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At the beginning of the 19th century, physicians teaching anatomy in New England medical schools expected students to have hands-on experience with cadavers. As the only bodies that could be dissected legally were convicted murderers, this led to a lack of sufficient bodies for study. These doctors and their students turned to removing the dead from graveyards and cemeteries for dissection. The first medical school in Washington, D.C. was founded in 1825, headed by a Massachusetts physician convicted of body snatching, and made the practice commonplace in the area. This history of body snatching in the 19th century focuses on medical schools in New England and Washington, D.C., along with the religious, moral, and social objections during the time. With research from contemporary newspapers, medical articles, and university archives, topics such as state anatomy laws and their effects on doctors, students, and the poor--who were the usual victims--are covered, as are perceptions of physicians and medical schools by the local communities.

Decades before the Salem Witch trials, 11 people were hanged as witches in the Connecticut River Valley. The advent of witch hunting in New England was directly influenced by the English Civil War and the witch trials in England led by Matthew Hopkins, who pioneered'techniques'for examining witches. This history examines the outbreak of witch hysteria in the Valley, focusing on accusations of demonic possession, apotropaic magic and the role of the clergy. Although the hysteria was eventually quelled by a progressive magistrate unwilling to try witches, accounts of the trials later influenced contemporary writers during the Salem witch hunts. The source of the document'Grounds for Examination of a Witch'is identified.

In 1831, Prussia was consumed by two fears: the possibility of revolution resulting from the 1830 November Uprising of Poland against Russia, and a looming cholera epidemic. As the contagion made its way across Russia, Prussian medical officials took note and prepared to respond to what they thought was a highly contagious disease. When it spread to Poland, Prussia instituted a strict quarantine policy on its border, inhibiting Prussian support of the Russian war effort in Poland. From the Polish perspective the quarantine was seen as a deliberate act of sabotage against the revolution, an attempt to cut off trade with the West. This book examines the Prussian government's strict health policy and its consequences, including social unrest and resulting public health reforms. Polish public health policy is investigated in light of the revolutionary government's needs. Information is provided on the cholera camps established by Prussia to quarantine Polish soldiers who crossed the border as refugees in July 1831, the height of the cholera fear in Prussia.