Historical Sermon Delivered On the Tenth Anniversary of the Organization of the Hillside Presbyterian Church of Orange, New Jersey, by the Pastor, Rev. ... Members, and the Various Church Societies

He had spent years with Whistler, who was American. About this time, a story began to circulate through the news that an American had contacted a sub-curator of a medical school in hopes of buying human uteri for?20 each. The would-be purchaser wanted the organs preserved in glycerine to keep them pliable, and planned to send them out with a journal article he had written. The request was refused. The "American" was not identified, and no further information about him was given. The story gave rise to a new possibility: The East End murderer was killing women to sell their organs, and the stealing of Annie Chapman's rings was a "veil" to hide the real motive, which was to steal her uterus. The stealing of human organs might seem ridiculous, but it had been barely fifty years since the infamous case of Burke and Hare, the "Resurrectionists" - or body snatchers - who were charged with robbing graves and committing as many as thirty murders to supply doctors and medical schools in Edinburgh with anatomical specimens for dissection ...»