schools are becoming deserted; and this, of itself, must lead to a degradation of the science amongst us-to say nothing of the impolicy of our dependence in a matter so essential to the public interests, upon the continuance of a state of peace. Two hundred English students of anatomy are now pursuing their course of instruction at Paris; and it is probable that the English schools would be abandoned altogether, but for the regulations of the College of Surgeons.

But it is not only to the student, while learning the rudiments of the science, and to the teacher, while endeavouring to improve it, that dissection is necessary, and the operation of the law injurious. It is essential also to the practitioner, that during the whole course of his professional career he should dissect, in order to keep up his stock of knowledge, and to practise frequently on the dead subject, lest, by venturing to do so unskilfully on the living, he expose his patients to imminent peril. He is required, also, in many important cases, civil and criminal, to guide the judgment of judges and of jurors; and would be rebuked were he to confess, upon any such occasion, that, from having neglected the practice of dissection, he was unable to throw light upon a point at issue in that science which he professed. He is liable, in a civil action, to damages for errors in practice, due to professional ignorance; though at the same time he may be visited with penalties as a criminal, for endeavouring to take the only means of obtaining professional knowledge.

The Committee very truly state that "independently of the bearings of the question on the interests of medical practitioners, and on the health of the community, the system pursued is productive of great evil, by training up a race of men in habits eminently calculated to debase them, and to prepare them for the commission of violent and daring offences. So long as there is no legalized mode of supplying the dissecting schools, so long the practice of disinterment will continue."

We now arrive at the remedy suggested for these undeniable evils. The administration of all the hospitals at Paris, since the period of the Revolution, has been confided to a public board of management. The rule at the hospital is, that every patient who dies shall be attended by a priest, and that, after the performance of the usual ceremonies of the Catholic church, the body shall be removed from the chapel attached to the hospital, to the dead-room, and there remain for twenty-four hours, if not sooner claimed by the relatives. Bodies may be examined after death, by the medical officers attached to an hospital, in order to ascertain the cause of death, but may not be dissected by them. A body, if claimed by the friends after examination, is sewn up in a clean cloth before being delivered to them. If not claimed within twenty-four hours after death, after being enveloped in a cloth in a similar manner, it is sent, in the manner hereafter described, to one of the dissecting schools.

There are no private dissecting schools at Paris, but two public ones, that of the Ecole de Médecine, and that adjoining the Hôpital de la Pitié. These are supplied exclusively from the different hospitals and from the institutions for maintaining paupers, the supply from certain of these establishments being appropriated to one school, and that from the remaining establishments to the other.

It is the opinion of almost all the witnesses, that the adoption in this country of a plan, similar in most respects to that which prevails in France, would afford a simple and adequate remedy for the existing evils. They recommend that the bodies of those who, during life, have been maintained at the public charge, and who die in workhouses, hospitals and other charitable institutions, should, if not claimed by the next of kin within a certain time after death, be given up, under proper regulations, to the anatomist; and some of the witnesses would extend the same rule to the unclaimed bodies of those who die in prisons, penitentiaries, and other places of confinement. In the hospitals which supply subjects to the anatomical schools of France and Italy, religious rites are paid to the dead, before giving up the bodies for dissection; in the plan proposed for this country, most of the witnesses recommend that the performance of religious rites should be deferred until after dissection, and they are anxious that the anatomist should be required, under adequate securities, or a system of effective superintendence, to cause to be administered, at his own expense, to the bodies which he dissects, religious solemnities, and the usual rites of burial.

It appears from the returns obtained by the Committee from 127 of the parishes situate in London, Westminster, and Southwark, or their immediate vicinity, that out of 3744 persons who died in the` workhouses of these parishes in the year 1827, 3103 were buried at the parish expense; and that of these, about 1108 were not attended to their graves by any relations. It may be inferred from those returns which have been procured, that the supply to be obtained from this source alone, would be many times greater than that now obtained by disinterment. The Committee decidedly recommend this plan; and thus argue against the popular notions that may prevent its adoption:

"If it be an object deeply interesting to the feelings of the community that the remains of friends and relations should rest undisturbed, that object can only be effected by giving up for dissection a certain portion of the whole, in order to preserve the remainder from disturbance. Exhumation is condemned as seizing its objects indiscriminately; as, in consequence, exciting apprehensions in the minds of the whole community; and as outraging in the highest degree, when discovered, the feelings of relations. If selection then be necessary, what bodies ought to be selected but the bodies of those, who have either no known relations whose feelings would be outraged, or such only as, by not claiming the body, would evince indifference on the subject of dissection ?"

