The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-03-14
DEALS IN HUMAN BONES.
A PhiIadIphian VINO Puts Together
Skeletons to Order

Skeletons To Order
From the New York Mail and Express.
Twenty-four deadheads were landed In
Philadelphia yesterday. They came in
two long boxes from Havre, and their
passage cost in the neighborhood of 81.
for. while they were deadheads without
doubt, their transportation had to be paid
for
There is one man in Philadelphia who
carries on a business In which he has
but one rival in the United States, two
in France and one in England. He Is an
articulator of human skeletons and is
not connected with any particular medi-
cal school or college, but is an independ-
ent purveyor in what might almost be
termed a unique occupation. The anato-
mical department of every college of nedi-
cine has it's own artlculator, but in the
larger institutions this important func-
tionary is unable to keep up with the de-
mand, and has thus made possible the ex-
istence of a business that is as unusual
as II is profitable. The Philadelphia artic-
uator supplies students and professors in
anatomy all over the United States and
Canada, and there is one popularity about
his work that would sadly perplex be-
lever IN the Hindu philosophy of rein
carnation, because nearly all the skele-
tons he prepares are composite.
This singular establishment Is by no
means a grewsome place. On the con-
trary, 1t is really cheerful and interest
ing. 1t is located on the two upper floors
OF what was once an old-fashioned pri-
vate dwelling built In the broad and gem
erous style of the Quakerdom of fifty
years ago. Two assistants are employed
to sandpaper, polish, label and classify the
bones that come in. Tiers of bins are ar
ranged along the walls. and In these are
carefully packed the several bones that
make up the framework of the human
body The skulls ara ranged In double
row on shelves chat are built around the
four walls of the top loft. The floor be-
low is the workshop, and wnen an order
comes In for a complete skeleton the as
sistants prepare il with skill and rapid
| ity that has come to them with many
| years Of experience.
First and foremost they carefully study
what Is wanted. II Il is the skeleton OF a
male, with no particular proportions speci-
| fed the bones are selected from their re-
spectve receptacles The skull of poet
| may rest on the spinal column. of labor
| er, or vice versa. Bill Smiths digits may
| depend from Tom Browns forearm. One
shinbone may have belonged to a paupeT
and the other to q spendthrift-it doesn't
matter. Tho ball and socket joints, and
the hinge joints are skillfuly wired, the
measurements are taken and recorded on
| a tablet which is tied to a rib, and the os-
seous pluribus unum Is ready for ship
/ ment. Sometimes to save space and
| freight rates, the skeleton is wired ready 20
be put together and is sent that way but,
as a rule, the schools OF anatomy prefer
10 have the bones articulated as they
should be before they leave the factory"
The prices of these specimens vary. A
perfect skeleton-that is 10 say, a frame
not clipped In any of its parts, and with
/ -. h. aIf
sal bones, and the dental processes in good
condtion--is worth from $l25 10 $50.
French professors demand that the bones
shall be thoroughly bleached and have no
preventative against crumblng. The ma
| jority OF American demonstrators of anat-
omy require that the bones shall be treat
| ed with a preparation OF sheliac. This
darkens them, and TO some extent hides
the llmy constituent which the continental
teachers deem necessary TO be shown In
| their demonstrations. A skeleton contain
| ing all the bones, but 10 Be used simply
to teach their number and uses, may be
bought from the professional articulatoT
for $50 or $75, and an occasional bargain In
bones comes along at even less, especially
In the case OF a poor student who Is unable
10 afford hrst-class specimen.
Skulls are usually sold 10 dental col
| leges, surgeon dentists and phrenologlsts
For the first two the teeth must, OF
course, be perfect, and 10 this industry
the French lead all other countries. Tho
! two dozen skulls consigned to Philadel-
phla yesterday were mostly for the use
OF students In dentistry. Where ths
Frenchmen get these skulls I have NJ
idea. Many OF them are sent from dep
pc TO Paris, and thence TO the United
states. and " has been limited that par
OF the supply comes from the Cataeombs
but this IL scarcely probable A French
skull. thoroughly bleached and with H.