The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-13
BUYING LIVING BODIES.
a Young Man aud Wife OFFER Their
bodies for sale.

From the New York Recorie-
For reasons which can readily be APP
preciated. doctors and the heads ~ medi-
cal institutions do not care TO 81 into
particulars regarding the purchase Of liv-
ing bodies, and, yet, as matter ~ fact,
It is customary TO pay cash n return
for a bill OF sale on the human body. 90
be delivered TO the doctor OF 10 the medi-
cal institution, after the death of The
seller.
Any persons who are compete Hy fate
to go through life with maltlrmation
of body OF limb may, If they choose. rral-
lie on their misfortune. and there are on
record wills Of persons deceased who
have left their bodies 10 various i.sttu-
ti0ns for dissection.
There are many cases of such ante
norton sales. one Of the most notable be-
ing that OF a man known as john who
has sold his head and trunk Go she sur
geons connected with a wei known New
York hospital. John, who so far as rec
Ords go. has no other name. has Urccu-
liar growth on the side of his head. which,
while not a particularly pleasing sight,
from medical standpoint Is most inter-
esting.
A man came to the hospital as q char
ity patient a number of years ago. and IL
is said that an arrangement was made be-
tween john and the doctors whereby he
was to have home in the hospital as
long as he lived. provided thar he was
willing that after death his body should go
TO the surgeons table.
Another case was that Of Allen Martin
and his young wife. For some reason
known only to themselves, they wished
to sell their bodies 10 the Central Medi-
cal College OF st. Joseph. Mo. but the
offer was refused, for the reason that
both man and wife We're IN good health
and perfectly formed, and there was ev-
cry prospect OF their OUTLYING the doc
tors to whom they wished TO make the
sale.
a medical college in this city has among
its records and papers a bill Of sale for a
wOmans head. The woman Is alive to-
day. and should her name be mentioned
II would be recognized by hundreds OF per-
sons. She is gifted with marvelously ten
acious memory, and the doctors are Gu
r1ous to know just what popularity her
brain will show. This cannot be learned
during her life, but she, being willing to
advance the cause of science, has sold her
head to the institution for the nominal
sum of $50. In her Will she has left in
structions that her body shall De decapi-
tated, and while her trunk and limbs shall
be buried in the ordinary way, the head
and brain shall go to the surgeons for dis
section.
In all the German hospitals every patient
VINO enters does so With the knowledge
that If he or she dies In the institution the
body. Is by law destined for the dssecting
table. Custom, which famildrizes all
Things, mas overcome all sense Of repug-
nance in the matter, and the charity pa
tient gives no second thought TO the final
disposition of his body.
In French hospitals the same custom
| prevails, and any peculiar malformation
of the body I'm a deceased patient is at
once subjected to the surgeons knife. At
tempts have been made to pass a similar
law in England and in this country, but
the public sentiment has thus far overruled
the demands of the anatomists. and with
few exceptions medical colleges are oblig-
ed to look elsewhere than charity hospi-
tails for subjects for the disseotng table.