Some portion of the evidence is very satisfactory, as adducing facts to prove that the feelings of aversion to dissection are on the decline. In those parish infirmaries where the bodies of those who die are examined, as the practice has become common, it has been viewed with less jealousy in those hospitals where a similar rule prevails, neither patients themselves are deterred from applying for admission, nor their relatives on their behalf: the addition of public dissecting-rooms to hospitals has not produced any diminution in the number of applications for relief within the walls of those hospitals; and by reasoning

with the friends of those who die, and by explaining to them how important it is to the art of healing, that examination should take place after death, they may usually be brought to consent to the bodies of their friends being examined. Hence it is argued, that in involving the subject of dissection in mystery, as has hitherto been the case, the public have been treated injudiciously; that with proper precautions, and the light of public discussion to guide them, they may be made. to perceive the importance of the study generally, and the reasonableness of the particular measure now contemplated; and that when they come to regard it as the means of suppressing exhumation, they will receive it with favour, and finally acquiesce in it.

The legislative measure which most of the witnesses are desirous of, in order to enable them to carry the plan into effect, is the repeal of an existing law, which would subject to penalties those who might be concerned in carrying the proposed plan into execution: they wish for au enactment, permissive and not mandatory, declaring that it shall not be deemed illegal for the governors of workhouses, &c., and for anatomists, the former to dispose of, the latter to receive and to dissect, the bodies of those dying in such workhouses, &c., such bodies not having been claimed, within a time to be specified, by any immediate relations, and due provision being made for the invariable performance of funeral rites.

Amongst the measures that have been suggested for lessening the dislike of the public to dissection, is that of repealing the clause of the Act of Geo. II. which directs that the bodies of murderers shall be given up to be anatomized. As it is manifest that the clause in question must create a strong and mischievous prejudice against the practice of anatomy, the Committee think themselves justified in concluding, that more evil than good results from its continuance.

The conclusion of the report is very forcible :

"The Committee consider that they would imperfectly discharge their duties, if they did not state their conviction of the importance to the public interests of the subject of their inquiries. As the members of the profession are well educated, so is their ability increased to remove or alleviate human suffering. As the science of anatomy has improved, many operations formerly thought necessary have been altogether dispensed with; most of those retained have been rendered more simple, and many new ones have been performed, to the saving of the lives of patients, which were formerly thought impossible. To neglect the practice of dissection, would lead to the greatest aggravation of human misery; since anatomy, if not learned by that practice, must be learned by mangling the living. Though all classes are deeply interested in affording protection to the study of anatomy, yet the poor and middle classes are the most so; they will be the most benefited by promoting it, and the principal sufferers by discouraging it. The rich, when they require professional assistance, can afford to employ those who have acquired the reputation of practising successfully. It is on the poor that the inexperienced commence their practice, and it is to the poor that the practice of the lower order of practitioners is confined. It is, therefore, for the interest of the poor especially, that professional education should be rendered cheap and of

easy attainment; that the lowest order of practitioners (which is the most numerous,) and the students on their first entry into practice, may be found well instructed in the duties of their profession."

Our limits would not allow us, if we were so inclined, to discuss the plan recommended by the Committee; but we may probably reserve its consideration for a future Number.

THE EDITOR'S ROOM.-No. VI.

THE number of new books is so exceedingly small, that we should offer but a meagre entertainment if we attempted a notice of them. We have on our tables some octavos on surgery and geometry-duodecimos on grammar and arithmetic-and pretty pocket manuals of geography and geology. We have also a poem or two-and one romance from the German. Out of these materials we somewhat despair of making an agreeable dozen pages; and, therefore, we shall turn our backs, for one month, upon the literature of our own country, and cross the Atlantic in search of instruction and amusement.

