Project Gutenberg 2012-12-17 Public domain in the USA. 158 Leighton, Alexander 1800 1874 The Court of Cacus; Or, The Story of Burke and Hare E-text prepared by the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made available by Internet Archive (http://archive.org) "The Court of Cacus; Or, The Story of Burke and Hare" by Alexander Leighton is a historical account written in the mid-19th century. The book illuminates the notorious tales of body snatching and medical malpractice in 19th-century Scotland, with a focus on the infamous pair, William Burke and William Hare, who became known for their grisly deeds. Through its vivid narrative, the work explores themes of morality, depravity, and the darker facets of human nature in pursuit of scientific advancement. At the start of the narrative, the atmosphere is set in Surgeon’s Square in Edinburgh during the autumn of 1827. The approach of a new and timid body-snatcher, who turns out to be William Burke, is detailed, as he encounters a student from Dr. Knox's class. This chance meeting foreshadows Burke's entry into the macabre trade of selling cadavers, a practice that thrived due to the growing demand in medical schools. The reader is introduced to the grim reality of body snatching, as Burke and the students engage in conversation about the value of human remains, and the narrative hints at the moral decay and desperate motivations that characterize the characters involved in this dark chapter of medical history. (This is an automatically generated summary.) file:///public/vhost/g/gutenberg/html/files/41642/41642-h/images/cover.jpg Reading ease score: 54.4 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. en Body snatching Burke, William, 1792-1829 Hare, William, 1792?-1870? RA Text Category: History - British Category: History - Modern (1750+) Category: History - Religious 503890 2025-07-17T03:46:02.105033 text/html 486946 2024-10-23T13:00:17 text/html 237502 2025-07-17T03:46:07.178995 application/epub+zip 240966 2025-07-17T03:46:02.874045 application/epub+zip 240966 2025-07-17T03:46:02.489038 application/epub+zip 383843 2025-07-17T03:46:10.943982 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 335894 2025-07-17T03:46:06.765032 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 336420 2022-09-19T05:21:05.023788 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 465523 2023-09-18T07:32:53.733563 text/plain 445549 2024-10-23T13:00:17 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16855 2025-07-17T03:46:11.067957 application/rdf+xml 13004 2025-07-17T03:46:02.564024 image/jpeg 2271 2025-07-17T03:46:02.527043 image/jpeg 228195 2025-07-17T03:46:02.146996 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia