ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Where will the bodies come from?

• In Event: Contested Anatomy

English Abstract

The 1832 Anatomy Act provided a steady, cheap – and most importantly, legal - provision of bodies for anatomists in Scotland, effectively ending the previous problem of supply and demand. The Act allowed for the sale of bodies of those who died in public institutions, including prisons, asylums, poor and workhouses to universities for anatomical dissection and teaching. Legally being anatomised changed from being a punishment for committing a crime, to a punishment for being poor.

Presented as a solution to a dark problem, the Act inspired a range of observations about wider society. Political, scientific, social and religious responses varied wildly. These differences led to continued tensions between anatomists and wider society, particularly within the poor and workhouse systems. Punctuated by case studies, this paper will explore those tensions and their unexpected impact in Scotland.

Author

• Sophie Goggins, National Museums Scotland