Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-01-30
UNCLAIMED DEAD.

UNCLAIMED DEAD.
What Becomes Of New York;,
Unidentified Bodies.
Fully 1000 bodies are utilized each
year for dissecting purposes in New
York City alone. Each medical col.
lege is entitled to certain number by
law, in proportion to the number Of
students it represents. The College
OF Physicians and Surgeons, which is
the medical department of Columbia
College, has over 700 students this
year: This representing the largest
number of medical students in any
one institution the college has the
claim on the greatest number OF
"cadavers." Two hundred and sixty
are required each college session.
The University of the City of New
York, which has 600 students,
requires about 24O: Bellevue
Hospital Medical College requires
200, and the remaining 300 are divided
among the. minor institutions. Be-
sides the number OF bodies, or. to use
the medical term, "cadavers," which
serve for anatomical study, at least
100 more are used to illustrate lectures
upon operative surgery. The object
of this is to teach students to operate
upon dead subjects before expert
mentjng upon the living. All these
bodies are unclaimed dead, which
are kept, in accordance with the law.
for three days for Identification before
being disposed of. Howe yer revolving
the idea of dissecting may be, it is
absolutely essential to the study OF
medical scien 10.
The College of Physicians and Sur
geons has the finest dissecting room
in the country, if not in the world. 1t
has forty tables. These are of mod
ern design and simple in construction,
consisting of an iron frame supported
by four iron legs, upon which rests a
slab of slate weighing 200 pounds. An
inch from the margin of this slab is q
groove half an inch in depth, intend
ed to convey the drippings into an
iron receptacle fastened to the head
of the table. Five students are as
signed to each "cadaver," SO that
with the forty tables two hundred
men are enabled to work at once.
Five hours day devoted to a subject
will enable a group of students to dis
sect it completely within one week.
Each student is assigned to work on
a specified portion Of the "cadaver"
by demonstrator of anatomy, and is
required to dissect. an entire body
during the first year of his course. II
he has failed to pass satisfactory ex-
animation he is again subjected to a
similar task, until his knowledge of
anatomy is proved.
Strange as it may seem some stu
dents acquire a fanatical fondness for
this branch Of their study, and are
never so happy as when in the dis
secting room Clad in a loose gown
of calico, scalpel in hand, they seem
to be in their clement, laughing and
jesting merrilly as they divide tendon
after tendon, and seperate muscle
after muscle, in their investiga-
tion into the deep and intricate
structure OF the human frame.
Each college has superintendent
Of "cadavers, J" whose business it is to
select from the unclaimed dead his
proportion of bodies. These he duly
inspects, labels and has transferred
by night to the college he represents.
Having arrived at the place of destina.
ton, the "cadavers" are injected with
preserving fluid and placed in an
immense refrigerator. Properly pre-
pared, body will stand exposure to
the atmosphere of dissecting-
for q month or six weeks. There ex-
lists considerable rivalry among the
embalmers of 'cadavers" as to who
possesses tn 3 best method of preser-
vation. In New York, Mr.. Walsh, OF
the University College, who embalmed
the late President Garfield, is regard
ed as the most expert. Some of the
colleges cremate the dissected re-
mains; others bury them. Each
medical student is entitled to the
bones OF subject. A feature in the
College of Physicians and Surgeons is
a Calculating Bone Library" A
large number of disarticulated skele.
tons are kept here, and separate bones
are lent for study as books are lent
from the circulating library.
There are about 220O medical stu
dents in View York this year. They
come from all parts of the country
from Maine to Texas, from Massachu.
sets to California. Many OF them are
graduated physicians from other medi-
cal colleges, who come here to take ad.
vantage of the hospital facilities OF the
city and to familiarize themselves with
the more recent system of applied
medicine and surgery. Some OF them
are geniuses in their way. They
seem to have failed in making pro
gress in other walks of life
and have adopted medicine as
a last resort. In appearance
they are unk kempt, with shabby coats
and short trousers. They appear to be
perpetually on the run to attend a
clinic, and yet have plenty of time to
absorb beer when invited. Poor men
most of them, who club together, hire
apartments, divide expenses on food
AID books, and rush the "growler" al
night with the enthusiasm OF a Fourth
ward tough. A visitor to the Bellevue
Hospital A mphitheatre, where clinics
are held every day, can form some ides
of the material, which, through the
process of evolution, makes doctors
Here are collected dudes and coun
trymen and men OF middle age. Some
of them will continue to study fol
years in vain, others are destined tt
shine in their profession. The shabby
little man who squints through his pai
of brass-bound spectacles is astonish
ingly wise and marvelously recondit,
on the subjects of bacteria, thrombosis
and affections of the anterior horns il
the brain. Sitting near him is thu
man whose head would delight any
phrenologist, whose intellect seems
seated in bis forehead, but who at
taches more Importance to his pipt
and bottle than to the midnight oil
He has mistaken his calling. He il
man of talent, undoubtedly, but hi
should have axartad II in another line