Lee J, Štrkalj G
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW; Medical Imaging Department, The Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Department of Chiropractic, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
J Postgrad Med. 2017 Oct-Dec;63(4):237-241. doi: 10.4103/jpgm.JPGM_8_17.
Acquiring adequate resources for anatomy education has represented a challenge throughout the discipline's long history. A significant number of collections housed in anatomy departments contain human tissue of unknown provenance with some obtained in morally dubious ways. This paper outlines the history and future prospects of one such anatomical assemblage - the Burns Anatomical Collection, currently housed at the University of Maryland (UM). The collection originally contained more than 1000 anatomically prepared mummified human remains. They were produced by the renowned Scottish anatomist Allan Burns in Glasgow in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The prepared cadavers became a commodity and after Burns' death, were acquired by his pupil Granville Pattison, who later sold them to the UM. While the origin of these human remains is unknown, historical data suggests that most of the cadavers for the collection were obtained through grave robbing. While intensely used in anatomy teaching in the nineteenth century, specimens from the collection should now be treated primarily as historical artifacts, appropriate only for teaching medical history and ethics. Other perspectives may include repatriating and reburying the human remains and providing a memorial service. Most importantly, this collection and others similar to it should initiate dialog and reflection on the ethical aspects of the past and present medical practice.
在解剖学教育漫长的历史中，获取充足的资源一直是一项挑战。解剖学系收藏的大量藏品中包含来源不明的人体组织，其中一些是以道德上存疑的方式获得的。本文概述了这样一个解剖学藏品组合——伯恩斯解剖学藏品的历史和未来前景，该藏品目前存放在马里兰大学（UM）。该藏品最初包含1000多具经过解剖处理的木乃伊化人体遗骸。它们是由著名的苏格兰解剖学家艾伦·伯恩斯于18世纪末和19世纪初在格拉斯哥制作的。这些经过处理的尸体成为了一种商品，在伯恩斯去世后，被他的学生格兰维尔·帕蒂森收购，帕蒂森后来将它们卖给了马里兰大学。虽然这些人体遗骸的来源不明，但历史数据表明，该藏品的大多数尸体是通过盗墓获得的。虽然这些藏品在19世纪的解剖学教学中被大量使用，但现在这些藏品的标本应主要被视为历史文物，仅适用于医学史和伦理学教学。其他观点可能包括遣返和重新埋葬这些人体遗骸，并举行追悼仪式。最重要的是，这个藏品以及其他类似的藏品应该引发关于过去和现在医学实践伦理方面的对话和反思。
