Remarks on the Anatomy Bill now before Parliament : in a letter addressed to the Right Hon. the Lord Althorp, and given to the members of either House on their personal or written application to the publisher / by G.J. Guthrie.

  • Guthrie, G. J. (George James), 1785-1856.
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the Anatomy Bill now before Parliament : in a letter addressed to the Right Hon. the Lord Althorp, and given to the members of either House on their personal or written application to the publisher / by G.J. Guthrie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    R E M ARKS ON THE PROPOSED ANATOMY BILL, fyc. 8fc. Three years have passed away since I had the honor of addressing1 a let- ter to the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Home Depart- ment on the subject of the Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons on Anatomy. The opinions, and the arguments adduced in sup- port of them (contained in that letter) have not been refuted. The opinions have, it is true, been opposed by other opinions, but the arguments have remained unanswered and untouched. Since that period, a Bill has been brought into Parliament for the regulation of the study of anatomy, and has been thrown out; and many circumstances have occurred with which it is possible your Lordship may not be thoroughly acquainted, and of which it is certain the public is nearly ignorant. In my former letter, pages 25 and 26, I drew the attention of the Secretary of State to the fact, “ that the dealing in dead bodies gives an opportunity of committing murder with impunity.” I did not hesitate to state privately, at the same time, to several Members of Parliament, and particularly to Mr. Hume and to Mr. Fowell Buxton, my belief that it was then actually taking place, which these gentlemen would scarcely credit, until the horrible events which took place at Edinburgh removed every doubt. The more fearful ones which have lately occurred in London prove the continuance of the practice ; and it is again with a perfect conviction of the fact, I state to your Lordship, that it is still going on in England, and must go on, unless the law relating to anatomy be altered, and its study protected. It is not to London or Edinburgh that these murders are confined. It is in other towns and places in England that they can be perpetrated with even greater security. It is from the country towns and places in the heart of England that the anatomical schools of London and of Scotland are supplied. Ten pounds are allowed for each body on the spot where it is disinterred, Stolen, or where the person is murdered. The package and conveyance by coach or steamer costs two pounds ten shillings ; and arriving at its destination after a lapse of four or five days, no one can tell under what circumstances the body was deprived of life. The safe disposal of the body