Digging in the dark: Unveiling the unlikely protagonists in medical science advancements - The grave robbers!

This research article aims to shed light on the unconventional profession of grave robbers and explore their unexpected contribution to medical knowledge. While initially seen as villains, grave robbers have inadvertently played a significant role in advancing medical science. By examining historical instances and controversial cases, this study delves into the positive outcomes resulting from their unconventional activities.

"Osler Warned": Was William Osler a Grave Robber While at McGill or Was He a Victim (or Perpetrator) of One Final Practical Joke?

Bodysnatching was an illegal way to procure cadavers for anatomical dissection before the existence of effective anatomy legislation. As knowledge of anatomy was fundamental to medical practice, many famous nineteenth century physicians turned a blind eye to this activity or even participated. Sir William Osler, perhaps the most revered physician of all time, received his medical degree from McGill University in 1872 and then served as pathologist at Montreal General Hospital from 1874 to 1884, where he began a career which culminated in him becoming both the first Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins and then Regius Professor at Oxford. Quebec had been slow to enact effective anatomy legislation, and most of the cadavers in the McGill anatomy laboratory were resurrected; Osler's close friend and Anatomy Demonstrator Francis Shepherd was convicted of this offence on several occasions. In 1940, a letter was discovered in the archives at the McGill's William Osler Library, purportedly written in 1880, accusing Osler of being a grave robber while in Montreal. My paper dissects the letter to assess its credibility in the historical context of Osler's early life and the fact that Osler was a lifelong notorious practical joker with his own pseudonym, Dr. Egerton Yorrick Davis, who helped with his pranks. The provenance of the letter is analyzed and the paper explores, using historical context and forensic handwriting analysis, whether this letter is a revenge-motivated practical joke played on him by one of his famous colleagues or represents Osler's last practical joke for posterity. Clin. Anat. 31:632-640, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Pennsylvania Anatomy Act of 1883: Weighing the Roles of Professor William Smith Forbes and Senator William James McKnight.

Effective Anatomical Acts transformed medical education and curtailed grave-robbing. William S. Forbes, Demonstrator of Anatomy at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, authored the Pennsylvania Anatomy Act of 1867, but it was ineffective. In December of 1882, Forbes and accomplices were charged with grave-robbing. Forbes was acquitted in early 1883, but his accomplices were all convicted; nevertheless, these events precipitated a strengthened Anatomy Act in 1883. Forbes was crowned the Father of the Pennsylvania Anatomy Act and was revered by the Philadelphia medical community for his personal sacrifices for medical education; they even paid his legal fees. Over the remainder of his life, Forbes received many honors. However, there was a second major player, rural doctor William J. McKnight, a convicted grave-robber and State Senator. The evidence shows that Forbes precipitated the crisis, which was a racial powder keg, and then primarily focused on his trial, while McKnight, creatively working behind the scenes in collaboration with Jefferson, Anatomy Professor William H. Pancoast, used the crisis to draft and pass transformative legislation enabling anatomical dissection at Pennsylvania medical schools. While not minimizing Forbes suffering throughout these events, McKnight should be appropriately recognized for his initiative and contributions, which far exceeded those of Forbes.

Murder, mortsafes and Moir: a medical student looks at anatomy teaching in Aberdeen.

During the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries anatomy theatres in Scotland suffered from a shortage of cadaveric material. Medical students and their teachers were eager to improve their medical education and began to look for ways to further their anatomy knowledge and so turned to bodysnatching. Bodysnatching failed to meet the demand so some resorted to murder to acquire cadavers, sometimes in exchange for money. Bodysnatching became common throughout the British Isles and prompted the 1832 Anatomy Act, which allowed unclaimed bodies to be used for dissection.

Man-midwifery history: 1730-1930.

This paper seeks to determine whether the man-midwives William Smellie and William Hunter deserve continuing approbation as 'Founding Fathers' of the obstetrics profession. Scrutiny of their careers reveals their involvement in murders for dissection. In addition, the man-midwifery initiative of delivery in lying-in hospitals resulted in around 1 million more deaths in Britain and Ireland between 1730 and 1930, than would have occurred had home-births remained as the norm. While some may still credit Smellie and Hunter with obstetric discoveries, their knowledge was obtained by murder-for-dissection. That indictment, together with the lying-in hospital legacy, far outweighs their discoveries. The paper invites further constructive discussion and debate, but concludes the accolade of Founding Fathers is undeserved. Any continuing endorsement of Smellie and Hunter effectively demeans the high ethical standards and reputation of current obstetric professionals.

Robert Knox and the anatomy of beauty.

Robert Knox (1791-1862) is typically remembered as the Edinburgh anatomist to whom the murderers Burke and Hare sold the bodies of their victims. This association brought Knox infamy and damaged his life and career. Before the Burke and Hare scandal, Knox was one of the most famous, original and influential anatomists in Britain. He was also something of a dandy with a sophisticated appreciation of the visual arts. His most significant writings on artistic subjects were his books A Manual of Artistic Anatomy and Great Artists and Great Anatomists: A Biographical and Philosophical Study. Knox's interesting and independently minded opinions on the central artistic questions of his day were taken seriously by his contemporaries. His demotion in the official history of anatomy following his involvement with Burke and Hare, however, also removed him from the history of art theory in 19th century Britain. Knox was such a magnetic and impressive figure, though, that he has to be brought back to his era and his era is not complete without him. This paper discusses how Knox's writings on anatomy and biology shaped his contributions to art theory. It is a first step towards returning Knox, the art theorist, to the cultural life of 19th century Britain.

