escribed
the subject as one that had elicited the admiration of the class. He
said it was a female of perfect proportions, but who had recently been
an inmate of a brothel of the lowest description. She had, in a state
of beastly inebriation, fallen into the fire. Yet, with the exception
of a small but fatal orifice in the side, her form and features
remained unaltered. I consented to meet him at the hour appointed, and
made my arrangements accordingly.

"That evening there were many more persons in the dissecting-room than
usual. I had now become much more cheerful, and enjoyed the frank
greetings of my many friends with a relish and an ardour that had
hitherto been unknown to me. Many flippant remarks and careless
observations were exchanged in relation to the business before us. We
had become accustomed to such scenes, and habit had rendered us
callous to the reflections and impressions generally produced when
gazing upon the cold lineaments of the dead. Dissection was an
indispensable act. It had been resorted to under the deliberate
conviction that it was necessary to the perfection of science, and in
a great degree redounded to the welfare and preservation of the
living. To us the pale inanimate limbs, and the attenuated, insensible
bodies of the dead brought no disagreeable sensations. We cut and
sawed them with the same composed indifference with which the sculptor
hews the marble.

"'This is a beautiful subject we have to-night, Glenn,' observed one
of my friends, as we approached the dead body. He then threw up the
white cloth, and exposed the corpse, the head being still obscured. A
breathless silence reigned, while all gazed at the lifeless form in
admiration. She was a perfect Venus! Not having been wasted and
shrivelled by disease, the symmetry of her lineaments was preserved in
all the exactness of life and health. Her bust was full, plump, and
the skin of the most exquisite whiteness, except where it had been
marred by the fire that caused her death. Her limbs surpassed any
model I had ever beheld, round and tapering, smooth and white as
ivory. Her ankles were most admirably turned, and her feet of the
smallest dimensions. Her handsome and gently swelling arms were
covered with a slight gauze of short, dark hair, through which the
snowy whiteness of her skin was displayed to greater advantage. Her
hands were extremely delicate, and indicated that she had been
accustomed to ease and luxury.

"I was r