ABSTRACT
In the late nineteenth century, Western medical schools developed an acute dependence on an abundant and secure supply of human cadavers, which were essential for the purpose of teaching students the new understanding of the localization of diseases in organs and tissues. As this new thirst for cadavers for dissection arose concurrently with the growth of the modern democratic polity, the question of how to source the essential bodies for the processes of medical research and education created a significant dilemma – one that has dogged medical policy planners from the nineteenth century until the present. This chapter provides a case study which examines the problem relating to the supply of cadavers in Melbourne, Australia, as well as the responses and proffered solutions to it of the medical establishment. 1
