| Only the inmates of Philadelphia's Blockley Almshouse can attest to the abhorrent conditions that they were forced to endure between ca. 1835 and 1890. The sick, the poor, single mothers, criminals, and the elderly often became the subjects of nineteenth-century medical education, their remains serving as specimens for autopsies, dissection, and surgical practice by the physicians and their students posted to the Almshouse. Their remains, excavated in 2001, offer a glimpse into the macabre events taking place in this venerable and notorious institution of medicine and social relief.;In this study, a sample of 248 adult crania, mandibles, and skulls representing people buried in the almshouse cemetery between ca. 1835 and 1890 were analyzed to determine their demographic profiles and document evidence of autopsy, dissection, and surgical practice. Most individuals were determined to be older men of European descent. Men and women were almost equally represented among the individuals who had been autopsied or dissected. More than one third of the postmortem cuts were transverse sections through the cranial vault, indicating studies of the brain. Almost 20% of the individuals presented multiple cuts, most likely reflecting dissections for educational purposes.;No specific patterns of autopsy, dissection, or surgical practice were observed among the sex, age, and ancestry subgroups that comprised the study sample. While the sample size is small, the data suggest that the almshouse physicians and medical students chose to perform their postmortem work on whichever bodies were available when they were ready to do so. |
