The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-12-08
NAVAL CADET AIKEN'S CASE
SUCCESS OF OPERATION ATTRIB-
UTED TO VIVISECTION.


Knowledge Derived from Expert
memts Upon Animnis-The "Arm
CenterD
Philadelphia, Dec. 6.--Dr William w.
Keen, the eminent surgeon of this city,
who was recently summoned to Annap-
oils to perform an operation on Mid
shipman Aiken to relieve him of the
effects of injuries sustained in a foot
ball game, attributes the success of his
operation to knowledge gained through
experiments in vivisection. DR.. Keen
has addressed letter setting forth the
facts in the case to Senator Gallinger,
whom he regards as one of the leaders
of the -vivisectionists in this coun-
try DR.. Keen in his letter says:
Il deem it my duty to call your at
tention to the case of Midshipman
Aiken. My reason for doing so is to
show undoubtedly single concrete eX-
ample that knowledge gained by ami
NAL experimentation is an immense
boon to humanity, and that, therefore,
such experiments should be heartily
encouraged. The facts of Mr.. Aiken 5
case are as follows:
when / first saw him, three days af-
ter the accident, I found that he had
been unconscious for a half hour after
the accident, and ever since then had
complained bitterly of headache, which
he located always in the forehead. Soon
after the accident he began to develop
,Ie,iN Tn, civ t1,1f
after 1 saw him he had twenty-four of
these attacks, all limited to the right
arm. There was no fracture of the
skull. The only physical evidence of
any injury was a slight bruise at the
outer end of the left eyebrow.
Had I seen this case before 1885 !
would have been unable to explain why
the spasms were chiefly manifested in
the right arm. | would have been JUS
titled in inferrng that probably the
front part of mis- brain was injured at
the site of the bruise. Had I opened
his skull at that point / would have
found a perfectly normal brain and
would have missed the clot. The
young man, therefore, would have died,
whether his skull had been opened or
not
In 1902 observe the difference. AS a
result of knowledge derived from ex-
periments upon animals which have To-
Gated precisely the center for motion
of the right arm, I reached the conclu-
sion that there had been rupture of a
blood vessel within the head, and that
the situation of the clot should corre-
spond to the farm center. It's position
was fixed absolutely as a result of eX-
periments upon animals.
"As soon as the skull was opened at
this point the clot was found, it's thick
est point being exactly over the arm
center, and the blood was removed, with
the result that the patients life was
saved. This is only enc of hundreds of
cases in which similar exact localiza-
tion has been made by many surgeons,
both in Europe and America.
THE anti-vivisectionists have fire.
quently denied that surgeons have
learned anything from such expert
ments. I state with the greatest posi-
tiveness that without the knowledge
derived from experiments upon animals
which have demonstrated the facts of
cerebral localization I should never
have been able to locate the clot in Mr..
Aiken's head and to remove it.
In view, therefore, of the evident
and positive benefit of such expert
ments, [ trust that you will be willing
to desist from further effCrts at such
repressive and, as I regard it, most in
humane and cruel legislation.