It is an odious thing that the teachers of anatomy should be brought
into contact with such men: that they should be obliged to employ them,
and that they should even be in their power; which they are to such a
degree, that they are obliged to bear with the wantonness of their
tyranny and insult. All the clamour against these men, all the
punishment inflicted on them, only operate to raise the premium on the
repetition of their offence. This premium the teachers of anatomy are
obliged to pay, which these men perfectly understand, who do not at all
dislike the opposition which is made to their vocation. It gives them no
unreasonable pretext for exorbitancy in their demands. In general they
are men of infamous character; some of them are thieves, others are the
companions and abettors of thieves. Almost all of them are extremely
destitute. When apprehended for the offence in question, the teachers of
anatomy are obliged to pay the expenses of the trial, and to support
their families while they are in prison; whence the idea of immunity is
associated, in these men’s minds, with the violation of the law, and
when they do happen to incur its penalties, they practically find that
they and their families are provided for, and this provision comes to
them in the shape of a reward for the commission of their offence. The
operation of such a system on the minds of the individuals themselves is
exceedingly pernicious, and is not a little dangerous to the community.
Moreover, by the method of exhumation, the supply after all is scanty;
it is never adequate to the wants of the schools; it is of necessity
precarious, and it sometimes fails altogether for several months. But it
is of the utmost importance that it should be abundant, regular, and
cheap. The number of young men who come annually to London for the
purpose of studying medicine and surgery, may be about a thousand. Their
expenses are necessarily very considerable while in town; they have
already paid a large sum for their apprenticeship in the country; the
circumstances of country practitioners, in general, can but ill afford
protracted expenses for their sons in London; few of them stay a month
longer than the time prescribed by the College of Surgeons. But the
short period they spend in London is the only time they have for
acquiring the knowledge of their profession. If they mis-spend these
precious hours, or if the means of employing them properly be denied
them, they must necessarily remain ignorant for life. After they leave
London they have no means of dissecting. We have seen that it is by
dissecting alone, that they can make themselves acquainted even with the
principles of their art; that without it they cannot so much as avail
themselves of the opportunities of improvement, which experience itself
may offer, nor, without the highest temerity, perform a single
operation. We have seen that occasions suddenly occur, which require
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