BODY-SNATCHING, the secret disinterring of dead bodies in churchyards in order to sell them for the purpose of dissection. Those who practised body-snatching were frequently called resur rectionists or resurrection-men. Previous to the passing of the Anatomy Act, 1832 (see ANATOMY : History), no licence was re quired in Great Britain for opening an anatomical school, and there was no provision for supplying subjects to students for anatomical purposes. Therefore, though body-snatching was a misdemeanour at common law, punishable with fine and imprison ment, it was a sufficiently lucrative business. Besides watching the grave for some time after burial, lest it should be violated, iron coffins were frequently used for burial, or the graves were protected by a framework of iron bars called mortsafes, well preserved examples of which may still be seen in Greyfriars' churchyard, Edinburgh.
See The Diary of a Resurrectionist, edited by J. B. Bailey (1896), which also contains a full bibliography and the regulations in force abroad for the supply of bodies for anatomical purposes.