The Red Cloud chief., 1896-05-15

member has sol
cmn'y pledged him
self That Whom he dies his body. in
stead of having ccrcmonious burial.
shall be delivered to his surviving as.
sociates, who shall disscct 1t, and that
his brain likewise shall hc studied and
probcd for its secrets. ana finally. i'm
merscd In alcohol. 1T shall be ranged
in a glass beside the skull which held
1t along with many other brains aud
skulls Of those that hay" gone before.
The name of this strange organiaa-
ton Is the Mutual Autopsy Society tia
S0ciete d'Autopsic MutuCllcl II has
about 100 living members. and the
dead, whose skulls and brains are
neatly cataloguod in a glass case at
one end of the m~cctiug-ruom. number
fourteen. Within a few days the fiji
toenth CHASTITY relic will have it, place
there.
This fifteenth was in life tho prop
erty of NJ. Abel lloyelacquc, director Of
the Anthropological Society. who died
a short time ago. 1t now rests. i'm
fnorsed in alcohol. on the table of the
dissccting room, where soon VIII gath
or the mans former comrades to weigh
and cut and probe and discuss it and
try to pierce the mystery which it
holds.
The Mutual Autopsy Society was or.
ganizcd in 1876, when several pro-
fessors ana sayauts of the Authropo-
logical Society decided to offer them
selves as examples in MAILING a sac
riiice to science. "Why," they asked,
one another, should We render i'm
mediately to earth the deserted mortal
tenement, the study of which offers
so vast ana interesting possibilities
tor the advancement of SCIENCE"
Another doctrine Of tins society Is
that it would be infinitely better for
families, when an adult member died.
If he should be made the subject of
careful scientific study. In this way
the children or relatives Of the de
ceased might be warned of and taught
how to guard against hereditary mula-
dies which might menace them.
1t vas this double point of view
scientific ana humanitarian that
brought about the organization of the
Mutual Autopsy Society. The consti-
tuition Of the society is carefully drawn
and each member is Obliged to sign the
following pledge:
Il, the undersigned, desire and wish
that after my death an autopsy of my
body be held under the auspices of the
Societc d'Autopsic, duly authorized.
and also under those as well of the
Society for the Advancement of An
thropological Science, both legally rec
cogni2cd to be of public utility.
"Therefore. for the purpose of being
useful to science, ! bcqucath to the
laboratory Of the aforesaid association
my brain and any other part of my
body. on my entire body. if that be
judged useful in the course of the
autopsy.
should, however, contrary to my in
tent and wish. my desire in these pres
ents expressed, be contested by my
heirs, | bequeath, free of all incum-
branCe, to the poor of ...... to ......
tfor example, to the poor of the com.
mune of .......,) or TO such and such
an association"
NJ, ~Hovelacque's heirs offered no
objection to the carrying out of his
will, and it is anticipated that some
unusually interesting discoveries will
be made when the autopsy takes place.
for the dead man was n Of the most
prominent members OF the society.
NJ. Hovelacque was 80 years old at
his death, a leading French savant, and
a lannon's linguist, particularly in ORR
entail tongues. Though professor of
linguistic ethnography in the School
Of Anthropology, he took ain active in
terest in politics and was an ardent
socialist. At the time of his death he
was a member of the chamber OF depu-
ties, IT, religion he was a materialist.
The president OF the society is the cele-
brated DR.. Laborde, professor of the
School OF ~Anthropology and chief OF
the physiologic work OF the faculty OF
Paris.
The fourteen brains which are now
in the columbarium Of the society be-
ionged, in life, according to the official
list, to the following people: Asseline,
Assezat, Broca, DR.. Bertillon, Conde-
reau. Fauvelle, Gambetta, the great
French statesman; Gillet, Vital, Lavol-
lay, Nine. Leblais Morriere, Sauzel and
Eugene Veron. Other illustriouC names
should also figure in this list, among
them those OF Gen. F~aidherbe and of
Violet lie Due. These celebrated
Frenchmen were members of the So
clety, but exceptional circumstances
prevented an autopsy being held up
on their remains. Gen. F~aidherbe died
suddenly far away from Paris, and
Violet le Due met with an accidental
death In a foreign country. The latter,
II VIII he remembered, was a cele-
brated French architect, archaeologist
and writer on art.
Not long ago n of the societaires
resolved TO commit suicide, and wrote
to the president OF the association to