Mortsafes were contraptions designed to protect graves from disturbance. Resurrectionists had supplied the schools of anatomy in Scotland since the early 18th century. This was due to the necessity for medical students to learn anatomy by attending dissections of human subjects, which was frustrated by the very limited allowance of dead bodies – for example the corpses of executed criminals – granted by the government, which controlled the supply.

Demonstrators wear skull masks during an anti government protest, as Chile's President Michelle Bachelet delivers a speech inside the National Congress, in Valparaiso city, Chile May 21, 2016. (Photo by Ivan Alvarado/Reuters)

A voodoo believer, dressed as "Gede", a spirit of voodoo, sits on the cross of Baron Samdi during celebrations at the cemetery of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, November 1, 2016. Voodoo believers and devotees offer candles, alcohol and food. The Day of the Dead is celebrated on the first two days of November during All Saints and All Souls Day. (Photo by Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters)

A merino lamb attempts to jump out of its enclosure to find its mother shortly before feeding time at the Educational and Reserach Station for Animal Breeding (Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt fuer Tierzucht und Tierhaltung, or LVAT) in Brandenburg state on January 27, 2012 in Gross Kreutz, Germany. Hundreds of lambs have been born at the LVAT in recent weeks in the midst of the station's lambing season. Many of the lambs will be sold just before Easter, when they will have grown to a weight of over 40kg, as lamb is the traditional German Easter meal. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

A Grey Seal pup and it's mother lay in the mud at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's Donna Nook nature reserve on November 24, 2014 in Grimsby, England. Seal pup numbers have increased on last year with over 800 pups born at the reserve so far. Large bull seals are the first to arrive at the reserve in late October or early November where they will wait for females. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

A Palestinian woman sorts freshly picked dates during harvest season in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip October 4, 2015. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

A tourist stands on the shore of a private beach in Naama Bay, Sharm el-Sheikh, south Sinai, Egypt, Sunday, November 8, 2015. Britain's foreign secretary says airport security in many cities will need to be overhauled if it is confirmed the Russian plane crash in the Sinai was caused by a bomb planted by the Islamic State group or someone inspired by the militants. (Photo by Vinciane Jacquet/AP Photo)

A dressed reveler looks up to the famous cathedral in Cologne, Germany, Wednesday, November 11, 2015. Thousands of carnival supporters celebrate the traditional beginning of the carnival season in Germany. (Photo by Martin Meissner/AP Photo)