Part 30

'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.