Daily Yellowstone journal., 1890-07-08
ADVANTAGES or vrvieecrtoN.
New Hunaaity Il Ds.sassd By IL Rsss-
tiee That Seems Cruel

Bsv Hunaaity Il Ds.sassA By IL Free
tiee That Seems Cruel
A movement Is set ON foot by some
well meaning humane, yet superssnd-
tive persons to stir up public sentiment
against the practice Of ~vivisection. In
ths pamphlets which they scatter broad
cast over the land they describe how
the professors of physiology are treating
the poor dumb creatures, who, being
deprived 10y nature of language, cannot
even give expression to their pain or ac-
cuse those who 50 unfeelingly cause
them TO suffer.
Reading these descriptions, which
undoubtedly are based upon facts, a
heart of stone must melt in pity, and
people whose imagination permits them
10 put themselves In the place Of the
dog, cats, rabbits and frogs are easily
induced to petition legislation to pro
hibit such a practice.
Yet the whole subject has another as
poet. II any of these humane and SEN
dtive persons should be inflicted with o
disease the cure Of which would require
not alone n well learned physician, but
q who could perform an operation
with q skillful and steady hand, would
they not wish that such a man was
avaiiAblei Would they not travel from
ons end Of the world to the other In D.
dw to find the person who, by bis
knowledge and skill, could prolong
thar lives for q couple of yearsi But
whsnce shall that knowledge or prao-
toe come to a physician II he Is not a.
lowed to experiment.
1t shocks as yet the s~entimentality Of
people that the bodies of deceased
friends should be iissected, and the
students OF medicine can obtain no
other specimens than the bodies of peo-
pie who died friendless in prisons Or
poorhouses, or such as grave robbers
would offer them for sale. Yet such
corpses are without great value to
science, because they either do not
show that spe ,ial disease which the
professor is tire ting in his lectures "
the information Is lacking in regard to
the progress of the sickness which
causes the death. Post-mortem exam
nations will have a much greater val:e
to science when people permit the body
of a friend to be dissected whenever
a physician who treated that person in
life desires ii.
Even then, however, the study OF
medicine cannot reap the full benefit.
The hand of the physician who is to
perform the operation must be train
ed in order that it may remain steady
at the time when a deviation of a MILL
meter from the right line might cause
the death of a patient. How, further.
more, are the laws and principles to lie
established in which and by which
nerves and muscles act, IL they cannot
be demonstrated by examplel The
study of anatomy merely shows that a
nerve runs in a certain direction, but it
does not show and cannot teach WHAT e
functions of the nerve are and how il
will act when irritated. Are physi-
clans to imagine all such thingsl II
they are to be deprived of the means
with which to experiment and from
which To learn, We may as well close
our schools of medicine and rely in sick
ness upon the miraculous Intervention
of saints, as people used to rely upon it
in ancient times.
II the professors Of physiology were
men who took a vulgar delight in the az.
onies of dying animals, or II the students
were men who for the sake of pleasure
crowded around the dissecting table, or
II, finally. vast classes Of people would
become infected with the spirit of cruel.
ty by the practice Of vivisection, the OBJ
jectors would be right; but while their
objection shows a laudable tenderness
Of heart, they go o far, and forget
that those who practice vivisection are
very few in numbers, that they are ear
nest men who have a warm heart for
their fellow creatures, and whose desire
to relieve suffering is the motive of
their apparent disregard Of pity.
There are two more points which
need to be answered. IL is claimed that
without any use to science animals are
maltreated, and that il v~ivisection is to
be permitted, it should be restricted as
closely as possible. The accusation and
proposition are both utterly false. The
result of thousand experiments does
perhaps not bring about the cure of
one disease, but these experiments lead
toward the discovery OF the principles
which underlie a disease, and nobody
can tell whether the next experiment
will not be followed by a more brilliant
c As every year new scholars
enter the various schools of medicine,
the same field must be gone over by the
professor again and again. Tie student
must be shown by illustration how a
muscle or nerve In life will act when ir-
ritated, and his hand must be trained
to operate upon a living being. From
the moment that we shall endeavor to