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In the early 19th century the University of Edinburgh was regarded as the best medical school<ref name="JohnMunroSurgeon">{{cite book| title=Oxford Companion to Scottish History| year=2007| pages=141–142| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=65A-KFw1GU8C&q=Alexander+Monro| editor-first=Michael| editor-last=Lynch| publisher=Oxford University Press| isbn=978-0-19-923482-0| access-date=2015-07-14}}</ref> in the [[United Kingdom]] despite the fact that its reputation had declined from its heyday in the [[The Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] of the 18th century. The University had been founded as the Town's College and was still governed by the Town Council. Two thirds of the professors were appointed by the [[Tory]]-controlled Council on the basis of their party list subject to approval by the [[Church of Scotland|Kirk]], with little regard for ability. In some cases families treated the university chairs as hereditary, and critics alleged that Alexander Monro III exemplified the "mediocrity" this could produce. His manner was described as "unimpassioned indifference" and lectures were known to degenerate into riots.<ref name="Clair1964"/>
Monro took little pride in his personal appearance and was described by contemporaries as dishevelled, scruffy and even dirty.<ref name="Clair1964"/> This was an era when many in medicine considered cleanliness to be finicking and affected. "An executioner might as well manicure his nails before chopping off a head."<ref name="
During Monro's tenure as Professor of Anatomy, Edinburgh was rocked by scandal due to the notorious "[[Burke and Hare murders]]" in which healthy individuals were intentionally killed in order to supply cadavers for dissection by anatomy lecturers and their students. One of the murderers, [[Burke and Hare murders|William Burke]], was [[hanged]] on 28 January 1829, after which he was famously dissected at the [[Edinburgh Medical College]] by Monro.<ref>{{cite book |last=Howard |first=Amanda |author2=Martin Smith |title=River of Blood: Serial Killers and Their Victims |publisher=[[Universal Publishers (United States)|Universal]] |date=15 August 2004 |chapter=William Burke and William Hare |isbn=1-58112-518-6 |page=54 }}</ref> In a letter, Monro dipped his quill pen into Burke's blood and wrote, "This is written with the blood of Wm Burke, who was hanged at Edinburgh. This blood was taken from his head."<ref>{{cite book |last=Rosner |first=Lisa |title=The Anatomy Murders |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |date=5 October 2009 |isbn=978-0-8122-4191-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/anatomymurdersbe00rosn |url-access=registration }}</ref>
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