Chapter XIV: Part 14

In reply to various questions, the witness said, she had reason to believe that the two young women at the bar occupied the room in which all this took place. They were at home, and in the room, that evening, for she heard and knew their voices; and it was the impression upon her mind that they were the two who followed after the box. They had lived there about a fortnight. The box appeared to her to be about a yard in length; but her niece saw it more distinctly than she did.

MARY HARDING, the niece, stated, that she lived with her aunt, and knew that the two young women at the bar lived at No. 7; and she had seen the young man go in and out, but did not know that he lived there. She had been out on Wednesday, and upon her return home, soon after four o'clock, her aunt told her that she had heard the cries of 'murder.' She afterwards heard the cording of the box, and saw it carried away as described by the last witness. She did not like to follow it. It was a larger box than her aunt described. She thought a person might be put into it. Three men and the two females followed it; and about an hour afterwards she saw a second box carried out in the same way.

Neither of the witnesses knew anything of Sarah Bradley, the mother.

JAMES BROWN stated, that he and the other officers went to No. 7, Severn-place, on Friday evening; and he, with another, got in by a back way, while Attfield went to the front. They found the three younger prisoners together. He produced two men's coats, with some other apparel, a very thick pair of men's shoes, and an old pair of women's shoes.

THOMAS EAGLES said that the prisoners made no explanation of any kind to him. He saw the produced coats lying upon a bed, and he found a long stout cord, and a bundle, containing some ragged articles of apparel, all tied up together.

WILLIAM ATTFIELD stated, that he went to the front door, which was opened by Sarah Skinner, and he asked if Mrs. Smith lived there? She said no. He afterwards asked the three prisoners where they had lived before they came there. Skinner said that they came there from No. 16, Foster-street, Whitechapel, but Covington said, from No. 10, Luke-street. He did not know where Luke-street was, and she would not tell him; but upon inquiry at the place mentioned by Skinner, he found it was three months since they lived there. He had heard that they came from No. 12, Thomas-street, Whitechapel, which they, however, denied. Upon searching up stairs, in a box were the clothes produced, and a bottle, labelled 'poison,' and containing oxalic acid in solution, which the prisoners said was for cleaning boot-tops. The box had no cover, and upon the top of the clothes in it was the drab-coloured hat produced, with a broad crape band upon it.

It was remarked in the office that it was precisely such a hat as the boy Newton had described to have been worn by the tall man whom he saw run from the spot where the body of Margaret Duffy was found in Cowheel-alley.

JAMES HANLEY produced a small tin box, which he found in the room with the prisoners. It contained six pawnbrokers' tickets; one of them for a shawl, and two for other articles of female apparel, all pawned on Wednesday, the day mentioned by Mrs. Smith.

Police-inspector YOUNG produced a small phial which, he said, had been found in the house that morning, by a constable who had been placed there, but was not now present. It contained some oil of vitriol.

It appeared that Mrs. Smith had intimated her suspicions to the police, and a constable had been placed in her house since Thursday, to watch the next, and a written statement made by her was now shown to the magistrate.

Mr. BROUGHTON recalled Mrs. Smith, and asked if she had seen any females at the house besides the prisoners, or seen or heard anything suspicious previously to last Wednesday.

She said, that on Monday week an old woman, leading a young person who was intoxicated, knocked at her door, and asked for Covington. She directed her to the next house, No. 7, and saw her go in there with the girl. She afterwards heard people going in and out, and thought at the time that they were fetching liquor from the public-house. The girl afterwards ran up stairs, and witness heard her run about the upper room, followed by a man. The girl said, 'Oh! you'll kill me, you'll kill me.' The old woman remained in the lower room, and the witness heard her say, 'Oh, my dear,' when the girl cried out, but she did not appear to move, or take any further notice. Witness heard the girl fall when she cried out. It was then late at night, and about two in the morning she heard a rustling in the passage, as if two persons were carrying something out.

Mr. BROUGHTON, after some further inquiries, had the prisoners placed at the bar separately, to hear if they wished to make any defence or explanation; but he repeatedly cautioned them that they were not obliged to say anything, and that if they did, it might be used against them.

