Anatomy Act 1884 (SA)

ANNO QUADRAGESIMO SEPTIMO ET QUADRAGESIMO

OCTAVO

No. 317.

An Act to authorise the establishment of Schools of Anatomy and to regulate the practice of Anatomy therein.

[Asseated to, November rg f h, 1884.1

E it Enacted by the Governor of thc Province of South Council and the House of Assembly of the said province, in this	B Australia, with thc advice and consent of' the Legislative
present Parliament assembled, as follows:

1, The short title of this Act shall be thc Anatomy Act of Sho*title.

1884."

A-317

2. In the construction of this Act the word '' body " shall mean Interpretation.

dead human body; legallv qualified medical practitioner " shall mean any person duly registered as such under the provisions of the Acts in force in the colony for that purpose; the word " anatomy " shall mean anatomy of the human body only, and shall include the physiology of the same; and the words "public institutions " shall include any prison, gaol, lunatic, destitute, or other asylum or hospital.

3. The Governor may authorise the establishment of schools of Governor to mthorisr establishment of

anatomy, where the study and practice of anatomy may be carried	of aMomg.
on, in connection with any TJniversity or School of Medicine, in such places and upon such conditions as the Governor shall think fit, and may at any time revoke such authority.

4, The Governor may grant a licence to practise anatomy in any Governorto mt

such school of anatomy on such conditions, for such period, and ,,bmys licences to practice

subject

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The Anatomy ,4ct.-1884.

subject to revocation in such manner as may be therein expressed, to any graduate or licentiate in medicine or surgery, or to any legally qualified medical practitioner or to any professor or teacher

of anatomy, medicine, or surgery, or to any student attending any

school of anatomy, on application from any such person for such purpose, countersigned by two Justices of the Peace, certifying that, to their knowledge ox belief, such person so applying is a fit person to be licensed.

Governor	appoint	5, The Governor may appoint from time to time inspectors of
inwectOm	schOO's

of anatomy. schools of anatomy, and may direct what schools every such inspector shall superintend, and in what manner every such inspector shall transact the duties of his office.

Inspectors to make 6, Every inspector shdl makc a quarterly return to the

retUmsOf mutomicd esamina- for Registrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages, of any body that anatomy as aforesaid, distinguishing the sex and, as'far as is known, the name and age of each person whose body was so removed as aforesaid.

tion.	has been removed for anatomical examination to any such school of
And toinapect echools

of tu~tomy. 7, I t shall be lawfd for every such inspector to visit and inspect

at any time any school of anatomy for which he is appointed

inspector.

Persons having lawful	8, It shall be lawful for any executor or other person having
custody of bodiea

may permit them to	lawful possession of the body of any deceased person, and not being
undergo anatomical
examination in certain	an undertaker or other person entrusted with the body for the purpose
Gam.	only of interment, to permit the body of such deceased person to undergo anatomical examination, unless to the knowledge of such executor or other person such deceased person shall have-expressed his desire, either in writing at any time during his life or 'verbally in the presence of two or more witnesses during the illness whereof he died, that his body after death might not undergo such examination, or unless the surviving husband or wife, or any known relative of the deceased person, shall require the body to be interred without
such exa&mtion.

~ravision in case of 9, If any person, in writing, attested by two or more witnesses,

persons directing ana-

tomical examinations

shall direct that his body be examined anatomically, or shall nomi-

after their death.

nate anv person by this Act authorised to examine bodies ana- tomically t'o make iuch examination, and if before the burial of the body of such person such direction or nomination shall be made known to the person having legal possession of the dead body, then such last-mentioned person shall direct such examination to be made, and, in case of any such nomination as aforesaid, shall request and permit any person so authorised and nominated as aforesaid to make such examination.

Chief Becmtsry 10, The Chief Secretary may, by a licence under his hand,

authorise bodies to authorise the medical officer of any public institution, supported

examimtiott. wholly

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The Anatomy Act.-1884.

wholly or in part by funds from the general revenue, to permit the body of any person who may die in such public institution, unless such institution shall be a public hospital, to undergo anatomical examination in any school of anatomy or in any public institution, unless to the knowledge of such licencee such person shall have expressed his desire, either in writing at any time during his life, or verbally during the illness whereof he died, that his body after death might not undergo such examination, or unless the surviving husband or wife or the nearest known relative of the deceased person shall require the body to he interred without such examination.

11. 111 no case shall thc body of any pcrson be removed for ana- The body not to be removed from the

tomical examination from any place where such person may have died place pr-

until aftcr twclvc hours from the time of such ers son's decease, nor son may have died

until after six hours' notice to the inspector of thc school of anatomy without a, certificate.

nearest to the place where such person may have died, of the intended removal of the body; or if no such inspector have been appointed, or such inspector shall reside at a greater distance than ten miles from the place of death, then to some legally qualified medical practitioner or Justice of the Pesce, nor unless a certificate stating in what manner such person came by his death shall, previously to the removal of the body, have been signed by the legally qualified nledical practitioner who attended such person during the illness whereof he died, or if no such practitioner attended such person during such illness, then by some such practitioner or some Justice of tht: Peace who shall be called in after the death of such person to view his body, and who shall state the manner or cause of death according to thc best of his knowledge and belief, but who shall not be concerned in examining the body &atomically, and in case of such removal such certificate shall be delivered, together with the body, to the person receiving the same for anatomical examination.

