The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-05-11
A PLEA FOR KINDNESS.
BY REV. AARON A. THAYER.


potism, but bloodshed and cruelty to
man and beast have surprisingly de-
creased within the last few hundred
years. After we have tried to esti-
mate the ancient cruelties against
human slaves, against captives taken
in war, againt wives and children,
against serfs, subjects and citizens,
we are not surprised that human be-
ings took no thought to prevent cru
city to animal life. You will search
the ancient archives in vain for bene-
ficient legislation in this direction.
i But we call that very barbarous
condition of civilization to-day, where
| there are not some show of laws
against cruelty to animal life. The
merciful intent to reduce the amount
of human suffering has been followed
by kindly efforts to lessen the need
less production of animal suffering.
Prevention of Pain in Mankind.
AS to mankind to-day, it is thought
righteous reform to alleviate condi-
tions of unnecessary suffering even
among criminals. Except in cases of
official and wilful abuse, the savage
barbarisms of ancient cruelty are
largely banished from the earth. If
a victim of sin must die at all the
civilized world insists that he should
die without unnecessary pain. And
we all know benevolent science and
| patient skill have been at work all
these later decades to mitigate the
horrors of surgical and medical ope-
rations. There were reported at a
surgical congress in Berlin, Germany,
in 1898, over $4,000 cases of patients
mercifully rendered insensible dur
ing surgical operations-and only 80
deaths! Wonderful the amount of pain
that was counteracted And while 80
only died, who could estimate the vast
ly greater numbert that would probably
have died under the dreadful opera
| tions without the an2sthetics? Out
| of $4,000 cases under the use of
chloroform, only Sc died. More than
5000 took ether, and no death. AL
most 5000 took ether and chloroform
combined, and only one died. 1900
| took ether and alcohol, and no
deaths. 1000 took bromoform with
ethyl bromide, and one death. 210
cases took pentel, and one died.
But what marvel in the aggregate
100000 cases and only 80 deaths!
What thousands of human lives were
probably saved as we'll as excrutiat-
ing pain allayed For practitioners
would not dare undertake a large
percentage of cases except for a
harmless power to render the patient
insensible.
incubation for Smallpox
What millions of human lives have
been saved by the miracle of inocula-
ton for the smallpox! It's benefi-
cent utility hath blessed mankind for
unknown hundreds of years. Using
the human virus only, the Chinese,
the Persians, the Armenians, the
Brahmans had practiced the art of
incubation several hundred years be-
fore Jenner made his discovery as to
the use of cow-pox. Seventy nine
years before that, Lady Mary Mon
tague noted the miracles of proven
ton wrought in Adrionople, Euro
pean Turkey, and had her own son
vaccinated. Two children of the
royal Princess of Wales were also
vaccinated- then the mercy
spread through all English civiliza-
ton and all civilized nations.
Hydrophobia.
Notice that equally great medical
miracle, the discovery of the French
Pasteur, for the cure of hydrophobia.
1t was in 1S85-only ten years ago
that Pasteur began to treat his first
cases. In 1898 the Pasteur Institute,
Paris, treated 1000 cases and more,
with only six deaths. There were
nine different nationalities repre-
sented among the patients: French,
English, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese,
Egyptians, etc. In the eight years
ending with 1898, for which we have
the statistics, that single institute
has treated 14,43O distressed human
beings, of whom only Y died Prac-
tically the other 14,358 lives were
saved. And what an amount of the
most distressing human suffering
was also prevented, for, otherwise,
thousands of fellow beings would
have begged and prayed for death
itself long before death could have
relieved them. Such are the tender
mercies, the kindness and the tender
heartedness which human discoveries
and human inventions have shown to