Morgue

morg, a public building or place in which the bodies of unknown persons are kept by the coroner for identification. One of the most celebrated is the Morgue of Paris. It is situated on an island in the Seine. The principal room resembles a huge show window with walls of plate glass. The bodies of unknown persons recovered from the river, or found in hovels or at scenes of crimes, are displayed for a required number of days. They lie on marble slabs kept cool by a flow of water. The sight is a ghastly one, but a crowd of poorly clad spectators is seldom lacking. About 750 bodies a year are exhibited, one-seventh being those of women.