New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-02-03
ENGLISH VIVISECTION.
STATEMENTS THAT 1T IS PERFORMED
WITHOUT ANESTHESIA CoNTROvERTED
VALUE OF SUCH EXPERIMENTS

VALUE OF SUCH EXPERIMENTS.
To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: To-days Tribune contains letter on viv-
section The writer. who signs himself Arthur
Westcott speaks as one who has had actual ex-
periences In the laboratory and who has come TO
this country for the purpose OF enlightenng us
vvisection. "of which for many years he has
made a study and to which for an equal number
OF years he has devoted his life Arthur West
does not tell in what laboratory ne had his
actual experiences" nor can we infer from his
article that such experience was either prohtaole
or long. II IS 10 he regretted that, after so many
years Of devotion Mr.. Westcott has not succeeded
in mastering the rudmcnts OF his subject. for his
letter betrays a profound ignorance Of experimental
physiology.
He says that n England In 1896 seventy five hun
bred experiments Officially admitted. nearly
two-thirds OF which were performed without anes-
thetic" II exclude from vivisections simple
hypodermic injections. which certainly cause no
more pain to animal than TO man-namely'
trieing prick-tnis statement Is probably untrue.
venture the statement that the direct contrary II
nearer the truth and commend TO Mr. Westcotts
notice the following figures from The Journal OF
Physiology Of 1896. Volumes xix and Xxx OF The
English Journal OF Physiology" contain record OF
about one hundred and eighty experiments properly
called vivsections. All Of these. with tho exception
Of two or three hypodermic injections OF phordzin
into cats and Professor Clark's experiments on
crabs were performed under an;esthetics. OF these
two or three hypodermic injections Mr.. Pavey
states that the injection gave rise TO not the
slightest evidence of disturbance The writer
personally witnessed some Of Professor Clarks eK-
periments and can testify that the crabs evidenced
no discomfort the loss OF otolith.
Particularly unfortunate was Mr.. Westcott in the
example ne quoted of the barbarity of Lin Boon
Keng. The latter author. according TO Mr.. West
colt describes operation consisting, among other
things OF disocnting the lower jaw dssecting GER
tain muscles and trephining the skull with the OBJ
ject OF exposing the roots OF the vaRus nerve. 1t
Will, of course. be noticed" Mr. Westcott says
that there is mention here OF any anasthetic
being used Is there not indeed! II Mr.. Westcott
will take the trouble read the whole para
graph from which the above Is taken journal
Why no aa&sthetc e' was vas used Lin Boon Kong
made his dssections on dead dogs The example
but simply a description Of the manner, in which
nG ge at h 69S 81 de ysSf O
knew anything a; all of experimental physiology he
a moment undertake an experiment of that kind
without using an an@sthetc. II is. indeed so well
thetics are used unless otherwise specified, that
mention OF them is sometimes omitted
Further on we find this remarkable statement:
"As TO the use Of an@sthetcs in physiology (sic)
we who have made sIq f Of 5ns
tory as have know that such cannot be used d IN
the vast majority OF cases How ly an honest da nan
standing Either he is honestly deluded himself or
else he is Intentionally seeking stare people for
the sake OF notorety. Anybody endowed with ordl'
nary intelligence who had spent a month in .
physiological laboratory would know that state
ment 10 be absolutely false Not only can anas-
thetics be used but they used in the great ma
jority Of III physiological experiments In cases where
they not used pain is generally prevented In
other ways. e. E., by destroying the nerve centres
while the animal is temporarily an%sthetized II
the writer's good fortune. thanks TO the hos
ptay Of Professor Michael Foster. 10 spend some
months In the physiological labora tories Of Cam
bridge University. England. the seat OF Linn Boon
Kengs "barbarfies' During these months there
not experiment without anRsthesia. out Of
perhaps hundred vivisectons
When Nj. Westcott says. further that IAN ex-
pertinent performed under an1sthesa is useless to
science and humanity" he makes statement TOO
childish for serious considera don. Finally. In
gard 10 the anti-vivsection law Of Great Britain.
would respectfully cal Mr. Westcotts attention 70
the address Of Professor Foster before the physio
logical section OF the British Association for tho
Advan cement Of Science. delivered In Toronto last
summer He will there find the opinion expressed.
in no ambiguous terms by one Of the leading sCen-
lists OF England the practical workings OF that
law. He does not seem 10 be aware that that act
is generally considered by qualified Judge
TO be unnecessary irritating and highly prejudicial
TO the Advancement OF physio ogicai and bacterio-
logical science in England. That II is irritating
hndrance to experimental work. even OF perfectly
painless kind. the writer can testify from personal
experience.
In closing l would commend to Arthur Westcott's
thoughtful consideration the well known aphorism
Of Goethe: NIGHTS Isl schrecklicher. ais cine
thatige Unwissenhet." which ! will translate
Nothing is more terrible than an acti.e iCno-
rance" ALBERT p. MATHEWS
New-York Jan. 81. 1925