The Body Divided

Bodies and body parts of the dead have long been considered valuable material for use in medical science. They have been dissected, autopsied, investigated, harvested for research and therapeutic purposes, collected to turn into museum and other specimens, and then displayed, disposed of, and exchanged. This book examines the history of such activities, from the early nineteenth century through to the present, in hospitals, universities, workhouses and lunatic asylums in England and Australia. A series of case studies reveals the changing scientific, economic and emotional value of corpses and their contested place in medical science.