Abstract
Don Shelton noted 1 that William Smellie and William Hunter obtained a considerable number of the bodies they illustrated in their Atlases by the process of ‘burking’ (i.e. murdering these women to order). According to Shelton ‘The two atlases depict dissections of over 30 pregnant subjects, mainly in the ninth month of pregnancy’.
Hunter illustrated a total of five pregnant women, all of whom were of 9 months gestation. The first of these women died suddenly, in the year 1750. The second woman had placenta praevia, and her death was associated with ‘flooding of blood’. A third women possessed a full-term fetus with a breech presentation. A fourth woman possessed a full-term fetus. A fifth woman, after a natural labour, grew faint, and without any apparent cause, died two hours later. All of the other Plates displayed less than full-term fetuses.
Smellie's Atlas contained 39 Plates, many of which contained diagrams. A substantial proportion of the other Plates displayed similar fetuses, although in different positions. For example, in Plates 23 and 24 the same fetuses were observed, although the fetus in Plate 24, was shown delivered using forceps.
The incidence of maternal and fetal deaths during the 18th century among the lower classes was probably considerably more common than indicated by Shelton. According to Playfair, 2 the causes of sudden maternal death during the late 19th century were probably very similar to that occurring during Hunter's and Smellie's time. Such conditions included puerperal eclampsia and pelvic deformity due to rickets or osteomalacia of pregnancy, as well as cord prolapse. Haemorrhage before and during delivery might also occur, such as due to placenta praevia or placental separation, as well as haemorrhage after delivery. Accordingly, there would be no justification to indicate that their bodies were obtained by ‘burking’.
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