The morning call., 1892-09-25
Value OF VIVISECHION.
Arguments Advanced by It's
Opponents.
AN ENGLISH W0MAN'S VIEWS
Some OF the Errors of Well-Meaning Persons
Exposed-A Real Benefit to
Mankind.
AN ENGLISH WOMAN'S VIEWS
Written for THE MORNING CALL,

document, THAT experiments on animals
are made to save the necessity of expert
menting on human beings. 1t would be
nearer the truth to say that experiments on
animals are the stepping stones TO expert
nents on men and women. To believe that
they prevent viviseeiors from having re-
course to human subjects would be al wise
Is to believe that to encourage pocket-pick-
Ing would hinder thieves from breaking
into houses. The one leads to the other"
am glad to see this treatise. the opening
sentences of which l have quoted, for the
lady by whom it is written has done more
than. perhaps, any one else 10 introduce
the present stringent aut-vIyiSection laws
that prevail in England, and her arguments
are largely followed by American oppO-
nentS of this method OF research. 1t is
quite true that experiments on animals lead
up, not 10 experiment, but 10 practice upon
men and women.
Thirty years ago 1t was believed that
wounds of the peritOneum, the smooth
membrane which lines the whole inner sur
face Of the abdomen, were so dangerous
that the man who purpusely SO much as
perforated it with a needle was looked upon
as little less than murderer, until Spencer
Wells. whose name is InSepaTaby con-
nected with the great operation of the cen
fury, oYaTl otOmy, was led to suspect that
II stitches could be nut through this mem
brane as we'll as through the other tissues
healing would be much surer and more
rapid.
Accordingly he experimental upon eigh-
teen animals and found not only that the
stitches did no harm but that the security
OF the wound was greater and recovery
better and more rapid. Since then he has
performed the operation referred to over
zoo times, saving between 500 and GOO
women from one form OF lingering death.
This Is one instance of experiment upon
animals Leading up to experiment upon
human beings, aud who shall say thar the
world has not been benefited sufficiently TO
Justify the pain Inflicted in the name Of
science on these eighteen cats, dogs and
rabbits?
Again, several years ago, the late Dr.
Marion Sims, one Of the most famous physi-
clans Of the age, appealed to the younger
physicians to know whether some means
could not be devised fer rendering posi- BILE
as successful treatment Of gunsh0t wounds
OF the abdomen as has been achieved of
late years in OyaTiOt0mY
Following out the suggestion, Dr. Parks
OF Chicago conducted q series Of expert
mentS upon thTty-seyen dogs that were an
esthetlZed, shot and afteTWaTd operated
upon, with the result OF a number of good
recOveries and a marked increase to the
profession OF knowledge as to the best man
neT OF treating this class of wounds, the
most dangerous known to surgeons. DR..
Parks published an exceedingly interesting
account of his experiments, and as an imme-
date result number Of cases were soon
reported by surgeons in different parts of
the country Of their successful application
Of the rules Of treatment laid down by DR..
Parks to gunshot wounds of the abdomen
IN human subjects.
There are physicians still living who
Doubtless recall the theory that had such a
fashionable run some years ago that gal
Vanism ought to be a successful instrument
arft dao
from drowning. Theoretically this idea
seemed so reasonable that many praciition-
ers held to it despite the fact that it was far
from successful IN practice and il was only
after number of experiments conducted
upon the lower animals that DR.. b. w.
Robinson was able to demonstrate to the
ned Cal fraternity that While the heart cuuid
be stimulated by the action Of the battery
the result was that the muscles, exhausted
By the violent stimulation OF the current,
dropped irTecOveIably into death"
In the same connection DR.. Robinson con-
Quoted a series Of experiments to ascertain
the best etBod fer recovering the uufOTtu-
nate victims Of accident and found that
while artificial respiration was often suffi-
Gent to restore lie, artificial circulation,
then much talked Of, was sure 10 fail
through c0agulation Of the blood intro
dueed, while external warmth alone was
frequently successful in restoring life, as
IN the case Of two animals under a lethal
the other recovered IN a warm room.
There was a great cutlery at the time over
DR.. RObins0n's experiments, but his own
comment upon them was a just one: MANY
years observation upon men the victims Of
accidents that destroy life" said he, would
not have taught so much as was learned IN
a few hours by experiments on the lower
animals"
There have always been those who cry
out against such experiments. TRANSMISSION
al Il Na r~fTr
studies of Psychologists. By experiment it
has been shown that an animal nearly de-
pleted OF blood and on the verge Of death
may often be restored by injecting into its
wins blood from the veins Of another
animal This fact has recently been turn ed
to account in therapeutics. Dr.. Robert
Mcdonald has stated that he has often
opened the veins Of dying person and in
Jeeted the blood of an animal, and has met
with brilliant success.
A comment of the late Henry Bergh on
the above statement Is peculiar in other
words" said that great humanaTian, this
pOIentate has discovered the means of
thwaTting the DEGREES of providence when a
person was dying and snatching from IFS
Maker a soul which he had called from
earth"
Such an utterance seems almost IN
worthy Of notice, yet il came from pro-
tessiOnal phllanthTopist a man who during his
lifetime figured prominently and honorably
as a defender of the weak and helpless,
and who won for himself the admiration of
a patton, who started the opposition to
viVsecti0n in this country and who claimed
to represent the majority of right thinking
and humane people on this subject.
1t is against such attacks and such
mental attitude that viVisectOnists and
scientists generally are often obliged to de-
fend themselves, justlfylng position that
would seem unassallsble, and explaining
principles that ought TO be clear TO every
mind.
In the New York Office of the Society for
the Prevention Of Cruelty TO Animals
hangs, or until recently hung, portrait Of
the great French Psychologist, Magendie,
beneath which Mr.. Bergh bad written these
words:
"a French psychologist otherwise known
as the Prince Of Brute TOTtuTers, who dis
sected alive 40 600 dumb animals, and ere he
died confessed that ViYisection was fail
ure.''
Forty thousand does seem a great many
animals 70 have been sacrificed by one man,
but the scientific world owes great deal to
The magnificent experiments OF Magendle,
who lived before the days Of anesthetes,
and often was obliged to infict terrible
pain upon human beings as well as on the
brutes. 1t is little singular that, nOtWith-
standing the great teachers biography ap-
pears in every standard encyclopedia pub
Iished since his death, not one of these
accounts says anything about his ever hav-
ing expressed himself as considering viYi-
section failure.
The lay mind can have o Idea how much
the medical profession owes to experiments.
Before they came into use as factor in
medical study therapeutic ideas were based
upon the most fantastic absurdities, and
many Of the remedies used were horrible
connections, sometimes seeming TO owe their
supposed value TO the fact of their being
utterly abhOrrent to all human reason;
again, as being selected because Of some real
or fancied resem blance to certain organs or
parts Of the body.
Tire Doctrine Of Signatures" was pre-
veiling system for the selection Of thera-
peutic agents. Il was believed that some
visible characteristic or signature was pos
sessed by plants that indicated their thera-
unnfin nee For insInnca the walnut was