Body snatching

Body snatching refers to the act of secretly removing a corpse from its grave, typically to sell it for anatomical study and medical research. This practice was particularly prevalent in the 18th and early 19th centuries, when the demand for cadavers for medical education and research far exceeded the legal supply. Body snatching has played a significant role in the history of medicine, leading to changes in law and medical ethics.

History

The history of body snatching is closely tied to the development of medicine and anatomy as scientific disciplines. In the 18th century, medical students and professionals often had limited access to bodies for dissection, due to religious and social taboos against dismembering the dead. This scarcity was compounded by restrictive laws, which typically allowed the dissection of bodies only from executed criminals, leading to a shortfall in legally available cadavers.

To meet the demand, body snatchers, also known as "resurrectionists," began to exhume bodies from graves. These individuals often worked in small groups to exhume a body shortly after burial, taking care to leave the grave site as undisturbed as possible to avoid detection.

Notable Cases

One of the most infamous cases of body snatching involved William Burke and William Hare, who, in 1828, turned from grave-robbing to murder, killing 16 people to sell their bodies for dissection. Their actions, known as the Burke and Hare murders, highlighted the dark side of the demand for cadavers and led to significant legal reforms.

Legal and Ethical Reforms

The public outrage and moral panic that followed the Burke and Hare case and other instances of body snatching led to legal reforms aimed at increasing the supply of legally obtained cadavers. In the United Kingdom, the Anatomy Act 1832 was passed, which allowed for the donation of unclaimed bodies to medical science, effectively reducing the demand for bodies obtained through body snatching.

Modern Implications

While the practice of body snatching has largely disappeared due to changes in laws and medical ethics, its legacy remains. The history of body snatching has influenced contemporary debates on the ethics of using human remains in medical research, organ donation, and the rights of the deceased and their families.

See Also

• Anatomy Act 1832
• Burke and Hare murders
• Medical ethics
• History of medicine