Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1885-03-07
THE DIssECTING ROOM.
From tho New York Herald.

In 1dE U1ooEC11NT hooM'
From tho New York Herald.
There is one branch of their course which
medical men never neglect, no matter how
idle or how busy they may be. Ia the dis
secting room there is an attraction they can
| not withstand. Whether it be morbid Gu
| riosity, whether it be an ardent seeking after
knowledge, or whether it be simply de,
sire to learn of the fearful and won derful
construction of man, there is something in
ANATOMY which draws the minds of medical
students instinctively to it. Few outside of
| the students themselves know anything o1
the dissecting room, the work dono or the
course pursued. Visitors rarely enter it
and the students are jealous of their rights.
1t is not pretty place to enter. The eye,
though it may be fascinated, is not at all
gratifed The nostrils wrinkle up in ois'
gust as the mingled odor of disinfectants
and something which disinfectants are pow
erless to smother rises up and salutes them.
When Herald reporter entered the dis
sectng room of one of the city colleges the
other night there were about twenty. five
men at work, busy with text book and seal
,pe. On the slabs scattered Through the
| room the subjects for dissection lay. Most
of the bodies were those of men, generally
middle aged, though one or two Of them
had the fresh, healthy look Of robust mau-
hood. With aprons tied up round their
necks, book on lap and knife in hand the
students bent earnestly over their work.
Some were removing the brain of their al
lotment, others were laying bare the mus
cles or arteries. Most of them smoked a
we'll seasoned pipe, or clung tenaciously to
cigar between their teeth. Each body is
divided into FIVE portions, the head aud the
right and left upper and lower portions OF
the trunk. After the head is removed the
BODY is severed across the abdomen. and
the parts thus distributed. They are all
drawn by lot. The head is the great desid-
eratum, and the man who is fortunate
operate on it himself, is always able to dis
pose of it to good advantage. After the
brain and muscles have been removed the
skall is boiled il :. st7ong ac!d preparation
and the remaining flesh adhering to it re-
moved. It is then dried and ready for study
Of the different bones.
Subjects in all stages of dissection were
on the different slabs. From some the
limbs had been cut off, from others the
muscles removed from the chest, with the
sternum and ribs exposed Iii the older
subjects the flesh had generally dried up
around the face, and the sightless eyes and
wizened features presented q ghastly APP
pearauce in the strong light shining down
| on them. Other slabs were covered with
| long and narrow linen cloths. The cloths
| lifted disclosed fresh specimen just brought
| in and waiting its turn for The mercless
scaipel. But the bodies did not seem
to mind the cutting and hacking
they were undergoing, any more than
did the more or less scientific plyers
Of the sharp and glitterng instruments.
Some Of them lay easily on their sides, in
| order to give the dissector chance to strip
| away the muscles from the back. long,
thin subject lay stretched out on one Of the
slabs, with the flesh cut away from the at
tenuated limbs. A fat woman was punched
up in heap, and from the lap OF a bearded
student her head seemed to gaze wondering
| ly Oh the trunk it once SO impeTlously or
| dered around The arms of another sub
ect hung idly over the side of a slab, and
the head dropped dejectedly over the end.
| One pretty girl OF about twenty years,
with the rich auburn hair shrouding herneck
and arms, and a peaceful, quiet look on the
pale face, alone seemed out of place IN the
CHASTITY gathering. She was as yet untouch-
ed by the knife, and the reporters friend,
who irreverently pulled the linen cloth from
off her body, at once replaced it with sign
| eyes" he said, in answer TO a question
''she is one of comm mon enough class, and
we occasionally fall in with them here. She
was doubtless some girl from the country
or perhaps too con6ding shop girl, who
finding her trust betrayed, hurried to the
river, sudden plunge and all was over
Her father and mother at home in some
little country village doubtless think their
daughter winning her way in the great city
but"-aud o pause-"there are dozens o
these cases"
"Where do you procure most OF your SUB
iects ?" asked the reporter.
A smile came over the face of the FRIEND
as ne replied
"You must not ask me too many questions
A good many of the 'stifs' come from the
Morgue and the hospitals, and others man
age to find their way in some way or other
Would YOU believe it, but 'stiffs' have reg
ular market price of their own. 1t rises
and falls as unevenly as stocks in Wal
street. Various causes bring about the va
ration in price. Cold weather, warm spells
rain, snow, frost, over production, the mum
ber of students in the current term-al
have their effect"
"What are bodies worth ?"
"That depends. When the term open
! they start in at s10 they are at premium
about Christmas and bring as high as ga
Then, as spring and the warm weather com
and the term begins to draw to an end, tn
prices go way down again, sometimes a
low as sS l saw one sold last year 10
thirty cents, but do not want you TO thinl
twas at all in prime condition. Besides
about that time the days we're getting pret
ty warm"
The reporters cigar was about smoke
ont by the time his friend had finished, an
! the combination Of odors and disinfectant
was rapidly encroaching on his sensibiitie:
40. bidding his friend hasty adieu an
with q last glance at the silent students an
even more silent forms on the slabs, he too