Evening star., 1898-12-21
AN ALARMING SUGGESTION.
Surgeon General SternberS's Start
ling Experiments in Blood Poisoning


To the Editor Of The Evening Star:
At the recent meeting of the National
Humane Association in this city some in
teresting addresses were given which were
not fully reported in the daily papers. In
the address of DR.. Albert LeffingweM, on
.The Art of Scientific Equivocation," oc-
CURED the following:
Il must not forget to mention one expert
ment in incubation which has for us a
special interest. In the American Journal
of Medical Science for July, 1882 page Il,
etc), DIR. Geo. NJ Stern1erg now surgeon
generaD gave to the world the somewhat
startling result Of experiments in blood
poisoning, with which he had been occupy
ing his time, in order, possibly, tS fit him
self for the gh position he now fills. / have
demonstrated, he says, by repeated expert
ments that my saliva injected into
the subcutaneous connective tissue of a
rabbit Qn plain language, under its skim
invariably produces death, usually within
forty-eight hours. | think ! am quite
safe in stating that / have repeated the ex-
pertinent at least twenty-five times, with
my own saliva
my experiments to observe that my saliva
produced results recorded.
The saliva of four students, residents of
Baltimore, gave negative results.
monty found dead or dying on the second
morning after incubation. The con-
stant pathologic lesion found by me was a
difuse ceIlulitis or inflamHatory oedema,
extending in all directions from the point
of injection. The spleen was usually great
iy enlarged, the liver was frequently dark
in color and gorged with blood
Il am not going to insult your inteli
gence by discussing the benefit to humani
ty' which comes from the discovery that
in the mouth Of our distinguished surgeon
general there is a venom more deadly than
that of the viper or rattleSnake. The fact
rests on his own statement; he is proud to
make it known. Yet it was the surgeon
general. who had put more than twenty
five rabbits to a lingering and cruel death,
in order to demonstrate the venomouS quail
tiles he possesses; who declared to Con-
gress that legislation on vivisection was
unnecessary, unless it can be shown e
that those engaged in experimental re-
search do not administer anaestheticS to
the domestic animals when they are sub
jected to painful experiments Senate Re
port 1919, p. 125.) Did he stand over each
of these twenty-five rabbits, for forty-eight
hours, with his anaesthetic? OF one thing
l am convinced. Between such expert
mentation as this, SO useless, cruel, so
loathsome. and the disasters which have
characterized the department of the sur
geon general during our war with Spain,
there is a very clear and definite relation
ship
Waving DR.. Leffingwell's inferences, it
was seriously made, and in the interest of
true science and the welfare of mankind
Gas we are assured by the scientists that
all vivisectons are), we ought promptly
to avail ourselves of the conclusions that
may be inferred from it and act upon them.
Here is an eminent scientist, a highly
respectable person, who himself demon
strated that his saliva was poisonous and
death-dealing. Experimenting with the
salivas of four students, the results We're
the opposite. Assuming, for the sake of
argument, that this proportion would hold
If the experiments had had wider range,
We see that one person in five would be
found to be the posseSsor of this dangerous
quality. In Washington this would give
us, out of an estimated population of three
hundred thousand, sixty thousand persons
who, in this respect, are a constant menace
to the remainder of the community.
The very thought is an alarming one,
Ought rot our city authorities to take some
action in the matter? Could not our health
department concoct an appropriate anti
toXine or make an antiseptic lozenge, or
perhaps a small disinfecting muzzle, for
these unfortunates?
In view of this most important scientific
discovery, may We not believe that John
the Baptist was, perhaps unconsciously,
scientifically accurate, when, in speaking
to the Pharsees and Sadducees tsome of
the scientists of that day., he addressed
them as Generation Of Vipers?"
December 20, 1898. SANITAS