National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-01-02
CHRISTIANS CADAVERS
WHAT DIR. FROTHlNGHAM, OF AM
ARROR HAS 80 SAY ARQIIT THEM

WHAT DIR. FROTHlNGHAM, OF ANN
ARBOR, HAS TO SAY ABOUT THEM.
1t will be remembered that 1t was shown by the
diary Of Christian, the body -sna.cher that he had
received Q standing order from DR.. rockingham,
Of the Ann Arbor Medical Institution, for cada-
vers alta good round sum, and also that the Doctor
wrote him explicit directions as to the best
method Of packing them. correspondent Of the
Chicago Tribune at Ann Arbor called upon the
naasitveiS awsnaea 70 hnoW yoa knoa All
about it. He received for his pains cordial vel
come, as follows:
mind disturbed BY thoughts Of the hideous
goods in which be dealt but the calculating
twinkle Of his eye, as he glanced over the body 81
feeling that he evidently thought it world make
"a good one"-yet, as no medical advice or pre-
scription was offered. that impression gradually
Bile logic, came the conviction that any one, how
ever lowly or humble, could be Of use 10 his fel-
l0w-men-after death, II not before.
In reply to numerous questions the Doctor ex-
pressed his opinion on the subject OF
cApAvERs,
substantially rs follows:
Yes. this Christian wrote TO me that he had
facilities for obtaining material for dissection and
could send me some good subjects, and told him
to send them on knew nothing about where he
was to obtain them. We are obliged to resort to
% Ss ss rs
States prison, unless they are claimed BY friends
or relatives, the tender-hearted officials think
that the bodies Of murderers and thieves
are too good to be used by the anatomist.
to
they are prosecuted for malpractice; and II the
patient dies they may even be indicted for mar
By Which they obtain shs U
and II they take even the most wretched 0utcasts
they are prosecuted, and s,igma:ized rs ghuuls,
graye-robbers, &c.
TO lLLusTRATE:
A few years since some bodies were taken from
the buryiug- ground OF public almshouse-bodies
OF persons who, during life, had been a burden
and a curse to society. After they had died some
public good They were discovered in the act; the
doctors we're Imprisoned, and the bodies exposed
to public view ut police station, the dailies de-
voted q half page or more to the doings Of the
ghouls as they were termed, the people who
would not have stepped aside moment in the
to assist on Sne q ansse While
bodies thus uselessly and brutality exposed to
public view.
respec.sbl;ty being sent to THIS Institution; and
If any respectable citizen Is ever disturbed for
that purpose II is because, through the interfer-
prejudice and mawkish sentmeniality, the bodies
Of those who might more justly be taken are de-
"The prejudice against dissection is an
IGNORANT AND uNrou NpED ONE,
and It ought to give way to the higher motive Of
relieving the living of their distress. The use of
the scalPel when dissecting is just Is humane as
when We use 1t on living persons to relieve them
OF disease, and it certainly is kinder and more
humane to learn our anatomy from the bodies Of
the desd than to get our experience on the bodies
Of the patients whom We may be called upon to
treat, and who may be injured for life, or even
killed, by our ignorant bungling. II our feelings
must be outraged, is it not infinitely better that
they be outraged by the dissection Of dead bodies
than by the mutilation Of some of our family and
friends by ply sicians who have never been quail
ned for the work by obtaining that practical
knowledge which can only be got by proper dis
sections?
I'm whatever light you may look at It, any one
who caters this false prejudice. and thus throws
obstacles In the way of medical schools obtaining
sufiicicnt supply Of matcrialfor anatomical study
commits q crime against humanity, and deserves
10 fall under the care Of the ignorant doctors he
helps to create"