The Republican journal., 1870-04-28
From the Louisville Courier Journal.
SINGULAR INCIDENT.

In December last the dead body of an eld-
crly man was found near a small town in an
adjoining county. The weather was very
cold and the night preceding the finding of
the body there was heavy storm, and the
body, which was found in the woods some
distance from any house, was frozen stiff.
The man was entirely unknown to any Of
the residents of the vicinity. but from a kit of
tools which We're found near the body it was
supposed that he was a travelling tinker or
repairer OF umbrellas, or something of the
sort The nearest magistrate was summon
ed and an inquest held. AS there was no
apparent evidence of violence, no post NOR
fem examination was made, and the Jury re-
turned verdict Of death from exposure,
and the body was buried in the potter's field
or public cemetery.
The matter was the subject of a brief para
graph in the newspapers, and Of gossip and
speculation for the neighborhood for a few
days, and the event was forgotten entirely
by most OF those who were cognizant Of it,
But by singular circumstance the matter
has recently been revived and some strange
revelations have been made. In the little
town near where the body was found, and
buried, there lived a physician who taught
private class of students of medicine, as
many physicians in small towns do In or
der to become a doctor and be able to cure
the ills to which flesh is heir it is Imperative
ty necessary that the student should possess
ut least some knowledge of the human frame.
IFS bones, muscles, arteries, veins organs. etc
This knowledge can only be attained by
study OF the human form, and ''subjects, :"
or bodies for dissection, must be obtained.
In large cities like this, where many huu-
dreds Of unknown and friendless persons die
annually, it is comparatively easy to obtain
m al f>,.n f,,
III small country town, where comparative
ly few people die, and where the "resurrec-
ton" OF anybody, even that of the poorest
and most frlendless inhabitant, would create
a storm OF indignation, it is quite another
matter. The Doctors class were at their wits
end for "subiect," without which their
studies could not be successfully prosecuted
and when the body of the old man, who was
entirely unknown, and for aught they knew
to the contrary, entirely friendless, was found
and buried, they determined to lay it upon
the altar Of science. A midnight visit was
made to the graveyard, the body disinterred
and removed to the dissecting room without
detection They congratulated themselves
upon their good fortune in securing good
subject so easily, and proceeded to study the
human frame with a will.
Several parts of the body had been salts
factorily dissected. when one day their pre-
ceptor informed them that the head would be
the subject of his lecture that day. The
class gathered around the table, and the doc
tor began the task of laying open the scalp,
explaining the structure, etc, as he progress
ed. A considerable portion of the scalp had
been turned back, when the doctor uttered an
exclamation of surprise, and the scalpel
dropped from his nerveless fingers. The
students crowded around and saw in the
back of the skull, where the skin had been
removed, little round hole, A further in
vestigation revealed similar hole in the op-
posite side of the skull The cause was an
parent. The jury of inquest had been at
fault. The man had not persisted in the
storm. He had been murdered, but by
whom none could tell. A considerable nor.
ton Of the body had disappeared under the
knives of the students. Many days had clans
ed since the burial of the body. The most
intimate friends of the dead man could not
have recognized him in that now almost
heshless skeleton. The doctor was in a
quandary. 1t would be almost impossible to
prove the identity of the remnants of human.
ity with that of the unknown tinker Then
ii would be necessary to reveal the manner