They all protested very earnestly, that what Mrs. Smith and her niece saw carried out was nothing but a bedstead and a table, and other things, which had been carried away by night. The noises and crying out which she had heard were laughing, which ended in a quarrel; and an old woman, named Smith, who had lived with them, moved away in consequence. It appeared, in fact, that the prisoners had been shifting about, from place to place, and bilking their landlords.

The witness Harding being again questioned, declared that what she saw were boxes. She was near, and saw them distinctly, and was certain she could not be mistaken.

It was stated, that a daughter of Mrs. Smith's, who is married to a policeman, also saw the boxes, and she actually followed the party some distance; but seeing that they were going across the fields, she was afraid to proceed further. She was not then present, however.

Mr. BROUGHTON said, that from the positive swearing of the witnesses, he must believe that it was a box which they saw carried out; and it was exceedingly to be regretted that means had not been taken to stop the party, and ascertain what the box contained. God forbid that he should say that it did contain a body; but the circumstances stated by Mrs. Smith as to what had occurred on Monday week, when she heard the girl running about, followed by a man, and crying out, 'you'll kill me,' and her hearing the faint cries of murder on Wednesday, and seeing the box carried off some hours afterwards, made it a case of strong suspicion, and he would give ample time to search for further evidence.

Sarah Bradley was discharged, nothing having been stated against her. The other three prisoners were remanded for a week.

Accordingly, on that day, the prisoners were again brought up; but no conclusive evidence being adduced against them, they were discharged.

On taking a summary view of the chief subject connected with the crime of Burking, and which has particularly engaged our attention during our progress through this work, we are fully aware that we have, in several instances, laid ourselves open to the animadversions and the opprobrium of the surgical profession at large, inasmuch as we may have been supposed to attach to it a positive degree of stigma, as having been the encourager, and in some cases, the actual parent of the Burking system, which, without their co-operation and connivance, would never have been known in this country. In this respect, however, the charge against us is unfounded. We have adhered to a strict line of impartiality in recording the different arguments which have been adduced, publicly and privately, against the practices of the anatomical schools in general, and particularly in regard to the culpable ignorance which has been manifestly displayed by several persons connected with the purchase of dead bodies, in their discrimination between a murdered person and a corpse that has been exhumed. It would be an affected display of sensibility to condemn altogether the sale and purchase of human corpses; for it is a practice which must and will prevail, so long as a knowledge of the anatomy of the human frame constitutes a part of the education of the medical student. Our great aim, however, has been, by a collision of arguments, and an impartial exposition of facts, to devise those measures by which the science of anatomy may be encouraged, facilitated, and maintained, without having recourse for its support to midnight murders, and to the reckless sacrifice of life, on account of the tempting gain which is held out to those whose consummate villainy can lead them to the commission of such dreadful crimes. It is on record in the preceding pages that several individuals have fallen under the murderous grasp of the Burker, whose bodies have been conveyed to the hospitals and the anatomical schools, and there disposed of with the utmost facility, and apparently without the slightest suspicion, as if they were the carcasses of so many pigs; whilst at the same time the experience of the purchasers of the subjects, leaving the extent of science out of the question altogether, should have enabled them at once to decide upon the manner in which the subject came by its death, or, in other words, whether it was violent or natural. In the illustration of this part of our argument, let us, for instance, take the cases of Mrs. Walsh and Sarah Vesey. It was proved in evidence, that on the morning after the murder of the former, her body was carried out of the house by the husband. Of its destination no doubt whatever can exist. What opinion, then, can we form of the surgical professor, who can have a human corpse offered to him before it is scarcely cold, destitute of all the distinctive marks of exhumation, and without any of the concomitant signs of corruption, coolly and deliberately purchasing the same, without instituting the slightest inquiry into the suspicious nature of the subject, and whether he was not himself actually abetting and encouraging a human wretch in the crime of murder? We have never been told by any of the surgical professors of the anatomical schools, that their science, or, more properly speaking, their knowledge, is still so far in its infancy, that they do not know of any criteria by which to judge of a murdered subject, and one that has undergone the ceremony of exhumation, and been torn from the grave by the resurrectionist. The public, however, must take it for granted that such ignorance on the part of the professor does actually exist; or what is the natural inference that must be drawn? that he must be conscious to himself that some deed of violence has been committed upon the body, so as to occasion death, but that it does not become him to institute any inquiry into the business, as he is not supposed to entertain the slightest suspicion but that the body has been clandestinely obtained from the grave. We cannot designate this conduct by any other term than a bonus held out for the crime of murder; and it is on this account, and on this account only, that in our arguments we have dwelt particularly on the necessity of the interference of the legislature to devise those legal means, by which the science of anatomy may be supported, without being obliged to have recourse to the dreadful crime of murder, or even to the disgusting avocation of the resurrectionist.

