rgeons, or apothecaries. All unclaimed bodies of persons dying in
workhouses or hospitals, were, seventy-two hours after death, to be given
over for purposes of dissection; but if within this specified time a
relative appeared and requested that the body might not be used for
anatomical purposes, such request was to be granted. Another proposed
change in the law was that a person might legally bequeath his body for
dissection; in such cases the executors, administrators, or next-of-kin
had the option of carrying out the wishes of the testator, or declining to
do so, as they thought fit. A heavy penalty was laid on persons who were
found carrying on human anatomy in an unlicensed building, and it was made
an offence to move a body from one place to another, without a licence for
so doing. All bodies used for dissection were to be buried; the penalty
for failing to do this was fifty pounds.

One great blot on this Bill was the neglecting to repeal the clause which
ordered the bodies of murderers to be given up for dissection. As pointed
out on page 87, this was one of the great reasons which made dissection so
hateful to the poor. During the debate, a motion was made by Sir R. Inglis
"to repeal so much of the Act 9 Geo. IV. cap. 31, as empowers judges to
order the bodies of murderers to be given over for dissection." This,
however, was lost, eight members only voting for the amendment, and forty
against.

There was strong opposition to the Bill outside the House. Some of the
private teachers were very uneasy as regarded the effect of the Bill on
themselves. The measure spoke of "recognized teachers" and "hospital
schools," and all those who were to be entitled to the benefits of the Act
were to have licences from one of the Medical Corporations. The
proprietors of the smaller schools felt that this would result in their
extinction, and that the teaching would all pass to the large schools. In
the country, too, there was strong opposition to the Bill, as
practitioners there felt that they were excluded from any benefit. The
_Lancet_, always ready in those days with a nickname, dubbed the measure
"A Bill for Preventing Country Surgeons from Studying Anatomy." The
College of Surgeons also petitioned against the Bill. The Council felt
that the appointment of Commissioners, who were to have complete control
over all schools and places of dissection, would greatly interfere with
the privileges of the College. It was pointed out