“Humanity's discards”: The New South Wales Anatomy Act 1881

Abstract

In her book, Death, Dissection and the Destitute, Ruth Richardson explored the making of the British Anatomy Act 1832, under which the unclaimed bodies of people who died in institutions lawfully became subjects for dissection. This article briefly revisits the British anatomy debates that resulted in this decision being made, to set the scene for an examination of how dissection came to be regulated in New South Wales 50 years later. There, unlike in Britain, no scandalous episodes of body-snatching and murder in order to supply bodies to medical schools precipitated the debate. Nevertheless, both the British scandals and the 1832 Anatomy Act were primary reference points for the colonial anatomy debate, where selective and authoritative use was made of them at key moments to foster the local Bill's passage through parliament. In addition and importantly, medical men in New South Wales sought to shape the colonial bill “in harmony” with their own experiences of learning anatomy in Britain under the 1832 Act, which had revealed to them the ongoing difficulties in obtaining supplies of subjects in British medical schools.