It appears that, notwithstanding the greater facility which is offered in France to the surgical student in the prosecution of his anatomical knowledge, owing to the removal of many of the impediments which exist in this country in the procuring of human corpses for the purpose of dissection, yet that the attention of some of the most enlightened men of that country has for some time been directed to the devising of those measures, by which the human body may, in a great degree, be dispensed with, whilst, at the same time, the promotion of science is neither frustrated nor impeded. Amongst those men, who have chiefly signalized themselves in these laudable endeavours, stands conspicuously M. Auzouz, who, by perseverance, industry, and skill, has succeeded in the construction of an artificial skeleton, which promises to answer almost all the purposes of the human body. In the preparation of this extraordinary piece of mechanism, if it may be so called, he has been employed for several years. It has received the sanction and approbation of the principal medical professors of Paris, and it is now brought to this country as an exhibition, with the intent of promoting the science of artificial anatomy, and the removal of those abuses and inconveniences with which the dissection of the human body is attended.

We have been favoured with the pamphlet of M. Auzouz, descriptive of the uses and plans of his ingenious invention, as well as with the Report of the Royal Academy of Physic at Paris on its peculiar merits and advantages. We give the following translation of it.

'Since, in 1822, after a number of experiments, and several years of incessant application, I published my first work on artificial anatomy, a kind of excitement arose in the schools of medicine, and amongst those individuals who are supposed to guide the public opinion. Hitherto the study of anatomy was confined to the amphitheatres; and it was not considered possible to perfect the study of it in any other manner. On the other hand, so many ineffectual attempts had been made to procure a regular and sufficient supply of subjects, that artificial anatomy became the subject of very contrary and dissimilar opinions.

'Some individuals, by a method of reasoning wholly divested of proof, beheld in artificial anatomy nothing less than the means of encouraging the idleness of the students, and a fallacious resource for the practitioner; whilst, on the other hand, others, exaggerating the benefits of it, beheld in it the means of dispensing with dissections; others, as is always the case when anything of a novel nature appears, declared the thing to be both impossible and impracticable; and the remainder were content with decrying it altogether, or they became the servile imitators of it.

'The academies, where judgment is always the result of profound deliberation, having announced the importance of this discovery, encouraged me to prosecute my plans and experiments, pointing out to me at the same time some imperfections in them. These learned societies scrupled not to place artificial anatomy above everything which had been hitherto done in France or in other countries, and to regard it as the means of facilitating the study of that particular branch of natural history.

'In the report which M. Le Baron Desgenettes made to the Academy of Medicine, on the 5th of September, 1823, he says, "If this work be continued, it cannot fail to be useful to those who devote themselves to the study of the medical science, and more especially to those who practise surgery and physic at a distance from the great cities."

'Professor Desruelles, in his report to the Medical Society, at their sitting on the 19th of November, 1823, says, "If we declare to you that a piece of artificial anatomy, placed in an amphitheatre, in exhibiting to the student the parts of which he is in search, as well as those which he ought to avoid, adjust, or even take away, may be useful to him, abridge his labour, and save him from many fruitless experiments; if we declare to you, that these pieces would be very advantageously placed in the studio of a painter; if we declare to you, that they might, more advantageously than books, remind the surgeons and physicians, not having the benefit of a corpse at hand, of the relations of certain parts; and finally, if we finish by showing to you certain individuals curious to become acquainted with their own formation, studying it with success, in order to obtain a superficial knowledge of anatomy, without having recourse to the disgusting and afflicting spectacle of a corpse,--then, gentlemen, so far from censuring our eulogium, you will approve of it; you will applaud the zeal of M. Auzouz, you will give encouragement to his efforts, and you will assist him to the utmost of your power, to enable him to succeed in rendering that perfect, which, under his hands, has already made such rapid advances to positive perfection."

