Body-snatching

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Body-snatching was the secret disinterring of dead bodies in churchyards to sell them for dissection or anatomy lectures in medical schools. Those who practised body-snatching or grave robbing were frequently called resurrectionists or resurrection-men.^[1]

Main article History of anatomy in the 19th century

1 History
2 Bodysnatching in fiction
3 Further reading
4 See also
5 References

[edit] History

Before the Anatomy Act in 1832, the only legal supply of corpses for anatomical purposes were those condemned to death and dissection by the courts. This did not provide enough subjects for the Medical schools and private anatomical schools (which required no license before 1832). Therefore, the medical profession turned to body-snatching to supply the shortfall. Stealing a corpse was only a misdemeanour at common law, not a felony, and was therefore only punishable with fine and imprisonment, rather than transportation or execution. The trade was a sufficiently lucrative business to run the risk of detection, particularly as the authorities tended to turn a blind eye to what they considered a necessary evil.

Body-snatching became so prevalent that it was not unusual for relatives and friends of someone who had just died to watch over the body until burial, and then to keep watch over the grave after burial, to stop it being violated. Iron coffins, too, were frequently used, or the graves were protected by a framework of iron bars called mortsafes, well-preserved examples of which may still be seen in Greyfriars churchyard, Edinburgh. In Holland, poorhouses were accustomed to receiving a small fee by undertakers who paid a fine for ignoring burial laws and resold the bodies (especially those with no family) to doctors.

One method the body-snatchers used was to dig at the head end of recent burial diging with a wooden spade (quieter than metal), when they reached the coffin (in London the graves were quite shallow) they broke open the coffin - using the weight of the earth on the undug section of the grave, put a rope around the corpses and dragged it out. They were careful not to steal anything such as rings on fingers or clothes as this would open them to a charge of a felony. The Lancet^[2] reported another method. A manhole-sized square of turf was removed 15ft to 20ft away from the head of the grave, and a tunnel dug to intercept the coffin, which would be about 4ft down. The end of the coffin would be pulled off, and the corpse pulled up through the tunnel. The turf was then replaced, and any relatives watching the graves would not notice the small, remote disturbance. The article suggests that the number of empty coffins that have been discovered "proves beyond a doubt that at this time body-snatching was frequent".

The practice was also common in other parts of the Commonwealth, such as Canada, where religious customs made it hard for medical students to obtain a steady supply of bodies. In many instances the students had to resort to fairly regular body-snatching.

While studying in Paris, Vesalius was accustomed to robbing the Paris graveyards with fellow anatomy pupils.

There is still a demand for corpses for transplantation surgery in the form of allografts,^[3] and modern body-snatchers feed this demand.^[4] Tissue such gained is medically unsafe and unusable. The broadcaster Alistair Cooke's bones were allegedly cut up by body-snatchers before his cremation^[5]^[6]^[7] .

[edit] Bodysnatching in fiction

Jerry Cruncher, a character from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, works at night as a resurrection man.
In Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein collects the parts for his creation through body-snatching from many bodies.
A famous literary depiction of the practice is the short story, The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson, and the film adaptation starring Boris Karloff.
The song, The Resurrectionist by the Pet Shop Boys appeared as a bonus track on their first single from their 2006 album Fundamental, I'm with stupid. The track is inspired by the book The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave-Robbery in 1830s London by Sarah Wise.
Other recent depictions of the trade include James Bradley's The Resurrectionist, Hilary Mantel's The Giant O'Brien, and Ann Rinaldi's An Acquaintance with Darkness.

[edit] Further reading

J. B. Bailey, editor (1896). The Diary of a Resurrectionist. London. Contains a full bibliography and the regulations in force in foreign countries for the supply of bodies for anatomical purposes, as of its date of publish.
Vieux Doc (docteur Edmond Grignon) (1930). En guettant les ours : mémoires d'un médecin des Laurentides. Montréal : Éditions Édouard Garand. Digitized by the National Library of Quebec. French language.
"Waking the Dead: how to steal a dead body", Blather.net.
C. W. Herr, editor (1799). The Horrors of Oakendale Abbey. Mrs Carver. Gothic novel about the terror inflicted upon a young woman when she is locked inside a crumbling Abbey used by resurrection men and body snatchers. Published by Zittaw Press.
Richardson, Ruth (2001). Death, Dissection, and the Destitute. Contains excellent information regarding the Anatomy Act and the Resurrectionist's influence upon the urban poor.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
^ The Lancet, 147(3777), 185-187 (1896).
^ Aaron Smith, "Tissue from corpses in strong demand" CNNMoney.com October 5, 2005, retrieved 18 May 2006
^ Aaron Smith, "Body snatchers tied to allograft firms?", CNNMoney.com October 7, 2005, retrieved 18 May 2006.
^ "Alistair Cooke's bones 'stolen'", BBC news online 22 December 2005, retrieved 18 May 2006
^ Sam Knight, "Bodysnatchers steal Alistair Cooke's bones", Times online December 22, 2005, retrieved 18 May 2006.
^ "Four charged over US bones theft", BBC news online 23 February 2006, Retrieved 18 May 2006.