SoylentNews

tonyPick writes:

Over at the excellent 99% Invisible is an article on the often lethal Victorian era defences against grave robbers:

Sometimes known as "resurrectionists," corpse thieves would exhume and sell bodies to doctors, medical instructors and students for anatomical study.

In response, an arsenal of grave-protecting devices began to hit the market, including the "cemetery gun." Locked, loaded and located near the foot of a grave, this device was essentially a conventional firearm on a swiveling based[sic]. Triggered by tripwires, it would spin and shoot would-be robbers approaching under cover of darkness.

The article links to a similar piece on Atlas Obscura.

"Sleep well sweet angel, let no fears of ghouls disturb thy rest, for above thy shrouded form lies a torpedo, ready to make minced meat of anyone who attempts to convey you to the pickling vat," read an advertisement for the Howell torpedo.

As the article notes these devices were oddities, which were probably not commercially successful or widely used, however:

these inventions provide a peculiar window into the curiosity, horror, and unease anatomical practice inspired among 19th-century society.

Original Submission