'In the report made by Professor Dumeril to the Academy of Sciences, at its sitting on the 11th of April, 1825, he says, "No one is ignorant how great is the natural repugnance which is felt for the study of anatomy, and especially to the examination and inspection of those objects which form the subject of it, by all those persons who are not attached towards it by the necessary calls of their profession. It were desirable that general ideas of the organization of the human frame should be imparted to young people, and which ought to form a branch of their earliest education. Is it to be supposed that an educated man of the present day should be ignorant in what manner, and by what organs our motions are executed; in what consist the instruments by which our sensations and our principal functions are performed? Besides, it is indispensable that every skilful designer, who wishes to become a painter or a statuary, may be enabled, without applying himself to anatomical researches, to learn in what manner the forms are constantly modified in the motions by the organs by which they are either permitted or produced."'

M. Alard, in his report, made to the Academy of Medicine on the 5th of July, 1825, thus expressed himself.--"We will not dilate any further on the great utility of these pieces, which, doubtless, will soon be generally felt. It may be sufficient to add, that they are competent, by a preliminary knowledge of the situation of the relations of the parts, greatly to simplify the study of anatomy, by facilitating the dissections which are indispensable to the study of medicine; from which will result the eminent advantage of rescuing a great number of students from those accidents which are caused by a protracted stay in the dissecting theatres,--further, that they are well calculated to supply the place of corpses in those places where it is not possible to procure them; and that, by the study of similar pieces, and the dissection of certain animals, a knowledge can be acquired of the structure of the human body, sufficient for the majority of cases, and much more precise and indubitable than that which can be acquired by any other artificial means."

That celebrated man, M. Geoffrey St. Hilaire, says, in his report to the Institute on the 2nd of August, 1830, 'A general knowledge of the parts of the human body ought one day to constitute a part of natural history, and form an early branch of education amongst every class of society. Sooner or later, this study will be adopted in our schools; but this will never become, nor is it possible to be executed without the resources offered by the new branch of industry created by M. Auzouz.'

M. Richerand, one of the most celebrated professors of medicine of France, says, 'He who cultivates the science of human anatomy, resembles, in some degree, the chymist; in the same manner that the latter cannot attain to a correct knowledge of a substance without being able to decompose it, and to analyze it in all its parts, so the anatomist cannot obtain a perfect knowledge of the human body until, having studied separately, and with the greatest care, each of its organs, and each of the systems which are formed by a certain number of similar organs, he is able to assign to each of them its proper place--to determine the relations which they bear to each other, and the proportions into which they enter, in order to form the composition of this or that of our members.'

From these commendatory reports from some of the most scientific men of France, as well as from the opinion of a great number of physicians who were invited to give their opinion on the utility of his artificial skeleton, M. Auzouz drew the following results.

'1st. That these preparations differ totally from all others which have been hitherto made or constructed for facilitating the study of anatomy, and which have nothing further in common with them, than that their immediate tendency is the same.

'2nd. That they exhibit in the same subject, in a vertical attitude, all the parts which constitute the composition of the human body, with all the characters which belong to them.

'3rd. That the use of these pieces will considerably diminish the time which the students devote to the study of anatomy, and shorten their stay in the anatomical schools.

'4th. That they will possess the advantage of recalling the anatomical details to the memory of the students and practitioners in general, who have already devoted themselves to the science.

'5th. That they will render the study of anatomy possible in all seasons of the year, and in all countries in which the climate or prejudice is opposed to dissection.

'6th. Finally, with the assistance of these pieces, the study of anatomy may be made a branch of public instruction, and thereby become advantageous to every class of society, particularly to those who devote themselves to medicine, to the fine arts, to military science, or to navigation.

'Since the period that my first model appeared, artificial anatomy has been made use of in a great number of public establishments, for the purpose of anatomical illustration. Complete subjects have been sent to the following schools of medicine:--To Boston, to Martinique, Guadaloupe, Isle of France, College of Yale, (United States,) Metz, Strasburg, Lille, Val de Narre, the Museum, (Stockholm,) Evreux, Oxaca, (South America,) Louisiana, Vera Cruz, Cairo, Toulon, Turin, New Orleans, Harvard, (New England,) Charlestown, the Faculty of Medicine of Strasburg, &c. In regard to myself, many thousands of students have attended my lectures, or have studied in my cabinet. I have collected with great care all the remarks and observations that have been addressed to me; I have frequently, for the last eleven years, carefully revised, several times a day, all the parts of my labour; and I have introduced into them all the corrections which have been suggested to me; and finally, in order to render artificial anatomy more worthy of the success that it has obtained, I have constructed a new model, and thus many important modifications and numerous additions have been made to the subject of my labours.

