Talk by Dee Hoole
Wednesday, 9 June, at 11 am via Teams.
The next on-line seminar of the Centre for History and Philosophy of Science, Technology and Medicine (CHPSTM) at the University of Aberdeen.
Dee Hoole, University of Aberdeen, will join us to discuss ‘Reclaiming the Unclaimed: The Medical Schools of Aberdeen and the Dissection of the Poor c.1832-1914’. The seminar will consist of a 20- to 30-minute presentation with 30 minutes or so for discussion afterwards. All are welcome.
There has been limited research on the workings of the 1832 Anatomy Act in Scotland which allowed the lawful, but non-consensual, supply of unclaimed corpses to be sent to the medical schools for dissection. The arrangements for facilitating this matter in Scotland differed somewhat from England in that ‘Funeratories’ were set up in Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Edinburgh. An Inspectorate of Anatomy was established throughout Great Britain to ensure compliance and regulation of the Act. However, arrangements for the procurement of cadavers did not always run smoothly and there were controversies which extended beyond the end of the century. The teachers of anatomy at Aberdeen were very much involved in the implementation of the Anatomy Act and the records of the subjects, their personal details, dates of dissection and interment have been preserved from 1840s. This research has uncovered the hitherto untold story of almost 1700 individuals, most of whom were unclaimed paupers, who were dissected at Aberdeen and whose anatomical remains were subsequently buried in the poor section of the cemetery. The drive towards professional medical identity at Aberdeen was bound together with an exploitable disposable anatomical resource – that of the city’s dead poor. Acknowledgement of their crucial role in medical educational history is overdue.
For a link to the Teams meeting, or for further information, please contact me on e.packham@abdn.ac.uk.
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