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History of medical practice in Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

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<strong>History</strong> <strong>of</strong> Anatomy Laws <strong>in</strong> Ill<strong>in</strong>ois 399imposed for refus<strong>in</strong>g to deliver dead bodies, there was a paragraph stat<strong>in</strong>gthe procedure by which the rema<strong>in</strong>s <strong>of</strong> such bodies after dissection bedisposed <strong>of</strong>. It said that"it shall be die duty <strong>of</strong> preceptors, pr<strong>of</strong>essors and teachers, and all <strong>of</strong>ficers <strong>of</strong><strong>medical</strong> colleges or schools, public or private, who shall receive any dead body orbodies, <strong>in</strong> pursuance <strong>of</strong> the provisions <strong>of</strong> this act, decently to bury, <strong>in</strong> some publiccemetery, or to cremate the same <strong>in</strong> a furnace properly constructed for the purpose,the rema<strong>in</strong>s <strong>of</strong> all bodies, after they shall have answered the purposes <strong>of</strong>study aforesaid." The penalty for not comply<strong>in</strong>g with these regulations shall be"not less than 50 dollars, imprisonment <strong>in</strong> the county jail, not less than six, normore than twelve months, or both, at the discretion <strong>of</strong> the court."It isdifficult to arrive at a correct appraisal <strong>of</strong> how many human bodieswere generally available annually for dissection <strong>in</strong> Ill<strong>in</strong>ois before the passage<strong>of</strong> the Anatomy Act <strong>of</strong> 1885, that is, how much was illegally procuredor imported and how much was sanctioned by the law, especially by that<strong>of</strong> 1874. Conflict<strong>in</strong>g estimates are apparent <strong>in</strong> the acrimonious disputewhich followed immediately on a report on <strong>medical</strong> education and prelim<strong>in</strong>aryeducation at the Spr<strong>in</strong>gfield meet<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the Ill<strong>in</strong>ois State Medical<strong>Society</strong> <strong>in</strong> 1885 <strong>in</strong> which Dr. Albert Strong told about the progress <strong>in</strong> secur<strong>in</strong>gadditional legislation for anatomical purposes. In reply to Dr.(WilliamHeath) Byford who said that "we graduate a large number <strong>of</strong> persons nothalf <strong>of</strong> whom have dissected," Dr. (Charles Warr<strong>in</strong>gton) Earle begs thepresident to permit him to say "just one word <strong>in</strong> defense <strong>of</strong> the <strong>medical</strong>colleges <strong>of</strong> Chicago. ... I desire to make this statement that <strong>of</strong> 500 menand women who are graduated each year from the Chicago Colleges—fromRush, the Chicago Medical, the College <strong>of</strong> Physicians and Surgeons andthe Woman's College—490 have dissected two parts, if not the entire body."Dr. Byford retorts: "I stick to my op<strong>in</strong>ion all the same." Pr<strong>of</strong>. Earle: "Andyet the facts are aga<strong>in</strong>st you, Doctor. Every college <strong>in</strong> Chicago is very particularthat its students shall do the required dissections." Dr. Remsbury: "Iwould like to ask Dr. Earle how much dissection is required? Pr<strong>of</strong>. Earle:"In the college with which I am connected— the Woman's College—werequire the dissection <strong>of</strong> the entire body." Dr. Remsbury: "If they all getso much dissection why is it we need this Anatomical bill?" Pr<strong>of</strong>. Earle:"We have material enough for that and a few more."It is not strange that the provisions <strong>of</strong> the Anatomy Act even after itspassage did not escape entirely the petty political maneuver<strong>in</strong>gs and bribery<strong>of</strong> unscrupulous <strong>of</strong>ficials. There is a sentence <strong>in</strong> Dr. Cook's responseto Dr. A. Reeves Jackson's welcome <strong>of</strong> the Ill<strong>in</strong>ois State Medical <strong>Society</strong>to the city <strong>of</strong> Chicago <strong>in</strong> 1887 for its 37th meet<strong>in</strong>g which, though it refersto another aspect <strong>of</strong> <strong>medical</strong> education, might quite as well po<strong>in</strong>t to die<strong>in</strong>terference <strong>in</strong> the fair application <strong>of</strong> the anatomical law: "Do not permit

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