Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-01-18
ID ASYL GO NtsS l]N
Us visit 70 the l,issecting Room of 8 st.
4 Medical school spectaole Not
Il lated to Raise O1le's Respect for Ham IS

ST. LOUIS, Special Correspondence, jan s. 81
That men may live, dead men must be cut
| into croquettes, their einnaTds n examined
and their specialize ii ted out to admring
and inquiring medical students Science,
for some reason, requires It's food Id carbon.
| and Is fed with the pauper dead a man,
maid or woman dying without friends in city
| hospitals is sure to be throw Into a rough
pine box, hurried to d college, and there ex-
posed in all It's kedness upon q dissecting
table aneady grimy and IL nelHng with the
putrid relics of former auctions, whence tt ID
sold to the highest bidder among the gh0ulB
for cash Nothing can be mere pitiful than
I the sight of the calm and careless dead In
the midst of the obscene golguthas,
surrounded by rpttenness and corruption,
ieered at and appraised as 50 much merchan-
disc by the lawless and heartless students. /
There are in this city three medical colleges
| that claim as legitimate subjects corpses
found floating in sewers, the river, or dying.
unknown at the hospitals, and often un-s
see1nly Wrangles for particularly desirable
stiff occur, and bidding is spirited at dis
secting rooms During the past three monthH
| no less than forty nine poor devils, who had
no friends to care for them during Ali esss OF
after death, have fouRd lelr to
the post-nortem ii Butcher bioek in
one of the three named,
and have there been exposed to the
rude gaze of ess and
the keen scalpeI Of sp taeled rofessors who
take deIghsin disse cting putrid corpses
"A few days ago Imade the aequaintanc Of
medical snt Of this city, and ex pressed
a deGrat QRlsiJ a dissectlng room -l& almost
wish ma that hadn't, for the sights and
smelTof this premature charnel-house win
| not leave me for many a long day. However,
| to know what becomes Of the uncared for
dead [ followed my friend into the dissect-
ing rooms Of one of The colleges At the
stairs q door ushered MS into 2
dilnly lighted room, from which
| a sweetish, sickening odor e1nanated that
cannot be described, but was in itself sug-
! gestiye of the horrors that take place where
F.. It generated In the dinness made DINNER
! by the noisome effuyia, the smoke of vile to-
bacco and the yiler cigarette and the srnok-
| ing of lights, could be indistinctly seen rem
| nants of humanity in all stages OF decompo-
sition and mutilation, over which bent In
human beings devoid Of all human feeling
| medical students. To one who has been
| taught to reverence the dead and respect the
earthly tabernacle of the soul, such
sig int is appalling and horrible u
| my experience as reporterI have seen human
| forms torn and mangled beyond Identified
| ton. and have made the acquaintance OF
| odors that were almost sickening;; but never
| before have met sights and smells that as
| nearly made me faint as this afternoons ex-
| perience.
NOT PLEASANT PLACE. -. =. =
Gradually becoming accustomed to the
! Obscurity, long rows OF tables On either side
| of the room were perceived, each furnished
with subject" and surrounded by group
I
! is the. custom Of the students to. form
| themselves into dissecting classes, vary,
! ing in number from four to six each,
| and each class buys corpse, technically
| vary, according to demand, supply or the de-
| sirable character of the body. For instance,
| children sell lower than adults Those
! upon which post mortem examinations have
been held are also somewhat at discount.
| Again, when body begins to putrify it
| loses it's value and this value is in an in
verse ratio to the degree Of decomposition.
Women are not as high priced as men, when
| dead, because they contain more fat and do
e aSs sh0M w u 4be the obs @asesS ons
where they are valued at more than
| male subjects Prices vary from $6
| to $l2 for good subjects. Some sell as low
as 81, if very much decomposed, and toward
spring are even given away
The class being formed and ready TO
| work, procures q body from the delnongtra-
| tor Of anatomy, and each student dons q
rubber or oilcio5h apron and sleeves and pro-
ceeds to work This work. as it is called,
| savors of anything but seriousness, and the
mockery and irreverenee which accompanies
it is enough to make the blood run cold in
an ordinary human being. The manner III
which these poor dead human beings are
destroyed, mutilated and hacked by THESE
ruthless barbarians is q sad commentary,
not on the demands science sometimes
| makes Of its followers, but on the manner in
which perverted nature can deal with the
most sacred objects. hasty glance revealed
students busily occupied i'll scraping super
fuous flesh Of Of bones in order to make
| them more fit to be mounted into skeleton
Another was clearing away the det1is from
dissected body and sopping up the putfid
blood in a large sponge, and playfully throw
ing it at a companion; while moment later
the air was filed with all sorts Of
remains, the students engaging in pitched
battle-their missiles being hearts, lungs and
other viscera, together with Large pieces Of
flesh, bones and other portions of the sub
jects they were cutting up. brain seemed
TO be regarded as choice missile, owing to
its soft condition By this time had be-
come somewhat Injured to the sights and
odor, and was taken to the picking vets in
the adjoining room. Here my companion
took a long pole, on the end of which was
steel hook, and thrusting it into vat filed
with slate coIored liquid, brought up d
female "stiff,' securely hooked under tho
arm, and then throwing the corpse into the
vat, he said, indiferently:
We only use the rats in warm weather. In the
winter time we expose the "stifs" until they
freeze, and they'll keep until we re ready to nse
them. Do we ever have any trouhle2 Yes, in-
deed; but the faculty are responsible, so shat
care we? Not long since poor devil was taken
to the city hospital, being without frier ds or
relatives in this City, and soon died, His body
and was bought by a class that tattered them
selves they had secured remarkably fine SUBJ
jecG. Two Of the class, preparatory to eviscerat-
ing him, removed the skin nom the front part OF
the body, and others removed the scalp for the
purpose of opening the skull and removing the
brain. The hair Was remarkable for its luxur1-
mented upon. The skull was sawed open
and the brain taken out and demonstrated. The
next day sister OF the deceased appeared upon
the scene and claimed the body which cha knew
was at the college. ALI that was possible was {
done to dissuade her, but she insisted go mnch,
and finally threatened that she was told to cali
the next day and remove the body. The students
were told the state Of affairs, and at first they
refused to surrender 80 magnificent j subject,
but at last reluctantly consented and proceeded
to replace the missing. skin by patches froue
other subjects and crowned tnes JOB By scapIag
red headed subject and sewing it On 6, black
bearded man. The woman identified he9' brother
only by scar on his lett hand. she Kept tbs
matter quiet, and outside the college never
| word was whispered" 4Ee.s5- ~
The. anatomical law in this state deprived
the student of 1nedicine OF one of his most
exhilarasing and exciting pastimes-tna of
body snatching. But even a few years ago
parties Of the students were engaged in this
business; not because subjects We're dear or
difficult to obtain, but Ill order to have the
and the constant dread Of exposure and pun
lshnnent which seems to be essential to the
lives Of sor1e people. .z. 4. De HAVEN. II
MISS EDGgWoRTH,s GRANDMOTHER. Z -
London Letter: Col Francis T,dgeworth
faf