The 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries in the United Kingdom saw significant advancements in medicine and public health, but those studying medicine and human anatomy faced a major obstacle: a lack of available bodies for dissection. 

Cultural taboos and religious beliefs regarding proper burial, free of mutilation, meant that legally available cadavers were scarce for hospitals, doctors, students, and professors. As a result, many resorted to body snatching, bribery, and even murder to obtain anatomical specimens.

This dark history and its impact on anatomical knowledge, medicine, and surgery were the focus of Lynchburg’s Doctor of Physical Therapy winter break study abroad trip. Thirty-seven DPT students and faculty spent 12 days in England and Scotland visiting cultural, medical, and historical sites and museums.

“We especially focused on the illegal practice of body snatching,” Dr. Price Blair, an associate professor of physical therapy, said. “There was a shortage of bodies for medical students to dissect so they took to robbing graves. This really resonated with our students because they’ve all taken a cadaver-based anatomy class. It really got them to think about where we get our bodies today and how different it is now.” 

In Great Britain, human dissection was banned by law until 1506. Afterward, royal patronages granted select groups two to six cadavers per year for dissection, but demand continued to outpace supply. 

Local ordinances permitted the collection of certain abandoned bodies, and the Murder Act of 1752 allowed the dissection of executed criminals. However, even these measures failed to meet the growing need.

Today, Virginia schools use cadavers that have been donated to the Virginia Department of Health through the Virginia State Anatomical Program. Cadaver procurement is now highly regulated and held to strict ethical standards, but the core issue remains: demand continues to exceed willing donations.

“It was very interesting to learn how far these professors were willing to go to teach anatomy,” Alexander Heaney ʼ27 DPT said. “They wanted to learn about the body and teach. They were also making a ton of money from these classes.”

Even as laws expanded the availability of cadavers, backlash against anatomists remained strong. Social taboos and religious beliefs often led communities to resist the collection of bodies for dissection, sometimes resulting in riots.

A recently deceased body in good condition became a valuable commodity. Hospitals, anatomists, and medical professors were willing to pay large sums — sometimes equaling an average person’s yearly salary — for a single cadaver. 

They offset these costs by charging admission to dissections, which attracted students, medical professionals, and curious members of the public. Consequently, anatomy students and opportunists alike began stealing bodies to sell to anatomists.

The practice of body snatching was a legal gray area, as deceased remains were not considered property. This legal loophole meant that families of the deceased had little recourse when graves were disturbed.

“It was sad to see that there were professors and anatomists willing to do this and they never had any backlash, other than from the community,” Heaney said. “From one point of view you understand you need the bodies to learn and teach others and spread medicine. 

“I understand that you’re trying to do a good thing, but that is not the correct way to go about it  — that’s human life.”

To deter body snatching, wealthier families used mortsafes — heavy iron and stone cages placed over graves — or mausoleums, vaults, and table headstones. Those with fewer resources might rent mortsafes or guard the graves of loved ones until decomposition made the body unsuitable for dissection.

“Back then, there were a lot of ethical and moral things that we wouldn’t do today,” Nadia Parras ʼ27 DPT said. “That was something that blew my mind.”

During the trip, students visited an old operating theater used for both live surgeries and cadaver dissections. Designed like a theater-in-the-round, these spaces allowed students and the public to observe medical procedures. Parras volunteered as the patient in a reenacted amputation.  

“Everyone thinks history is so boring, but history is really a story,” said Dr. Lee Ann Eagler, a clinical associate professor of physical therapy. “When you see someone laying there and experiencing those things, when you see the cemetery, with the cage over top of it trying to prevent digging up bodies. 

“Just seeing and experiencing that — it shows how desperate people were to keep their people buried and not be sold. They were sold for exorbitant amounts of money to the schools so people could train. 

“But we want bodies, too. You can’t replace that learning experience. So we understand the desperation that those schools must have felt to get to that point.” 

Anatomists often preserved their dissections, especially when cadavers displayed unusual medical conditions. Many of these meticulously dissected specimens — such as those collected by William and John Hunter — remain preserved in museums today. 

The Lynchburg DPT students visited both the Hunterian Museum in London and the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow. Despite recent flooding in London’s museum, students were given a behind-the-scenes tour of its collections.

Parras found the visits to the Hunterian collections the most beneficial component of the trip. 

“Here at the University of Lynchburg, we study anatomy by dissecting cadavers, which is very different from being able to see separated specimens in containers of formaldehyde,” she said. “All of the specimens were perfectly cut. It was very different from a student’s perspective because when we dissect cadavers we don’t have the proper and clean technique. 

“We don’t always get to see the perfect clean picture of the muscle or organ that we would be studying in the cadaver, versus seeing this perfectly isolated specimen that was collected back in the 1800s. 

“It was cool to make that connection from the anatomy and physiology class we had recently taken — To see how that illness presents in the body is very different from seeing images or drawings in a textbook. 

“We were able to see a lot of rare conditions that we didn’t necessarily talk about in class, so I was able to expand my knowledge on that by observing this collection.”

Effective physical therapy requires an in-depth knowledge and understanding of anatomy. An understanding of the development and progression of surgery and medicine as a whole is also helpful to physical therapists as they must often work with a diversity of specialties in the health care team and because the history of the profession is so interconnected to these other areas. 

“The purpose is to learn where medicine has come from, and it’s really important to think about it even when you’re doing therapy,” Eagler said. “We’re not a particularly invasive profession, but at the same time we’ve developed from a lot of this history.” 

Eagler noted that physical therapy emerged from nursing in response to the polio epidemic and World War II. “It’s really good for them to understand there was nothing,” she said. “They did have some sorts of prosthetic limbs, but they didn’t really have anybody to train them how to walk or to help them at all. 

“That’s where therapy … developed from. It’s really good to understand your schooling and your profession.”

Blair added, “They get to see themselves as part of this continuum of the medical profession that’s 3,000 years old.” 

The experience left a lasting impression on students, broadening their perspectives beyond physical therapy. Blair and Eagler ensured that the itinerary also incorporated cultural exploration, including art, food, and historical landmarks.

“They love the history, the cultural aspects, the going and looking at art in the national gallery,” Blair said. “It got them to exercise a different part of their brain than they’re used to and that’s the heart of what Lynchburg is as a liberal arts institution.”

Heaney echoed Blair and Eagler’s sentiments in his reflections on the trip and its value. “Growing up, I hated history class,” Heaney said. “If I was going to fall asleep in a class, it was probably going to be history. 

“But it was crazy how much I enjoyed seeing the historical sites and places I’ve only read about or heard about.”

This study abroad experience is unique to Lynchburg’s physical therapy program. Eagler and Blair haven’t encountered similar programs at other institutions, and Eagler often hears envious remarks from PT colleagues about this remarkable opportunity.

“The profession as a whole has become very open to the art of it,” she said. “PT is an art and a science. We are not cookie cutter. We can’t do everything exactly the same for every person. 

“It’s really starting to look at people as individuals, looking at their social roles. Trips like this really open people’s eyes to different backgrounds and perspectives. … We took a big look backwards, but I think that also helps us to look at and appreciate where we are.”