REVIEW The study of anatomy in England from 1700 to the early 20th century Piers D. Mitchell, 1 Ceridwen Boston, 2 Andrew T. Chamberlain, 3 Simon Chaplin, 4 Vin Chauhan, 5 Jonathan Evans, 6 Louise Fowler, 7 Natasha Powers, 7 Don Walker, 7 Helen Webb 8 and Annsofie Witkin 9 1 Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK 2 Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK 3 Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK 4 Wellcome Library, London, UK 5 Pathology Museum, Imperial College London, London, UK 6 The Royal London Hospital Archives and Museum, London, UK 7 Museum of London Archaeology, London, UK 8 Heritage Burial Services, Oxford Archaeology, Oxford, UK 9 Department of Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Abstract The study of anatomy in England during the 18th and 19th century has become infamous for bodysnatching from graveyards to provide a sufficient supply of cadavers. However, recent discoveries have improved our understand- ing of how and why anatomy was studied during the enlightenment, and allow us to see the context in which dis- section of the human body took place. Excavations of infirmary burial grounds and medical school cemeteries, study of hospital archives, and analysis of the content of surviving anatomical collections in medical museums enables us to re-evaluate the field from a fresh perspective. The pathway from a death in poverty, sale of the corpse to body dealer, dissection by anatomist or medical student, and either the disposal and burial of the remains or preservation of teaching specimens that survive today in medical museums is a complex and fascinating one. Key words: anatomy; body snatching; dissection; enlightenment; medical history. Introduction In the late mediaeval period anatomical knowledge in Brit- ain and Europe was largely based on manuscripts from clas- sical Greece and mediaeval Italy, the dissection of animals such as pigs, and the intermittent dissection of a con- demned criminal (Park, 1994; Olry, 1997; French, 1999). However, by the 17th century, the situation changed as printed books of anatomical texts from Italy and France became more widely available (Vesalius, 1543; Cunningham, 1997). Judges passing sentences on criminals could recom- mend anatomical dissection after their death from hanging (Bailey, 1989, p. 22; Richardson, 2001, p. 32) and William Harvey (1578–1657) performed many dissections on hanged criminals in London (Payne, 2002). Following the Murder Act of 1752, the Company of Surgeons in London was obliged to conduct public dissections of convicted murders, and to expose the corpse to general view (Anonymous, 1752). By the 18th century, charitable hospitals were being set up across Britain to care for the poor who became sick (Woodward, 1974). Closely associated with many of these charitable hospitals were the independently run anatomy schools, where those training in anatomy and surgery dis- sected human cadavers (Cope, 1961, p. 62–86; Knapman, 1999–2000; Richardson, 2001, p. 287) (Fig. 1). Sourcing cadavers for anatomical dissection Hardly any of the bodies needed for dissection were volun- tarily donated for this purpose. While criminals hung for murder were available for anatomical dissection, even by the 17th century there were not enough eligible hangings to accommodate the demand for bodies. For example, in 1636 a charter of King Charles expanded the number of hanged criminals available for dissection at Oxford Univer- Correspondence Piers D. Mitchell, Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge, The Henry Wellcome Building, Fitzwilliam Street, Cambridge CB2 1QH, UK. E: pdm39@cam.ac.uk Accepted for publication 24 March 2011 Article published online 18 April 2011 ª 2011 The Authors Journal of Anatomy ª 2011 Anatomical Society of Great Britain and Ireland J. Anat. (2011) 219, pp91–99 doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2011.01381.x Journal of Anatomy