Coloured cartoon from the Northern Looking Glass 3 September 1825, the fourth in the series "Essay on Modern Medical Education". It depicts an anatomy lecturer showing students a diagram of a skeleton. Arrayed on the desk in front of him is a range of medical exhibits, including human heads preserved in jars. The students appear to be laughing and joking, to the consternation of the lecturer.
Anderson's College Medical School and the College Street Medical School were among several in the early 19th century that competed for (and often shared) medical students with the University of Glasgow. Students were often employed as grave robbers to supply fresh cadavres for the dissection tables, exacerbating the dislike and distrust of many Glasgow citizens for the cocky, privileged young men who attended the medical schools.
Reference: Sp Coll Bh14-x.8
Glasgow University Library, Special Collections
Keywords:
anatomy, classrooms, Glasgow Looking Glass, lecture theatres, lecturers, lectures, lithographs, medical colleges, medical schools, medical specimens, Northern Looking Glass, skeletons, students