Cemetery gun - photo

[Altair]

Cemetery gun from the 19th century. Used to protect caskets from body snatchers.

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...n_fullsize.jpg



Previously:

Taylor Fur Getter trap gun - photo
1882 revolver mousetrap - patent
Harley-Davidson hearse - photo and video
Tank hearse - photo
Lifted 4x4 hearse - photo

[jatt]

So just to be sure they actually died for real!

[mlochala]

And, uh, why does anyone want to snatch bodies?

[Tonyg]

They often used to be snatched so that people could do dissections on them to learn about anatomy. In the past people did not leave their bodies to science as a lot do now.

[jdurand]

yes, researchers paid cash for bodies, no questions asked.

[hemmjo]

There is a book, "A Short History of Nearly Everything " by Bill Bryson. There is a section in that about early medical "research" a bit creepy, but it gives you some perspective on how things have evolved.

There is a section in the book about "Nearly Everything".

[graniteguy]

The bodysnatchers were called "resurrectionists" in 19th century England. They often helped the victim become a corpse. Their customers were surgeons, medical students and "anatomists". There was another group interested only in oddities, anomalous examples of humanity. They were referred to as "collectors".