The history of the London Burkers / Containing a faithful and authentic account of the horrid acts of the noted Resurrectionists, Bishop, Williams, May, etc., etc., and their trial and condemnation at the Old Bailey for the wilful murder of Carlo Ferrari, with the criminals' confessions after trial. Including also the life, character, and behaviour of the atrocious Eliza Ross, the murderer of Mrs. Walsh, etc., etc.

by Anonymous

'Anatomical knowledge is necessary to a right understanding both of medicine and surgery. But the law declares that the having a dead body in your possession is a misdemeanour; and the judges lay it down as a maxim, that there is only one legal way of possessing a body for dissection, namely, by procuring that of a man hanged for murder. The anatomical students are compelled to deal with people who steal bodies from churchyards, and who are liable to be punished for so doing. But the College of Physicians, the College of Surgeons, and the Company of Apothecaries, all require that those who present themselves for examination, should have attended anatomical lectures, and should have performed dissections. Thus it appears, that the laws forbid the student to dissect, and the constituted authorities, under the sanction of the laws, require that he should dissect. The medical student, in the first instance, is persecuted on account of his endeavours to obtain knowledge; and afterwards, when he is engaged in practice, he is persecuted for not having obtained it, and, to make the inconsistency still greater, there is not an individual amongst those who make the laws, nor amongst those by whom they are administered, who hesitates, when his life is in danger, to apply for assistance to those individuals, who would not have it in their power to relieve him, if they had not devoted a considerable portion of their lives to these forbidden studies.

'But it is to no purpose to point out the evils which exist, unless it can be shown at the same time that those evils admit of being removed. The next question then is, how can a more abundant supply of subjects be procured, in a manner less offensive to the community?

'As the laws are now construed by the law authorities, the possession of a body for the purpose of dissection, is in itself a misdemeanour, except it be that of a person hanged for murder. The first thing then to be done, is to declare, by an act of the legislature, that dissection, for the purpose of procuring knowledge, that may be useful in medicine and surgery, is legal and proper.

'2. That a dead body should be dissected, is of no consequence to the individual who is no more, but a knowledge of it being so may be distressing to the feelings of the sorrowing friends and relations.

'This sufficiently points out what are the proper subjects for dissection; namely, the bodies of those who die without any friends or relations. In small towns and villages, probably, there are none who die under those circumstances; but in large cities, and especially in the metropolis, there are a great number. Whoever will take the trouble of referring to the Anatomical Committee, will find that, in London, the number of those amount to many more than would be required for the supply of all the anatomical schools. These bodies are now buried at the expense of the public; and, if authorised to do so, the churchwardens and overseers would, in most instances, readily give them up to the teachers of anatomy.

'But it may be argued, in opposition to the adoption of the plan proposed, that it may be considered as a very harsh and arbitrary measure on the part of the legislature to point out any particular class of society as furnishing subjects for dissection, while the other classes are exempt. This objection relates, of course, not to the sense and deliberate judgment, but to the feelings of the public; and it is easily answered. Let it be declared, not who are, but who are not to be dissected. Let it be enacted that dissection is lawful, but that no one is to be dissected contrary to the wishes of his friends or nearest relations. The result will be the same, but the offence to the public feeling, in this last case, will be none at all.

'It may be said also, that there are some individuals who have a horror at being dissected after death, and that it will sometimes happen that a poor man, dying in a workhouse, with no friends around him, will have his sufferings much aggravated, if he believes that his helpless and friendless condition is to lead, as soon as he has breathed his last, to his body being conveyed to an anatomical school. Undoubtedly such feelings ought to be respected. It would be cruel to disregard them; and it is very easy to meet the objection which arises out of them. Let it be declared further, that no one is to be made the subject of dissection who has declared, by his last will and testament, his wish to the contrary.

'Again—it may be considered as wrong, on religious grounds, that any individual should be denied the act of sepulture, and the performance of the funeral service after death. It may be answered to this objection, indeed, that these are mere human institutions, concerning which not one word is said in the Old and New Testament. But there is no occasion to meet it thus. After the body has been dissected, let the remains be inclosed in a coffin, and conveyed to the grave in the usual manner, and with the usual ceremonies; or the funeral service may be read over it previous to dissection.

'There may be some who will, probably, still urge another objection; namely, that the public feeling is so strongly opposed to dissection, and that the lower orders especially are so much prejudiced against it, that a general clamour will be raised if there be any kind of legislation on the subject. But those who argue thus, must have formed their opinions on what they have heard and seen in the country, in villages, and the smaller provincial towns, and can know little of the state of feeling in the larger towns, and especially in London. The fact is, that in London there is no horror of dissection in the abstract. The thing has, in some measure, become familiar to the minds of the inhabitants, and especially of those who belong to the lower orders. Persons who reside in the neighbourhood of an anatomical theatre, continually see boxes and hampers taken into it, which they know to contain subjects for dissection; and such an occurrence scarcely causes an observation among them. It is only when the bodies of their friends and relatives are exhumed and dissected, that their feelings are excited; and, instead of being excited further, these feelings are likely to be allayed by the adoption of a plan for dissection of the unclaimed bodies, inasmuch as it would put a stop to the present traffic with the resurrection-men, and the robbery of the churchyards.