Address to the community, on the necessity of legalizing the study of anatomy / by order of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

  • Massachusetts Medical Society.
Date:
1829
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Address to the community, on the necessity of legalizing the study of anatomy / by order of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    11/28 (page 11)
    quires much patient labor, and for & long time. He has not only to make himself familiar with the form, size, and relative position of the different organs of the body, but likewise to examine their intimate structure,—the course of their blood-ves¬ sels and nerves,—the places where these are most liable to be injured by violence, and where they can be most readily secured, tied, compressed, and divided. For this purpose, he must dissect, follow out, and examine these parts, till he is as familiar with them as with the streets in which he daily tvalks. It is this accurate knowledge alone, which can be safely relied upon in cases of danger resulting from wounds and accidents. Actual dissection, then, of the human body is the only way in which a knowledge of Anatomy can be acquired ; and a portion of the bodies of those who die, must be made the subjects of this operation for the benefit of the living. Perhaps it will be said, You can learn Anatomy elsewhere go to New York, to Philadelphia, or to Paris ;—you will there find ample opportunities for dissection, without vio¬ lating the feelings or the prejudices of any one. To this we would answer, that the execution of such a proposal would be impracticable to the greater part of the profession. The sons of persons in easy circumstances may indeed command such an advantage. They can cross the Atlantic, and come home rich with the scientific treasures they have accumulated in Europe. But three quarters of the profession are not competent to the charge of a long and expensive journey or voyage. They must obtain what knowledge they are able at i '