'The augmentations do not consist of some minute details, nor of some additions of little or no importance. The former have been completely changed, and the incisions multiplied. The model published in 1825, consisted only of sixty-six regular pieces, and three hundred and fifty-six in detail; whereas that which was made public in 1830, consisted of one hundred and twenty-nine regular pieces, that is, pieces which are capable of being separated, and eleven hundred and fifteen pieces in detail. The skeleton taken for the model, represents a man of an athletic constitution. I have given it the attitude of Antinous, to which it may be compared, on account of the beauty and exactitude of its forms. The left foot is fixed in a wooden socket, for the purpose of giving it a rotatory movement. All the parts united present a man, from whom the skin only has been taken. One half of the subject is represented entire; all the parts which constitute the other half may be detached; every muscle, every organ may be removed, one by one, from the skin to the bone, with the greatest facility, and replaced in the same manner. An order number, corresponding with a synoptic table, is made to indicate the name of the organ, and the extremity at which the displacement should be made.

'A few moments only are necessary to cover a table with the numerous pieces which enter into the composition of this anatomical imitation, and a few minutes are sufficient to put them together again, and to form the complete skeleton.'

So far may be considered as the report of M. Auzouz himself, relative to the advantages of his invention; and being afterwards submitted to the Royal Academy of Physic to pronounce upon its merits, the following report was made on the 10th of May, 1831. Dubois, Ribes, Adelon, Craveilhier, Breschet, Cloquet, and de Massy, were appointed by the academy to examine the invention of M. Auzouz, and the report is drawn up and signed by M. de Massy.

'It was in the year 1822, 1823, and 1825, that M. Auzouz submitted for your examination a number of pieces of artificial anatomy, adapted to represent the different parts which belong to the composition of the human body.

'It is by means of a particular paste that M. Auzouz executes his preparations. This paste, in a fresh state, is susceptible of being run into moulds, to take and preserve the most delicate impressions, and to acquire by desiccation a solidity equal to that of wood.

'In due course of time, you appointed Messrs. Dumeril, Berlard, Cloquet, Desgenettes, Breschet, Richerand, and Alard, whose well-known science rendered them fully competent to give a correct opinion of similar works, to report to you on the labours of our associate, M. Auzouz; and they reported to you the importance of the discovery, and called upon you to bestow your commendations on the inventor. They also reported to you that he was deserving of the encouragement which the government bestows upon those who render a benefit to their country. Your reporter, M. Alard, says, that France at this time possesses the advantage of surpassing all other countries in the art of anatomical imitations.

'Your decision, gentlemen, has been fortified by the zeal and anxiety evinced by the public establishments of other countries to become possessed of similar anatomical subjects. Your commendations, and the anxious activity with which foreigners have applied for the works of our skilful associate, inspired him with fresh ardour and zeal to render his work still more perfect.

'We will here repeat with pleasure what was said by the Medical Society of Emulation in 1823. "It is with pleasure that we bestow upon M. Auzouz every encomium of which he is deserving, for his zeal for the promotion of science; for his patience, his ingenious attempts, and finally for the results which are due to his perseverance, and his correct knowledge of anatomy."

'After five years of the most persevering and obstinate labour, M. Auzouz submitted to the Academy, on its sitting on the 25th of May, 1830, a new piece of anatomy, for the examination of which you appointed Messrs. Dubois, Ribes, Adelon, Craveilhier, Breschet, Cloquet, and myself.

'It is not only to some slight modifications, or to some trifling additions, that our associate has directed his application and his skill; he has almost recommenced his labours, preserving only the _modus faciendi_.

'M. Auzouz has taken for his model the corpse of an adult of five feet six inches high, and he enforced upon himself the task of reproducing it in all its most minute details.

