Description
- Language(s)
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English
- Published
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[Montreal] : Gazette Print. Co. Bindery Department, [before May 4th, 1896]
Montreal : McGill University. Faculty of Medicine, 1896-1908.
- Note
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Laid in, a leaf of paper, in manuscript, which provides a listing of the last subjects for July 1906.
Laid in, 1) photocopy of page 632, from Cushing, vol. II; 2) card with note in manuscript pencil by W.W.F.
Tipped in, letter in manuscript pen from Dr. G.S.Roy[?], Health Department, City of Montreal, dated January 3, 1902 addressed to Dr. Shepham[?], which provides information for the cadaver with entry No. 51 on page 174.
Dissecting Room record, created and kept by Richard L. MacDonnell during 1883-1891, was catalogued separately and is part of the Richard L. MacDonnell Collection, P133.
Part of the Richard L. MacDonnell Collection Fonds, P133.
Volume consists of 300 leaves, with 3 printed forms on each leaf for recording cadaver information. An unnumbered blank page follows and is continued by 28 pages numbered 303 to 330. Pages 320 to 330, blank.
Entries were made presumably by the same hand. Information was recorded in felt pen with sloppy hand and scribe was not meticulous about numeration, and as such, the numbers are misleading for statistics purposes. On several instances numbers on the forms are either repeated or skipped. For the period 1901/1902, numbers 49 to 51 are repeated; for the period 1903/1904, number 31 was skipped and number 52 was repeated; for the period 1904/1905, number 45 was repeated twice and numbers 51 to 56 were skipped. All 300 leaves were filled out, with the exception of leaf 1 and 171, which were left blank.
Dissection of corpses was used for anatomical instruction at the Medical School of McGill University in the 19th century. Due to lack of cadavers, these were often obtained illegally by students, who snatched the cadavers from "dead houses" in the winter time or from new graves at the local cemetery. The Anatomy Act passed in 1843 by the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada and later further amended in April 1883, necessitated institutions to supply unclaimed bodies to Montreal's medical schools for the purpose of teaching and learning. Dr. Richard Lea MacDonnell, Demonstrator of Anatomy, and who later became Senior Demonstrator in charge, began keeping a record of the Department of Practical Anatomy legally acquired cadavers in 1883 and continued to do so until his untimely death in 1891. The practice of recording legally obtained cadavers continued till at least January 31, 1908.
Contains records of McGill University Faculty of Medicine dissected cadavers in the Department of Anatomy from May 4, 1896 to January 31, 1908. Each entry includes details as to the name, sex, age, cause of death, religion, date received, and from which institution the cadaver was received. Details concerning the date and location of burial were left blank. Pages 304-319 list receipts and expenditures for the year 1896/97-1903/04.
At head of title: Faculty of Medicine. McGill University.
Cover title.
Manuscript.
- Physical Description
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300 leaves, 1 unnumbered page, pages 303-330 ;
27 cm
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