The Body Divided

Human remains have long been considered valuable material for use in medical science. Over time and in different places, 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, as they took place in hospitals, universities, workhouses and lunatic asylums in England and Australia. Through a series of case studies, the volume reveals the changing scientific, economic and emotional value of corpses and their contested place in medical science.