Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1867-07-27
ExpsarMHNrs ON AN1mALs
Prai,srorthy .ssociationl for !

-
Praiseworthy associations for tho
prevention of cruelty to animals, formed
Of late in different places, have recalled
attention to the practice Of vivisections,
or cutting operations on the living ami
NAL, for the purposes Of physiological
experiment. The subject has been ably
discussed by DR.. John O. Dalton, the
eminent lecturer and author on physi-
in q paper read before the Now
York Academy Of Medicine. Professor
Dalton meets tho three-fold charges
brought against vivissetion, viz: Of
cruelty, liability to error, and the bar
rsnness Of valuable results. He re-
marks that the question of vivisection
does not cover the whole ground as re-
lates TO the treatment Of animals BY
experiment on them. We must include
in the argument not only the operation
on an animal By mea Of cutting down,
exposing or removing . particular Or
gan, or tying up arteries, but also the
subjeeting it to the respiration Of GER
tain gases, combining it to q particular
kind Of food, or the administration Of
drugs and poisons. The charge Of
cruelty in experiments on animals, with
q definite aim, cannot be sustained if
We take into consideration the fact that
the object in experimenting 10 tho i'm
provement Of medical knowledge, and,
consequently, the relief Of human suf-
fering and the cure Of human diseases.
Can il be thought a very reckless or eI-
.ravagant thing to sacrifice q compara-
lively small number Of dogs and rabbits
for the acquisition Of knowledge which
is to benefit the human race, whom We
cause to be destroyed, without any mis-
giving, Ave hundred thousand cattle in
South America, for no other purpose
than to supply ourselves with hides, to
be tanned and manufactured into boots
and shoes2 The experimental physi-
ologist has been As ready a. the sur
geon to have recourse to ch~loroform r
ether, so that, in point Of fact, at the
present day, the great majority Of physi.
illogical experiments are so performed
a. to be entirely painless. Even in the
few cases in which snesthesics cannot
be used for the purpose Of causing gen.
eral instability, a temporary dssdsn-
ing Of the particular part operated on
a now be procured BY the local ap-
plication Of ether spray, thrown on it
BY means of an appropriate apparatus;
or Of . new volatile fluid made by DR..
Bigelow, Of Boston, and BY him called
rhigolene, a product Of the distillasion
Of petroleum.
Blu. We have made little advance in
the general argument on experiments on
animals until II DO shown that not only
10 there little suffering on these occs-
sions, and that tho accusation Of cruelty
10 not sustained, but that these sxpsr-
imsnts are tho msin, il not the only
Iourcs of positive knowledge in physiol-
ogy. There 10 no other method Of sd-
vancing i. on which we a rely. The
grsatsrt discoveries Of the function or
Office Of the different organs which make
up the human body are due to IL. First,
We would mention tho circulation Of the
bleed, discovered BY Harvey through
vivisections tho motions and uses Of
the heart, the structure and office Of the
arteries carrying blood from the heart,
and Of the veins in conveying it back
from all parts Of the body to this organ,
were a~sesrtainsd by vivisections AFTER
thousands Of years Of suruise, speeula-
tons and unsuccessful reasoning from
analogy.
Tho use Of atmospheric air, its COM
position and its changes in respiration
were asesrtaioed BY experiments on
animals in subjecting them to the air
pump and TO breathing, exclusively,
certain gases. As regards digestion,
the first source Of definite knowledge on
the subject was obtained By experiments
performed on q wounded man, AlsIas
st. Martin, whose stomach remained
permanently exposed through a fssulous
opening. The subject has since been
studied BY means Of 6stule established
in animals. Our moro accurate know
ledge Of the usrrous system, especially
Of the important fact that sensation and
motion arc due to separate portions Of
the spinal marrow and brain and to
separate nerves given out from those
parts, has been gained By rivissctions.
Some important Improvements in sur
gerry are the results Of experiments on
animals. What positive knowledge We
have on the q Of tho rattlesnake
and the treatment Of rationale bites
comes to rs through researches in the
same line BY Dr.. s. Weir Mitchell, Of
Philadelphia. To this able gentleman
are We indebted for . valuable paper in
the January number Of tho American
Journal Of the Medical Sciences, on the
re,rogrsssive movements Of birds pro-
ducsd by the application Of cold, and on
the use Of that agent in Physiological
Investigation. Rhigolsns was the chief
agent employed BY DR.. Mitchell to pro-
duee cold and local insonsibility.
A Llrrss from Aurora states that the
sentiment Of the Union party Of Mono
county Is in full sympathy With the &C.
ton of the late Republican Reform Con.