New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-02-23
THE UsELLSsSEsS or TITIsECToN.
4. Kingsf,rd in The y'nstceaa century.

One of the best proofs that tor purposes Of exact
knowledge and practical medicine vlysectoh Is
not regarded as serious study, IS found IN the act
that at the Paris School Of Medicine, where my
degree was obtained. and where vIylsectlon Is eA-
tenslyely practised, candidates preparing loI Ine
diploma are frequently warned by ther tutors 20
avoid hasIng their answers TO examination ques-
tious on viVlsectlOual experiments. Among hot
few rebukes on this score which 1 have ~ ell
hoard 9dministe-ed I was particularly struck with
one addressed by an examining professor Ia a can
ddate at the oral examination on forensic medicine
What wOulG you do asked the professor, " III
order to test the nature OF the poison employed I"
Said the candidate: should try the contents Oh
the viscera of the deceased persons upon animals,
and should also procure some " the toxic agent
suspectcd and administer il to other animals IN
order 20 compare their symptoms with those eA-
hbted by the deceased -, &,
SIR returned the professor, " such ntJhud
as that is made tor idle and inaccurate men,
Again, have found food for much reflection III
the tact that the students whom noticed as being
the most intelligent, The most GIFTED ana the MOST
proficient among my hospital comrades, we're pre-
Ciselv those who. like myself, shrank from witness
ing and discussing animal vlvisectl0n. ana 81
those on the other hand. whose intellect was OF a
mean or average order, whose minds were OF coarse
Glre and whose tastes ana habits were gross and
uurei.ned the greater number were not only plrt-
sans OF the practice Dut amateurs and practluoners
of it, 10 seems to me lndispuane that the lncitds-
ing tendency manifested by .he modern school oil
medicine 10 introduce the VlVlsecuOndi m"tuod eN-
tcusvelv INFO lt, curriculum, and TO make the pIac
lice of il high road for the attainment OF PROBES
siOnal hOnors Will operate disastrousi} on Jue
real genius, lowered with the ine Ieelihg, ana
delicate organization in5eparabIe from the order OF
mental capacity they possess II, on the contrary
the Teproach which hangs over the medical Schools
were removed their class books purified aud their
lecture rooms cleared of animal torture another
generation wOuld | an profoundly convinced see
the profession largely recruited from class Ct men
totally different from those Of whom the average
medical student Of the day Is "a TAR type We
should then be able to number IN the ranks oi our
physiological workers and professors, men win tIe
MUD of the poet, having reYeTeut thoughts or ne
and of the flee Of humanity, and faculties capable
of discerning and Interpreting natures most secret
operations by methods not dreamed OF as possible
even by the present race Of vlylsectng hyslclsts
Why. in the face Of The manifold errors and fatal
bevilderr1eut to which vivIsectIOn has contessedly
gwen rise IN Its application to practical therapcu
tics il should Yet DC 50 widely ana peIblotthty
advocated by many Of the very men W no best know
how to gauge IS value might but ior my SIX years
personal experience in continental medical school.
have remained tor me an insolubie problem. It's
explanation Will be found n the following recOcc-
tons given n faithfully my memory serves. Ct
certain conversations which at various Tunes tCok
place in my presence among the professors meil-
bers and students Win who'll l was IaHHl'aIlJ
associated
My tutor. NJ B, whose lectures I attended
while preparing my forensic medicine. toid me one
dav that he was engaged with pupil on series Of
EXPERIMENTS with alkaold pOlsOns on guined-plGs
and rabbits But said |, have You not yourself
repeatedly pointed out to ne the erroneous deduc-
t0us made from such experiments, and the fdllacy
OF arguing from them to of dlkalolC poisoning
IN the human suhiectV Certainty" he replied
but work not lUtcuucu IN the way on sup
pose We shall produce very interesting report
which viii constitute pretty lJ0u cnapitr IN TX
detrimental tOXlcOlOgy. DOu have the English rage
for utility, aud 10 appreciation OF artistic luVcstga-
ton pure and simple. is there no interest, apart
from practical therapeutics, in knowing Whit,
under certain cond tons and in certain organisms,
is the action Of special substances We eXperl
meut for artistic motives and because the solution
of particular problems and the observation OF par
tcular processes interest u.s. without reference 10
the application Of our knowledge IN elm cal prac-
tce The work of the physiOlOglst Is purely scleu-
thc and the less lie fetters himself with uttaran
limitations the better artist ne 49,
Another member of the faculty, whom " lll call
Professor c., thus pressed himself on the same
subject. ! may add parenthetcaliy, that this gem
temau was n universal tavOute with hI> pupils, and
always a6a5le and genial. " ! 10 not assert that
ylvIsec tIOn2i experiment has ever been lndl@pen--
able TO discovery, nor do / expect anything
material from il IN future. IL is NOT because 10 has
been useful or because think 10 may be d,ef a.,
that We ought to vudlcate cur rglL 10 practise 10
freely The true ground OF our VindicatiUu is tiat
if once We permit mDraists and clerlcs TO dictate
limitations TO science we yield our fortress INTO
their hands. Morality IL question OF national
habit and custom and " nat u.s. strictly moral in one
country Is considered grossly immoral I'D another.
Here he gives instances. Science Il the one
sound indefeasible and dcfinabe heritage Of civ
llized man, and we must not permit any lnierler-
euce with her supremacy. For, By and by, when the
rest Of the world mas risen 60 the Ineectual leVel
OF France, and true views OF the nature oil existence
are held by the bulk 81 mankind, now under clerical
direction, the present crude ana vulgar hoiiOuS re-
glrdiug morality. religion, divine providence,
Deity, the SOUL and forth, will be swept entirely
away and the dicta of Science will remain the sole
guide for sane and educated men, We ought, there
fore. 10 rcpel most jealousy and theoretically al
attempt to interfere with the absolute right OF
Science To pursue her own ends III her own way,
uninterrupted by churcbmen and moral phloso-
pliers, forasmuch these represent the old and
dying world, and we, the men of science, represent
| the new"
| Ii should be asked what is the real position
taken by the leading champions of free " viVisec-
ton. and concealed from the public under the plea
that the practice conduces largely the benefit of
| humanity, | would define it thus:
! !. liquidation Of the religious and sympathetic
! sentiments and Of the doctrine Of mans moral re-
! spOnsiblllty, as superstltOus and untenabie
=. Deliberate determination to dlssOciate them
selves from all but those who Join in snch repudia-
| ton and to make the practice OF experimental
physiology on living animals ralyng point for the
| expression OF that determination.
NORMAL CLoTHNG.-In the practical work.