The necessity of disinterment, under existing circumstances

A surgeon addresses the city mayor to defend his conduct after prosecution for possessing an exhumed body, explaining his change of venue to avoid prejudiced jurors and recounting the circumstances of the removal, identification, and searches that followed. He criticizes parish officers and magistrates for overzealous and vindictive procedures, including an attempted felony charge over minor missing linen, and argues that reliance on precarious supplies of buried bodies hinders anatomical instruction. He urges reforms to provide lawful, respectful access to corpses for medical education while acknowledging public sensibilities and proposing measures to facilitate the acquisition of subjects for study.