Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-03-02
THE DIssECTING ROOM.

of the Taylor Family were Found
How the Students Work and Amuse
Themselves at the Same Time.
The prominence into which the Ohio
Medical College has been brought by the
awful Taylor tragedy, says the Cincinnati
Enquirer Of the 2Sth ult., makes news of
every character concerning the Institu-
ton read with the greatest interest. Dur
ing the past few days an Enquirer repre-
sentative has made it his business to visit
the dissecting room in which the bodies of
old man Taylor, his wife and daughter
were found and recognized by Marshal
Brown. A graphic description of the
manner in which subjects are carved by
the young saw-bones was also obtained,
together with other interesting points
about the dissectir g room.
To reach the apartment where thou
sands of bodies have been cut to pieces
for the benefit Of science one has to climb
the stairs to the top (fifth) floor of the
college building. Entering the door, at
tentiOn is first attracted to a long row of
tables on either side Of the room, which
is about 80 feet wide by 40 feet long. Here
and there a table contained point as
the medical profession term body. In
the daytime the points are OVered over
from head to toe with moist bandages to
keep them from drying up. The dissect-
ing is done only at night, when the scene
is a busy one and much more interesting.
/ The room contains forty tables in all,
and often in the midst of the college term
! each one is brought into use. The table
| consists of a large slab formed somewhat
on the plan OF a WOman's irOning-bOard,
/ only it is little larger. Cutters are cut
| an inch from the edge, and Just deep
enough to allow the drippings to 90 into
! pan on the floor at the foot Of the board
I The slabs are set on horses about three
and a half feet in height, with the head
| little the highest. On each side of table
| is bench large enough to accommodate
| two students. All of these are NOV
1 able. There is another smaller
/ bench for the student who works
! on the head. Small blocks of
wood are provided to place under differ
/ ent parts of the body to put them into pc.
| sftion. A small room adjoining Is for pri-
( yate classes, and contains five or six ia
! bles. AS there are over three hundred
/ students attending the Ohio College at
! present it is necessary to have at least
I forty cadaYers for the course, which lasts
! six months. Each student at the COM
mencement of a term pays $40 for a dis
! secting ticket. This entities him to a
/ fifth portion Of the first body he works on.
After that he pays s. extra for his share
/ of the subject. Five students work on
J one body. and pay So each for the privi-
lege. They draw cuts as to The choice
of portions.
The new student generally gets sick
and does not take kindly to the work at
/ first. He is careful in dOnning a large
gown before he goes near the corpse, and
/ particularly careful as to where he puts
his fingers for fear of blood poison. When
they finally get broken in they lose all abb
horrence of the work and sit and smoke
and chat while they carve and pelt each
1 other with different portions of the sub
jects. They play all sorts of jokes on each
other. For instance, they will stick a
classmates pipe in cadaver's mouth
! and then tell him where he can find it.
| Woe betide the unlucky professor who is
dislked by the students should he
/ appear in the dissechng room.
| they will pay him sundry unpleasant
attentions and deposit in his pockets pOr-
| tiOns of the anatomy that are of the least
use. The dissection of the head is useful
! only for the knowledge it gives of the
! muscles of the neck and back. The stu
dent makes an incisiOn about on a line
| with the breast bones, and then such other
incisiOns that NAV assist him in disSect-
| ing back the skin with the least possible
damage to the tissues beneath. These he
/ investigates separately, locating the mus
cles, his book before him, following the
/ course of the bl0od-Yessels and nerves as
I they appear to his observation. He inYes-
tigates thoroughly to the windplpe, and
the only thing that escapes his knife is
the back bones going up to the neck.
One part of the head of Importance is the
muscles around the jaw, nose, eyes and
forehead. The student has little use for
the top of the head The brain, as a rule,
is dIssected collectively. However, it is
not often in a condition to dissect. After
this there is little or nothing left but the
cI-r lfT1fr &c -,
arm much the same course is pursued,
only more attention is given to the mus
Giles Of the hands and fingers, Every.
thing is utilized, and the same may he
said of the lower eXtremities. The chest
and abdomen are dissected collectively
by the class, and generally with the aid Of
the demonstration of anatomy. After the
work on body is completed nothing
remains but the bones. In the first case
these go to the college, and in the second
to the students. A skeleton prepared is
! worth considerable money. Contrary to
all expectations the dissecting room is
rather neat place, and although the OdOr
is not familiar to every one, still it is not
| so horrible as people might be led to sup
pose. 1t requires three hours work every
night for four weeks to complete the dis
section of body by five students. The
bodies OF people dying of consumption are
| most desired for dissecting purposes. as
they have the least fat. Fleshy subjects
are at discount. Students have little
choice as to sex. The body should be at
least fourteen years old, and those over
twenty are the most preferable. Old per-
sons are not 50 good, as the arteries are
weak and break down, and will not stand
following. For the lecture room extra
material is held. For instance, body on
which no post-mOrtem examination has
been made will be laid out on the table,
and hit On the head to produce a fracture.
This is to show the class how to attend
such fracture, by eleyating the bone or
taking out the fragments.
The picking watts, made notorious by
the Harrison case, are near the old chute,
which is used SO seldom nowadays. 1t
will hold from fifteen to twenty-five
bodies, and is used when there is an eX-
cess Of material. In it bodies will keep
for an indefinite period. AS a rule, how
ever, picked subjects are not so good.
The students do not like them, as they
are not fresh and the veins and arteries
| don't stand ont wall