The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-08-16
PHYSICIAN IN THE N. Y. NAIL.

y, ioiuent among tne charitable institutions of
new Iork are the dozen or mere hospitals alma
houses, and prisons that are managed nv ~
commissioners OF charities aud correction y
lheh expense amounts to about $500 600 II Il
Iereshlng to know that so much at least of oar
immense taxation Is well and honestly snent
These Institutions offer sights more iptaras,;n,,
IMAM most OF the other " lions ~ of New York.
yet citizens rarely visit them and strangers are
content TO make the tour Of them in an afternoon
D, NV 20 'ne Phosophic expeditions which we
propose TO conduct through their penetrdli1. Let
US go nrst 10 the Bellevue Hospital and its apoa.
nsges OF dead house, morgue and college
IN squaid street we discover a suualid gate.
way near the East river Enter: the mortar in
MS lodge upon the left will not challenge Won
unless your mien displays vacillation of parpose
But az you pass into the broad grounds fied with
flowers that lie within the gate, you see that other
; nave come TO grief at the porter's lodge
VISITORS that had packages of pies in their hands
Nsltors that had bottles Of whisky in their peck
els, with black necks visibly eminent from their
coat tails-visitors who thought TO console some
lsngulshing patient, their friend with the acidn
lous dulcet OF tart, or the bottled elysium of
suopg waters. But the liquor law and the pastry
law are IN full force st the gates Of Bellevue Ths
1OiblddeD Injuries are confscatedfor the patients
empty handed. 80
Let US follow the crowd Of medical students
who jostle each other along the grand walks
They DO not enter the hospital; they repair to a
neat building that stands at the Eater.si5e-tha
new medical college that has been enQrafted unon
the hospital. Let Us go with Sawbones this morn.
ing, and see the hospital some other time when
we come as the guests Of the festive commits
sioners.
Ascending narrow fight of stairs we find
ourselves IN lecture-rOom of moderate size In
the vortex of its semi-crcular rows Of benches a
lecturer is holding forth to the restless company
OF students. 1t is the susve barker the oraa-
mental Elliott, the accomplished, courteous Ham.
nton, DOremus the popular, the bland Flint Sc.
nioT, or his smiable junior-the incoherent Taylor
lectures, alas J.! no lOnger-Or some other member
OF the faculty, each impartiDg such me iical lore
as he 10 possessed of. All the medical sciences
from botany to phlebotomy, are treated Of in
turn. .'.
How dull the lectures are to unprofessionals!
Let us run up another fight OF narrow stairs and
invade the inmost recesses Of the college. A
strange OdOr of mingled chemistry and decay
strikes upon our nOstrils. We push aside the door
that opens into the dissecting room. and. 10 Saw.
bones in all his glory Wooden tables lined with
zinc are ranged in double rows down the length OF
the room, and upon each table lies the CHASTITY
wreck Of a human body, with ragged muscles
disembOweled, its glaring eyes mixed on va.
cancy." few of the eorpses display rounded
outlines and fair proportions, but most OF them
are reduced to tatters by the dissectng knife and
present the liyid, shruuken and rigid appearance
that results from long exposure to the air. Knots
OF students surround the tables. Each body 10
assigned &c four dssectors. The manual of anal
Omy, printed upon reddish paper that sho VS.
blood stains less conspicuOusly than a whittier
page, lies open upon the table.
The knee scalped separates muscle from muscle,
discloses the delicate and shining track of nerves,
or follows the complicated path Of the arteral
branches, which are readily recognizable by the
solidifed solution which they contain injected in
TO them in order TO check the decay of the tissues
Ali the subjects used for dissection are thus pre-
pared with an antiseptic solution, and remain for
month or more upon the dissecting table before
yielding to decomposition. 1t must be Inferred,
however, that they ditfuse " an earthly otor of de-
csyn so penetrant that it cngs to the dissector in
spite Of his additions. Though he wash himself
with nitre, and be ever so clean, the eftlvium OF
decomposition passes through the lungs into the
vital circulation of the dissectOr, and reappears In
his very breath.
The student is sometimes dangerously poisoned
in these labors, the slightest cut or scratch serv-
ing to innoculste the system with the virus of the
decsying tissues. Surgeons are sometimes laid
up by accidental innoculstion, and death occurs
not very unirequently as result OF these " dis
secting wounds .
Where are all these subjects" obtained for
dsseoting purposes
Human life. like other commodities. has its re.
fuse. ln q great hospital like Bellevue. scores die
yearly who have neither friend nor relative TO
claim their bodies. After a reasonable time OF
DELAY their mortal remains sent to the various
colleges for the use of dissection. 'Body-snatch-
ing" is no longer the exciting recreation OF the
medical student.
There IL a sad satisfaction In rejecting that
these " subjects" which as living men aud
women were utterly useless in the world, ignorant
vicious diseased, and not of sufficient estlmahon
for burial after death-the completest failures
imapiuabIe-are thus found at last to have a GER
tain compromising value. Living, they we're good
for nothing; but their dead bodies are hlghy
serviceabIe. They are instructive, eloquent, ad'
montory; they are the most valuable OF teachers,
and coniribRte an important share TO that educA-
ton which is probably the most varied and Valu.
able that the schools can give-ihe education OF
the physician. The poor hummer mas found
let us hone q sufficient use and Justification Tor
bis life for he has become q benefactOr at last.
This dissectinR room is like others in the city.
Having seen it, We have seen them all Let Us
glance at another vision OF mortailly Delote
leaving the hospital grounds. This is the dead
roam or "Morgue" as Ii 10 called after tina
larger Partisan Institution upon which II Is
modelled. 1t is small room divided INTO two CON-
partments by glass easement. Behnd ms sp'
near four marble tables, supported upon iron legs
each bearing q livid corpse, hall clothed. Ihe
rest of the garments hang near by to aid in ident
Hcation A stream of croton water flows over
each corpse. Hither are brought tae oooles o.
5ToUbed and without clue to the name or dwelling
Suicides the victims of accidents or Of toul play
the bodies OF the apoplectic and sun'strcken, are
exposed upon these tables IN the nope 'hat tney
NAV he Recognized and claimed. or one hundred
and sixty corpses thus exposed during 1861, nifty
four were thus identified. In adjacent rooms are
fbe coropers Offices and the dead-honse where
scores Of cUfius were piled AZ time uutiug ". we
recent heated term. No claimant appearing, the
bodies we're removed from the Morgue aud buried
toSetber with the fragments of human wreck from
the dissecting rooms, in the " Potters Field"
Assiduous dssectors will often work six Of
eight hours in day. 1t an e1hansting laoor
health. Though the odor Of the corpse, al mrs
extremely rep1lsive TO the student, Is hardy
noticed after few days familiarity VITA th'
tainted air, like the dyers hand the nostr OF IN,
dissector becomes subdued to the element
works in. La..
In the BROOKLYN Medical College, the sessions
~ which are held during hot weather, the stu
dents have the most uncomfortable time 10 dls
sectipr. Heat is not antiseptic, and the L 'oe
islanders dissecting room does not boast Ve 81.
baJmv atmosphere. But this inconvenience Is Sc
of nv MANY advantages freedom IRON
noise and crowding, and the rural situation oil 'n'
college. .. -... - ho;,;,, IN,
some enthusiasts may be seen ooh'ng .1
bpman head. in order to separate more resdil.
a. homes of the skull. These gentlemen ar
lno - e. rriuas and will receive some media