There are three Quarterly Reviews now published in the United States; one at Boston, one at Philadelphia, and one at Charleston. They are each exceedingly creditable specimens of the talents and attainments of our brethren of the New World; and we, whatever others may think, feel a real satisfaction, somewhat approaching to pride, in beholding the English language cultivated with such success, and made the instrument of diffusing so much valuable information through countries where the rude dialect of the Indian savage was, a century ago, the only medium of communicating the commonest thoughts and desires of the wild huntsman's life. The spread of our native tongue over the widest and fairest portions of the globe is a remarkable example of the influence of a great commercial nation in the civilization of mankind; and it is more than probable that, in a very few years, the use of the English will as far exceed that of all other languages, as did the Spanish within a century after the discovery of the passage of the Cape.

The North American Review, published at Boston, is now in its 60th number. This work is well known in England, and is distinguished, if not for its brilliancy, for its calm good sense, and its general freedom from national prejudices.

The first article of the number before us (July, 1828) is a sort of historical view of the relations of Great Britain with her North American colonies. The writer is contented to place facts before us, rather than opinions; and these facts warrant us in believing that it is the duty of our government to quiet the irritation which has been observed between the principal delegate of the executive power, and the second branch of the legislative body of Lower Canada. The reviewer thinks that "probably before long, the British government will come to some decisive measure, either to satisfy or to silence the pretences of its Canadian population." He further states that incessant attention is paid to the fortifications of Quebec, and that we are constantly en

deavouring" to give them a strength, which may in time make of the capital of Lower Canada, a rival of the impregnable fortresses of Europe." Let us satisfy, rather than silence, "pretensions" if they are at all reasonable. "Impregnable fortresses" are weak barriers against a contented population.

A review of Compagnoni's " Storia dell' America," a popular history of the New World, printed at Milan, affords us the following interesting explanation of the source from which this great portion of the globe derived its name:—

Our author yields assent, we perceive, to the old hypothesis of the disingenuous conduct of Americus in giving his name to the continent, in derogation of the just claims of its discoverer. We accordingly feel justified in the renewed assertion of the facts published in our journal some years ago, tending to vindicate the reputation of the Florentine. It is well known that all writers, contemporary with the discovery of America, distinguished it by the appellation of the New World; by which name, or that of the Indies, it is called to this day in Spain. All the Portuguese historians of Brazil, and many of the old writers on the subject of that country among other nations, alike concur in stating that Brazil was originally denominated America, in honour of Vespucci. The application of the name to the whole of the New World was a later thing, and happened in the following manner:-For fifty years after the discovery of this Continent, most (we may perhaps very safely say all) of the maps published in Europe treated the New World as if it were a group of islands, few portions of it having been thoroughly explored, and it being some time before the true geography even of those portions was universally understood. Thus Florida, Cuba, Hispaniola, Venezuela, and Brazil, under the name of America, were depicted in the maps as islands. It gradually became known that the land stretched uninterruptedly far south along the region called America, and this supposed island was therefore gradually increased in size on the maps, until, by the time that the actual state of the facts became well established, the island of America had extended itself on either hand so far as to occupy substantially the very space upon the globe, which belongs to the southern continent. Meantime, the tracts of land that were really islands retained their primitive names, while the name of America having spread with the growing expansion of the region to which it was originally affixed, was left in the possession of the new meaning it thus accidentally acquired. All this happened, not merely without any contrivance on the part of Vespucci, or any scheme to injure the reputation, or appropriate to himself the fame of Columbus, with whom he remained on terms of the most cordial and confidential intimacy to the day of his death, but so far was Vespucci from contributing to bring about the result, that no acts of his could possibly have produced the series of mistakes by which it was occasioned. It is due to justice, that all these facts should be borne in mind, whenever the mere good luck of the name of America should afford argument for questioning the integrity of Vespucci.

A Monsieur Droz has published a little book, "Sur l'Art d'être Heureux" in which, according to the Reviewer, he describes the independence of idleness as the summum bonum. Idleness, we admit, is a good thing in its way; but, like most other good things, requires to be taken in moderation. The Reviewer talks very sensibly on these

matters:

'The common sense of the world is against M. Droz on the main point, and in favour of the pursuit of some honest employment, as one of the most