'This new model, compared with that previously made, even with the complete piece which was submitted for your examination in 1825, and which appeared to leave nothing further to desire, exhibits, however, these differences, which could not have been expected from the same individual. The forms have been completely changed, the details almost doubled; and by means of some ingenious incisions or cuts, M. Auzouz has succeeded in reproducing everything which has any relation to the various branches of the science. It is not only the bones that have been reproduced with an exactitude and fidelity which, if we had not been aware of the circumstances, would have led us to consider the bones as real,--the most tender, the most delicate, as well as the most voluminous; the softest, as well as the hardest; the most superficial, as well as the most profound, all are represented with the most scrupulous exactness in their form and colour, their relations and connexions. We consider that it would be useless to lay before you an analysis of all those details, and will therefore only draw your attention to some particular facts to which your commissioners have principally directed their attention.

'The heart has been produced with the happiest success, by means of a particular cut. This organ is divided into two moieties, on each of which are two cavities, which may be opened in such a manner as to admit of a full inspection of the valves. All these parts are united with such extreme nicety and exactness, that the traces of the division are scarcely distinguishable; and when combined, they exhibit a heart of the natural size, from which the vessels arise which digress from it, or which terminate in it. All these vessels being produced from their origin to their termination, it becomes an easy task to study the branches which depart from it, the numerous anastomoses which they have between them, and their relations with the different organs.

'The preparation of the head, in which are found the head, the pharynx, the larynx, the nasal cavities, with the muscles, the veins, the arteries, the nerves which accompany those parts, or which are distributed about them, appears to your commissioners to exhibit a whole, which has never before been produced.

'This work is, however, not yet complete; even M. Auzouz himself admits that some errors may have crept in. Your commissioners have employed several sittings in the examination of this new preparation, and they have discovered some inaccuracies, some anatomical errors. These inaccuracies and errors were, however, no sooner pointed out, than they were rectified, so great is the facility with which M. Auzouz can remove and replace every one of the parts.

'Your commissioners congratulate themselves on having announced to you the entire realization of the hopes which not only your former commissions and those of the Royal Academy of Sciences, and the Medical Society of Emulation have entertained, but also of several very able physicians who have been called on to give their opinion.'

In regard to the measures adopted in this country to legalize the sale of bodies, Mr. Warburton has succeeded in carrying his Bill through the House of Commons, extending the provisions of it to Ireland. It is supposed that some of the clauses of the Bill may have an injurious effect upon the private anatomical schools; but taking the general principle of the Bill under our consideration, we are convinced that, when certain prejudices are overcome, it will be found fully adequate to remedy the evil which has so long existed, to the odium and disgrace of the country, and that the general interests of science will be encouraged and supported by it.

THE END.

Printed by W. CLOWES, Stamford Street.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The Editor of this work, on once going the nightly round with the head-officer of the Queen Square police, was shown into a house of this kind in one of the most remote and obscure streets in Tothill Fields; and it is rather singular that Bishop, who has lately forfeited his life on the scaffold, was then in the house. A celebrated resurrectionist of that time, of the name of Alexander, was also present; and on the officer familiarly asking Alexander, if he had no particular business on hand that night, he answered, with the greatest _sang froid_, "No--I had a good drag last night;"--and shaking his coat-pockets, added, "I have got a rare set of grinders here, all young and white." The countenance of this man bespoke his trade;--it had neither the sharpness nor the acuteness of Bishop's; but it would have served a Correggio for the model of the determined, resolute, and undaunted villain.

[2] We also know of a medical man who reversed the case by treating a dropsical woman as a pregnant one, as in the case of Johanna Southcott, by Dr. Reece, of Chemical-hall notoriety. Mr. Sleight must, however, be aware that the treating of a pregnant woman as a dropsical one, is by no means a rare case; it is of very frequent occurrence, and for reasons which need not here be stated. The _skill_ of the professional man is in these cases wholly out of the question; it _must_ be dropsy, or ---- _verbum sat_. It was the _interest_ of Dr. Reece to declare the pregnancy of the immaculate Johanna. The Southcottonians flocked to him from all quarters, as the chosen man by whose obstetrical aid young Shiloh was to be brought into the world; it was a case of Interest _versus_ Skill, and the latter was nonsuited. We should not, however, have entered into this exposition, had it not been to invalidate the argument of Mr. Sleight, that the mere treatment of a pregnant woman as dropsical, implies a want of professional skill; we have merely thrown out the hint, that _circumstances_ determine the case. It is either dropsy or pregnancy, accordingly as the patient wishes or determines that it shall be.