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found this oddity while reviewing lost post-mortems. many of the characters names are related to writers, philosophers and scientists. in this case one has a psuedonym named jeremy bentham.

I think the most fascinating, and perhaps relevant, thing about Bentham was the disposition of his corpse: He hoped that his body might be of use to mankind after it had ceased being of service to himself, so he desired that following his death, his remains be turned over to science for dissection. He made the stipulation, however, that after dissection his skeleton be kept intact, that his head and hands be preserved, that he be dressed in his usual clothing, and that he be placed in his old chair in his accustomed attitude. This stipulation came from Bentham's odd notion that instead of corpses being placed in the ground out of view, they ought to be preserved by friends and relations and put up at carefully chosen points around the house and grounds as permanent monuments, or "auto-icons" as he called them. ...Bentham's requests were carried out by three of his trusted friends. After his body was dissected by a group of medical men, his skeleton--surmounted by a replica wax head--was dressed in his old clothes, placed in his old chair, enclosed in a glass and mahogany case, and all was put on permanent display in the Anatomical Museum of University College Hospital, Gower Street, London, where it can still be seen today. Bentham's real head was kept separately, but attempts to preserve it in its original condition failed. The head is now parched and withered. Photographs of Bentham's mummified head, together with his skeleton dressed in his old clothes, may be seen in issue 43 of Man, Myth & Magic.

- dave 2-12-2009 8:54 am [link] [add a comment]






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