John Hunter Anatomists

The logic and principles of medieval medicine shaped those of Modern medicine. Never was there a more efficient method perfected, so much that it remained through history through so many hundreds of years. Today’s concepts of diagnosis, relationships with the church, anatomy, surgery, hospitals and training, and public health were established in the Middle Ages.

The origin of these organs concern people on both a medical and moral level. In a

While there are still people who do not believe in the use of cadavers or have no interest in becoming one (which is completely fine as it is simply a matter of opinion), Mary Roach shines light on all the positive impacts that cadavers can have on human life today. From bettering our safety by being used in studies for impact tests, to furthering scientific, medical and forensics research, cadavers are a necessity to our well-being and

Prior to the Scientific Revolution, doctors relied mainly on the work of the ancient physician Galen. Galen’s work was not a good source of information for medieval physicians because he had very limited knowledge of human anatomy, which led to his work containing many errors. During the Renaissance, more physicians made an effort to study human anatomy in order to correct previous mistakes. This rapid increase in the study of human anatomy continued and grew during the Scientific Revolution. In 1543, the first precise study of anatomy, entitled On the Structure of the Human Body, was written by Andreas Vesalius.

When we visited the Mutter Museum, I was mesmerized by the amount of fascinating artifacts, collection of specimens, models, as well as the extensive variety of medical instruments. The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is replete with some of the preeminent artifacts and sets of anatomical specimens in America. As a student, I was deeply intrigued by nearly everything. I was astounded by the amount of richness and diversity that makes up the history and culture of medicine. Out of all the exhibits in the Mutter Museum, I was strongly inclined and intrigued by the exhibit of the plaster cast and conjoined liver of the “Siamese twins” Chang and Eng. These two Thai conjoined twins were born in 1811. They came to the United States in 1829 to tour and perform. Chang and Eng eventually married sisters and bought adjacent farms near the lands of North Carolina during the early 1840’s. This exhibit along with countless number of expositions of the malformations of human beings ignited a very strong interest for the subject of teratology. And it was at that moment, as I stared into the unbelievable anatomy of these incredible creatures, that I made the decision of pursuing the subject of teratology for this particular research essay.

After the Revolution, the buildings and grounds were put in order, and the hospital was ready for patients in 1791. Prior to the successful openings, in 1787 and 1788, a number of bodies for the purposes of dissection by medicals students were dug up from a lower class burial-ground in potter’s field. These were legitimate fields for corpses. The medical students and also known as “resurrectionists” began to invade private

Consequently, there was no real understanding of the human body and how it functioned. At this period in time, such remedies as using leeches for blood-lettings were common practice in Europe(McGovern, 75).

After the Revolution, the buildings and grounds were put in order, and the hospital was ready for patients in 1791. Prior to the successful openings, in 1787 and 1788, a number of bodies for the purposes of dissection by medicals students were dug up from a lower class burial-ground in potter’s field. These were legitimate fields for corpses. The medical students and also known as “resurrectionists” began to invade private cemeteries. The people were angered, and the medical profession was looked upon with a negligible reverence by the people at large. (Sullivan, 1927)

Many have looked at this book as to be a mysteriously convincing, habitually funny investigation of the bizarre lives of our bodies after they are dead. For around two thousand years, cadavers a few eagerly, some unintentionally have been tangled in science's courageous advances and creepiest happenings. They have verified France's principal guillotines, galloped the NASA Space Shuttle, even tormented in a Parisian test center to exam the genuineness of the Shroud of Turin, and assisted in solving the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every innovative surgical method, from heart transplants to sexual category removal surgery, cadavers are there together with surgeons. In this captivating, ennobling version, Mary Roach goes to the good actions of cadavers over the periods from the examination labs and human-traced dispensaries of primitive and Europe to a human deterioration investigation service in Tennessee, to a training workshop that involves plastic surgery. She also goes to a funeral directors' meeting on human composition which was in Scandinavia. In her amusing, unique voice, Roach expresses the absorbing account of our bodies when we do not have them anymore. With that said, this book review will provide information as to why this is a must read for everyone.

Although grave robbing was not as large an issue after the passing of the Anatomy Act, the field still had its darkest times ahead. During the 19th and early 20th century, anatomists took advantage of the most disadvantaged sections of society including the mentally ill, people of color and poor immigrants (Cutter 2002, Halperin 2007). While these atrocities are worth remembering, anatomy truly reached its lowest point during the regime of the National Socialist Party. Corpses from concentration camps, mental facilities, and prisons were all sent to aid in research and teaching (Kaiser 2013). Throughout history, anatomists have put their morals aside for the sake of scientific advancement, but it is clear that this reached its most inexcusable

The modern method of embalming involves the injection of various chemical solutions into the arterial network of the cadaver to draw decomposition. William Harvey, the 17th century English physician who was the first to detail the system of blood circulation, made his discoveries by injecting coloured solutions into

Surgery during the Middle Age had been passed down from early Greek societies. Galen named one of the famed physician was the first to incorporate dissections into the practice and open up a new window of medical advancements. His earliest influence on the fronts of Europe with his renowned studies in anatomy and physiology. Because of the increases interest in the field of medicine, across Western Europe more focus was brought to universities. Two of the more popular schools of medicine erected in the 13th century were the universities of Padua and Bologna. These schools both specialized in medicine and student took years of hard study to earn their

Anatomy is to physiology, as geography is to history; it describes the theatre of events. Medical culture that emphasized the study of anatomy through human vivisection peaked in Alexandria in the 3rd century BC, with Herophilus and Erasistratus- the two primary anatomists of the 3rd century- spearheading this movement. Alexandria was the ideal place to study anatomy and physiology during the Hellenistic period since the research was not tied down by civil laws, taboos, or moralism that prevailed on the Greek mainland. Although the practice of human vivisection was decreed by the priesthood throughout the rest of Egypt and Athens, it was not so in this well-insulated center of learning.

For the next 50 years, donating one’s body for scientific cadaver use would become more acceptable and commonplace. However, it wasn’t until 1882 that a medical institution, the Chicago College of Physicians and Surgeons, would offer a curriculum that incorporated cadaver dissection (Perry & Kuehn, 2006). It wouldn’t be until 1918 that an organization, The Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois, would manage the body donation program for medical research and educational institutions (The Anatomical Gift Association of Illinois, 2013).

This article holds that under certain circumstances, people should be allowed to donate their body parts to those who are in need. Three metaphors are presented to support the thesis. The gift metaphor holds that there is a general consensus that the body is a gift hence it is morally acceptable to donate them to people in need as a gift. The resource metaphor states that the state, authorities and the medical fraternity tend to perceive the body as a resource. The commodity metaphor holds that body organs are acutely scarce a situation that creates an extremely high demand from potential donors who are equally desperate to donate them to those in need. These metaphors suggest that donation of body parts to those in need is not only morally justifiable but also legally acceptable. It is very rational to donate a body part when the donor is well-informed that the transplant means giving life to another and that no suffering result from it. Organs are so valuable to be wasted because individuals neither think about the possibility of living after a transplant of after death.