The odd case of Charles Knowlton: anatomical performance, medical narrative, and identity in antebellum America.

SUMMARY: In early-nineteenth-century America, anatomical narrative was crucial to the acquisition and performance of medical identity. Dissecting the dead, robbing graves, making and exhibiting "anatomical preparations," and joking with bodies and body parts all served to affirm membership in the cult of medical knowledge. So did telling stories about such things. Through an examination of the autobiography of Charles Knowlton (1800-1850), a rural physician who practiced in northwestern Massachusetts, this article argues that the recitation and exchange of anatomical stories enabled medical practitioners to assert professional identity, healing competence, and filiations with theories and cliques. In both content and performance, the anatomical tale rehearsed the storyteller's structural relationship to patients, the public, colleagues and rivals, and, above all, made a claim to knowledge and mastery of the body.

Schlemm, the body snatcher?

Friedrich Schlemm (1795-1858) is well known for his original description of the scleral venous sinus, known since as Schlemm's canal. He grew up in a village in the Duchy of Braunschweig (Brunswick). As his family could not afford higher education, he was apprenticed to a barber-surgeon in Braunschweig. This gave him the opportunity to study anatomy and surgery at the local Anatomico-Surgical Institute. Recently discovered archival sources demonstrate that, in June of 1816, Schlemm and a fellow student disinterred the body of a deceased woman late at night in a Braunschweig churchyard to bring the body to this Institute and study the effects of rickets on the woman's bones. They were caught and sentenced to 4 weeks of prison. Subsequently, Schlemm left Braunschweig and found work as a low-rank army surgeon in Berlin. Professor Rudolphi, the director of the Berlin Institute of Anatomy, took note of Schlemm's manual dexterity in anatomical dissection and supported his impressive career. Schlemm eventually became full professor of anatomy in 1833 and spent his remaining 25 years in Berlin with a focus on teaching students and training surgeons. As historical background information is largely lacking in this regard, it is impossible to decide whether Schlemm's episode of grave robbing was a solitary instance or a more common method of acquiring bodies for anatomical instruction in early 19th century Germany.

Research on the recently dead: an historical and ethical examination.

INTRODUCTION AND SOURCES OF DATA: This paper briefly outlines the history of research on the recently dead, before critically exploring 1. In what sense can we harm the dead? 2. What are the justificatory arguments for employing family or parental consent for medical research on dead relatives? AREAS OF AGREEMENT, CONTROVERSY, GROWING POINTS OF INTEREST AND AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH: The controversy surrounding harm in relation to research on dead bodies largely depends on how dead people are perceived. That is, 1. As Cadavers. 2. As Ante-mortem persons. 3. By Significant others. Controversy over whether we need to have consent from significant others (bereaved relatives) depends on the weight we give to the bereaved and their experience of the dead. Understanding this is timely in developing research and is relevant to the issue of consent around organ donation for transplants.

Let the dead teach the living: the rise of body bequeathal in 20th-century America.

America's medical schools have long used human cadavers to teach anatomy, but acquiring adequate numbers of bodies for dissection has always been a challenge. Physicians and medical students of the 18th and 19th centuries often resorted to robbing graves, and this history has been extensively examined. Less studied, however, is the history of body acquisition in the 20th century, and this article evaluates the factors that coalesced to transition American society from body theft to body donation. First, it describes the legislation that released the unclaimed bodies of those dying in public institutions to medical schools for dissection, thereby effectively ending grave robbery. Then it discusses midcentury journalistic exposés of excesses in the funeral industry-works that were instrumental in bringing alternatives, including the previously unpopular option of body donation, to public consciousness. Finally, it examines the rise of body transplantation, the Uniform Anatomical Gifts Act of 1968, and the subsequent state of willed-body programs at the turn of the 21st century. Body-donation programs have gradually stabilized since and currently provide most of the bodies used for dissection in American medical schools. Relying as they do on public trust, however, these programs remain potentially precarious and threatened by public scandals. Whether American medical schools will receive enough bodies to properly educate students in the future remains to be seen.

The poor, the Black, and the marginalized as the source of cadavers in United States anatomical education.

When the practice of hands-on anatomical dissection became popular in United States medical education in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, demand for cadavers exceeded the supply. Slave bodies and thefts by grave robbers met this demand. Members of the public were aware that graves were being robbed and countered with various protective measures. Since the deterrence of grave robbing took time and money, those elements of society who were least economically and socially advantaged were the most vulnerable. Enslaved and free African Americans, immigrants, and the poor were frequently the target of grave robbing. The politically powerful tolerated this behavior except when it affected their own burial sites. Slave owners sold the bodies of their deceased chattel to medical schools for anatomic dissection. Stories of the "night doctors" buying and stealing bodies became part of African American folklore traditions. The physical and documentary evidence demonstrates the disproportionate use of the bodies of the poor, the Black, and the marginalized in furthering the medical education of white elites.

My friend Dr Knox: a pupil writes about the anatomist.

Thomas Giordani Wright, a medical apprentice in Newcastle upon Tyne, attended Dr Robert Knox's anatomy classes in Edinburgh between November 1825 and April 1826, only two years before Burke and Hare began murdering people and selling the bodies of their victims to Knox's anatomy school. In March 1829, soon after the crimes came to light and Burke had been found guilty of murder and executed, Wright commented on the case in his diary, describing the practices in the dissection rooms and giving his views on Robert Knox, the teacher who had become his friend.