Just three weeks later the physicians of Louisville were at it again. They attempted to rob a grave at the State Asylum for the Insane in Anchorage, Kentucky, this time on behalf of the University of Louisville. "Yes, the party was sent out by us," a senior school official said. "We must have bodies, and if the State won't give them to us we must steal them. The winter classes were large and used up so many subjects that there are none for the spring classes." He saw no need to apologize. "The Asylum Cemetery has been robbed for years," he said, "and I doubt if there is a corpse in it. I tell you we must have bodies. You cannot make doctors without them, and the public must understand it. If we can't get them any other way we will arm the students with Winchester rifles and send them to protect the body-snatchers on their raids."—Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City (2004)
Sunday, August 26, 2012
We must have bodies.
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Say, what made you pick this up? Required reading for Midwesterners?
ReplyDeleteYou should check out Mary Roach's "Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers." I haven't read it yet but I've heard good things.
Hey Matt. I picked this quote because I thought it was arresting...more recent scientists are less likely to speak so forthrightly. Nevertheless, I think this quote, especially the frightening refrain, "We must have bodies!," capture a dangerous arrogance and imbalance in modern science.
ReplyDeleteI had been listening to this book as I drove back to Milwaukee, and wrote quotes I liked on a napkin as a went. You'll be seeing a few more. I find the book very engaging and interesting.