12, I t shall be lawful for any legally qualified medical practi- w h o may receive

tioner, ar any professor, teacher, or student of anatomy, medicine, or ,x-tion. bodies for anatomical

surgery, having a liccncc from the Governor, to receive or possess for anatomical examination, or examine anatomically, the body of any person deceased, if permitted or directed so to do by a person who had at the time of giving such permission or direction lawful pos- session of the body, and who had power in pursuance of the provisions of this Act to permit or cause the body to be so examined, and provided such certificate as aforesiiid were delivcrcd by such person together with the body.

13. Every person so receiving a body fo r anatomical exc~rnina~ S U ~ peraom to

receive with tbe body

tion after removal shall demand and receive, together with the body, a a c,ilaate 88

certificate as aforesaid, and shall, within twenty-f our hours next after aforesaid, which shall

such removal, tramnit to the inspector of the nearest school of theinapeator.	be transmitted to
anatomy as aforesaid such certificate, and also a return stating at what day and hour and from whom the body was received, the date and place of death, the sex, and (as far as is known at the time) the

christian

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The Anatomy Act.-1884.

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christian and surname, age, and last place of abode of such person; or, if no such inspector have been appointed, to some legally qualified medical practitioner or Justice of the Peace, and shall enter, or cause to be entered, the aforesaid particulars relating thereto,

and a copy of the certificate he received therewith, in a book to be

kept by him for that purpose, and shall produce such book whenever

required so to do by any inspector so appointed as aforesaid.

Anatmoical 14, It shall not be lawful for any person to receive or possess for

examinations to be anatomical examination, or examine anatomically, any body except

c-ea on only at

places licensed,

at such place or places as are authorised for that purpose as provided

for in the third section of this Act.

Persons practising 15, All persons who shall carry on and practise anatomy shall do

do a0

in orderly and decent	SO in such a manner as to avoid unnecessary mutilation of any bodies
manner,	that they may be examining anatomically, and shall conduct such exsmina&ons "in an orderly, iuiet, and dccint manner; and it shall be lawful, in addition to the penalties hereinafter provided, to deprive any person of his licence who shall offend against the provisions of this section or any of the provisions of this Act.

HOW bodies areto be 16, Every such body removed for the purpose of examination

'Or

shall, before such removal, be placed in a decent coffin or shell, and

tion. Provision for

interment. be removed therein, and the person removing the same, or causing the same to be removed, shall make provision that such body, after undergoing anatomical examination, be decently interred in con- secrated ground, or in some public burial-ground in use for persons of that religious persuasion to which thc pcrson whose body was so removed belonged, or in some public cemetery, and that a certificate of thc interment of such body shall be transmitted to the inspector of the district within six weeks after the day on which such body was received, or within such other time as the Governor, by notice in the Gazette, shall appoint.

Persons duly	17, No person, having a licence from the Governor, shall be
authOriaed

liable to punishment	be liable to any prosecution, penalty, forfeiture, or punishment for
for having in their

posession human

receiving, or having in his passession fbr anatomical examination, or

bodies.

for examining anatomically, any body, if the possession of such body

be according to the provisions of this Act.

post ~nortem examin- 18, Nothing in this Act contained shall be construed to prohibit

ation not prohibited.

any post morttlm examination of any body required or directed to be

made by any competent legal authority.

Limitationofactions. 19, If any action or suit shall be commenced or brought against

any person for anything done in pursuance of this Act, the same shall be cornrnenccd within six months ncxt after the cause of action accrued, and the defendant in every such action or suit may plead the matter specially, or may plead the general issue of not guilty, and give the special matter in evidence at any trial to be held thereupon.

20, Any

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The Anatomy Act.--1884.

20. Any person offending against the provisions of this Act shall offences.

bc decmcd guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be punished by im- prisonment for a term not exceeding three months or by a fine not exceeding Fifty Pounds.

is, in the opinion of the Governor, made by this Act, it shall be lawful a,der8, 21. In all cases in which no provision, or no sufficient provision, $;;zgn;;;Fe

f i r the ~ & m n o r to make and prescribe all such regulations and orders, either general or applicable to particular cases only, as the Governor shall think fit, and all such regulations and orders shall be published in the Gazette, and being so published shall have the forcc of law, and the breach of any of such regulations or orders shall be punishable by a penalty not exceeding Five Pounds.

22, I t shall be lawful for the governing authorities of any Authorities of scho01~ to make rules for

authorised school of anatomy, with the approval of the Governor,

and

to make iules for enabling the study and practice of anatomy to be properly carried out and discipline to be maintained a t such school, and to impose a penalty not exceeding Five Pounds for the breach thereof. All such rules shall fix a date on wlriclr the same shall come into force, and upon the date so fixed, and after their publication in the Gazette, such rules shall be in force in the school to which the same shall relate.

23. The penalties authorised by the last two preceding sections Pcnalties how

may be recovered in a summary way befort. any two Jnsrices of	the
Peace.

I n the name and on behalf of Her Majesty, I hereby assent to

to this Bill.

WTLLIAM C. F. ROB1NSON, Governor.

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&L

Adelaide : By authority, E. SPILLBB, Government Printer, North-terrace.

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