The times., 1897-05-14

profess 10 invite When a cashier Il .
bank objects absolutely to making any ue-
port OF his business. and refuses inspection
OF his hooks, because these Involve an
1nipntation upon his probity,' and then
proceeds 10 mention minor incunvenienccs,
we sec at once that no shaping of legis-
1ation 10 meet the minor objections viii
make acceptable the publicity which he
really fears No matter bow the hill
is altered, 10 long as it Provides for IN
spection and protection against cruelty It
Will be opposed by those who love darkness
rather than light
"An the reasonable objections To the
original bill were met by the amendments
made by this committee before the tin
was reported to the last Congress, AMI IL is
the Till SO amended which is row reported
to the Senate But IL is clear that every
concession TO the opponents of this hill
must he absolutely useless until agreement
can be reached upon the great underlying
principle for which it contends, To wit, the
right of the Government to govern the in
di~iduai Shall the united States GOV
eminent exercise the right 10 inspect labo-
ratories where yivisecticn is carried on in
the District of Columbia? Shall il define
the limits within which such experiments
shall he carried on? These are the real
points at issue If they were affirmatiyely
answered by those who are fighting this
measure, there would be hopes of a com
promise, if a compromise is needed.
"Should there be no restriction placed
upon a scientific investigator in the pay
of the United States Government who, in
the seclusion of his laboratory, in or out
Of Official hours, desires to subject
living animal TO the utmost possible ie-
gree Of torment for nopurpose of user;ilness
to its kind or to the human race, but sim
ply TO test theory or TO crafty whim?
Not long ago there appearedin the Popular
Science Monthly the statement that a very
distinguished vivisector Of Europe, Prof
Mantagazza, intended to favor this coun-
try with visit Suppose him to visit Wash
ington, and To offer to repeat for the In
struction of young experts in Government
laboratories, that series OF experiments
in causation Of pain which made him ia
mous-or infamous-wherever his name Is
known. Should he be permitted to do so?
Let US glance at the work of this famous
vivisector as related by himself. He says
purely scientIfic;' it had no relation TO
the cure of disease, and its method WAS
the tormentof animals One Of bis devices
was to nail the feet OF the animal, as in
crucifixion, So that every struggle TO es-
cape would only increase the agony; i'll his
own words, Ito plant sharp and numerous
nails through the soles of the feet in such
way as to render the animal nearly motion
less, because in every movement it would
have felt more acutely its torment" To
exaspeTate pain this ingenious scientist tie
vised a machine which he styled his tor
mentor With II, he says, i can take an
ear, paw. or a bit of skin of the animal,
and by turning the handle squeeze il be
meath the teeth of the pincers I can lift
the animal by the suffering part, can tear
it or crush it in all sorts of ways One
of his celebrated scientific experiments
was upon a guinea-pig nursing its young;
another upon gunea-pig in an advanced
stage of pregnancy But this animal,
after ten minutes of what the learned
scientist calls most atrocious pain,' weat
into commissions and became useless for eX-
pertinent
AShail this great European physiologist
he permitted TO repeat his experiments in
our Government laboratories? Shall our
own viviseotors he permitted to repeat
them, or experiments like them? The OPP
ponents TO the bill apparently see no
objection. This is matter, they say, for
the experimenter himself to decide
But those who advocate this bill do not
admit that even the eminence or the quail
ifications of MantagaZZa Justify him in
experiments such as he has made. Even
man of science must not overstep the
boundary that separates right from wrong.
It is not TO be believed that the possession
OF a degree In science should confer upon
any young enthusiast the right to torture
animals afterthe example of Manta gaZZa or
others like him, and especially, should they
not he permitted to do this in laboratories
supported by taxation OF the people OF the
United States; free from inspection or
criticism; free from accountability to public
opinion; free from the control or supervision
OF representatives of the National Govern
ment, other than those who are officers
of the particular department under which
the experimenter is employed
The latter half OF the report is an ab-
stract OF an interesting book Oh biological
Experimentation" published some months
before his death by Sir Benjamin Ward
Richardson. NJ. D., f. r. s., etc, the emf
nent English physician, surgeon and scien-
ust, whose death last year was lamented
by the scientific world, giving his reasons
for condernning painful vivisection as worse
than useless, because detrimental to the
experimenters as well as ''perpleNing and
decei~ing,' in which he says: II never
proceeded to any experiment on living
animal, though to the best of my ability
doing everything possible to save all pain,
without feeling, what think is the proper
expression, oompunc.ion. l am not alone
in this particular. Every person whom