passed before 1860 were repealed, among which New York's act was only enacted in 1854, thirty years after its proposal? [1] [ page needed ]
The anatomy acts did relieve medical institutions' shortage of bodies and significantly reduced grave robbing. Yet, it entailed other social contentions. Waiting periods were sometimes breached, and the next of kin were rarely notified before bodies were procured. As the medical profession continued to expand and some states were yet to pass anatomy acts, illegal trading of bodies still endured. By the end of the nineteenth century, most states had enacted anatomy acts, except those in the South that obtained bodies through predominantly black prison populations. [1] : 134
The anatomy acts resulted in a moral condemnation of the poor and a general fear of falling into the abyss of the "unclaimed," driving large changes in the funeral economy. Humanitarian movements in the mid to late nineteenth century against the legislation propelled a rapid increase in philanthropic organizations offering burials for the poor. Religious beliefs of the importance of proper burials bound people more closely to the religious institutions and charitable organizations, which often offered spaces in their cemeteries for poor. The working class set up burial societies to protect against economic downturns and poverty, and cheap insurance for the poor increased in popularity (see history of Prudential Financial ) [1] : 135
The expansion of medical schools and the emphasis on anatomical dissection in the nineteenth century increased public interest in anatomy. Anatomy museums were the norm for medical schools, sometimes even an attraction for potential medical students. The learned medical professional or the bourgeoisie were often the collector or curator, while criminals and the poor were bodies being displayed <. [1] : 274–300
Initially set up to teach people the natural and moral sciences of the human body, anatomy museums gradually declined in status with the progress of medical science and education. In postbellum America, the division between high and low medicine increased. The focus of public scientific education turned toward the structures and functions of plants, animals, and cells, and this was done through politically and socially approved public school curriculums and United States Sanitary Commission Sanitary Fairs. These other avenues not only appeared more legitimate, but also reduced the uniqueness of anatomy museums. Anatomy museums' popularity also suffered with the establishment of nonprofit art and natural history museums catering to the upper and middle classes, causing anatomy museums to resort into displays of sexual anatomy and bodies with venereal diseases to appeal to the middle and lower classes. In the nineteenth century, nudity was only permitted when embellished with moral claims. Anatomy museums thus began to seek the audience of those who desired to attain bourgeois status, appealing to this population's aspirations for a culturally refined status and their interests in the sensational. [1] : 274–300
Anatomy is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science] which deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having its beginnings in prehistoric times. Anatomy is inherently tied to developmental biology, embryology, comparative anatomy, evolutionary biology, and phylogeny, as these are the processes by which anatomy is generated, both over immediate and long-term timescales. Anatomy and physiology, which study the structure and function of organisms and their parts respectively, make a natural pair of related disciplines, and are often studied together. Human anatomy is one of the essential basic sciences that are applied in medicine.
The history of anatomy extends from the earliest examinations of sacrificial victims to the sophisticated analyses of the body performed by modern anatomists and scientists. Written descriptions of human organs and parts can be traced back thousands of years to ancient Egyptian papyri, where attention to the body was necessitated by their highly elaborate burial practices.
The history of anatomy in the 19th century saw anatomists largely finalise and systematise the descriptive human anatomy of the previous century. The discipline also progressed to establish growing sources of knowledge in histology and developmental biology, not only of humans but also of animals.
Mondino de Luzzi, or de Liuzzi or de Lucci,, also known as Mundinus, was an Italian physician, anatomist and professor of surgery, who lived and worked in Bologna. He is often credited as the restorer of anatomy because he made seminal contributions to the field by reintroducing the practice of public dissection of human cadavers and writing the first modern anatomical text.
Dissection is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause of death in humans. Less extensive dissection of plants and smaller animals preserved in a formaldehyde solution is typically carried out or demonstrated in biology and natural science classes in middle school and high school, while extensive dissections of cadavers of adults and children, both fresh and preserved are carried out by medical students in medical schools as a part of the teaching in subjects such as anatomy, pathology and forensic medicine. Consequently, dissection is typically conducted in a morgue or in an anatomy lab.
Body snatching is the illicit removal of corpses from graves, morgues, and other burial sites. Body snatching is distinct from the act of Grave robbery as grave robbing does not explicitly involve the removal of the corpse, but rather theft of the burial site itself. The term ‘body snatching’ most commonly refers to the removal and sale of corpses primarily for the purpose of dissection or anatomy lectures in medical schools. The term was coined primarily in regard to cases in the United Kingdom and United States throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. However, there have been cases of body snatching ranging across a variety of countries, with the first recorded case dating back to 1319 in Bologna, Italy. Those who practiced the act of body snatching and sale of corpses during this period were commonly referred to as "resurrectionists" "resurrection men". Resurrectionists in the United Kingdom who often worked in teams and who primarily targeted more recently dug graves, would be hired in order to provide medical institutions and practitioners with a supply of fresh cadavers for the purpose of anatomical study. Despite a significant decline in body snatching as a practice, there do exist contemporary instances of body snatching cases occurring around the globe.
The Anatomy Act 1832 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave free licence to doctors, teachers of anatomy and bona fide medical students to dissect donated bodies. It was enacted in response to public revulsion at the illegal trade in corpses.
A prosector is a person with the special task of preparing a dissection for demonstration, usually in medical schools or hospitals. Many important anatomists began their careers as prosectors working for lecturers and demonstrators in anatomy and pathology.
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp is a 1632 oil painting on canvas by Rembrandt housed in the Mauritshuis museum in The Hague, the Netherlands. The painting is regarded as one of Rembrandt's early masterpieces.
A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Students in medical school study and dissect cadavers as a part of their education. Others who study cadavers include archaeologists and arts students.
The Medical Renaissance, from around 1400 to 1700 CE, was a period of progress in European medical knowledge, with renewed interest in the ideas of the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations along with Arabic-Persian medicine, following the translation into Latin of many works from these societies. Medical discoveries during the Medical Renaissance are credited with paving the way for modern medicine.
A prosection is the dissection of a cadaver or part of a cadaver by an experienced anatomist in order to demonstrate for students anatomic structure. In a dissection, students learn by doing; in a prosection, students learn by either observing a dissection being performed by an experienced anatomist or examining a specimen that has already been dissected by an experienced anatomist
Anna Morandi Manzolini was an internationally known anatomist and anatomical wax modeler, as lecturer of anatomical design at the University of Bologna.
Night Doctors, also known as Night Riders, Night Witches, Ku Klux Doctors, and Student Doctors, are bogeymen of African American folklore with some factual basis. African American folklore told of doctors who would abduct, kill, and dissect, performing a plethora of experiments, referred to as "Night Doctors". Emerging from the realities of grave-robbing, enforced and punitive medical experimentation, the Night Doctors' purpose was to further prevent slaves, freedmen, and black workers from leaving for the Northern United States. The term night doctors is often broadly used, referring to those who steal, buy, or practice on African American corpses to further their medical knowledge. At this time, the cadaver shortage among medical schools in the south led to people digging up their graves in the night to steal bodies, and slave owners selling their deceased to make some extra money. Grave robbing often happened in poor communities where they had no means to have or fund any deterrence of grave robbing or protection of their cemeteries. Night doctors preying on these marginalized communities were often overlooked by wealthier, more powerful people in the communities, and inevitably led to the fleeing of African Americans in the early to mid 20th century, now known as The Great Migration.
An anatomy murder is a murder committed in order to use all or part of the cadaver for medical research or teaching. It is not a medicine murder because the body parts are not believed to have any medicinal use in themselves. The motive for the murder is created by the demand for cadavers for dissection, and the opportunity to learn anatomy and physiology as a result of the dissection. Rumors concerning the prevalence of anatomy murders are associated with the rise in demand for cadavers in research and teaching produced by the Scientific Revolution. During the 19th century, the sensational serial murders associated with Burke and Hare and the London Burkers led to legislation which provided scientists and medical schools with legal ways of obtaining cadavers. Rumors persist that anatomy murders are carried out wherever there is a high demand for cadavers. These rumors, like those concerning organ theft, are hard to substantiate, and may reflect continued, deep-held fears of the use of cadavers as commodities.
Resurrectionists were body snatchers who were commonly employed by anatomists in the United Kingdom during the 18th and 19th centuries to exhume the bodies of the recently dead. Between 1506 and 1752 only a very few cadavers were available each year for anatomical research. The supply was increased when, in an attempt to intensify the deterrent effect of the death penalty, Parliament passed the Murder Act 1752. By allowing judges to substitute the public display of executed criminals with dissection, the new law significantly increased the number of bodies anatomists could legally access. This proved insufficient to meet the needs of the hospitals and teaching centres that opened during the 18th century. Corpses and their component parts became a commodity, but although the practice of disinterment was hated by the general public, bodies were not legally anyone's property. The resurrectionists therefore operated in a legal grey area.
The doctors' riot was an incident that occurred in April 1788 in New York City, where the illegal procurement of corpses from the graves of the recently deceased caused a mass expression of discontent from poorer New Yorkers that was directed primarily at physicians and medical students.
Joseph Nash McDowell (1805-1868) was one of the most influential and respected doctors west of the Mississippi in the 1840s until his death in 1868. He is primarily remembered for his grave-digging practices, where he illegally exhumed corpses in order to study human anatomy. He is also known for his influence on Mark Twain, and was likely the inspiration for Twain's fictional character Dr. Robinson in "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer."
The Pennsylvania Anatomy Act of 1883 is legislation of the State of Pennsylvania to facilitate medical education. This act allowed teachers and students to be able to dissect bodies without have to resort to buying from grave robbers or buying body parts. This act was written to prevent grave robbing, and to even out the availability of corpses.
"An Act to Promote Medical Science and Protect Burial Grounds", informally known as the Bone Bill, was an 1854 bill in New York. Its purpose was to greatly increase the number of cadavers available for legal dissection in medical schools.
While some of those reports may have been based on rumor, they pointed to an underlying truth: with no regulated source of bodies for dissection, the medical students had taken matters into their hands and begun plundering the local graveyards.