Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-15
ORIGINALS AND SCIENCE.
Proposal TO Hand Over Malafactors for
Medical Experiment.

FROM the Lancet.
1t IS said that Herophilus who fiourished
at Alexandria in the fourth century B. e.,
and whose name is preserved to US by the
"torcuiar' was accustomed to dissect uv-
Ing criminals. supplied to him for the pur-
pose by the state; and some of our daily
and weekly non-medical contemporaries
have lately contained long accounts more
or less veracious, of a Partisan lady who IS
said 10 have secured a handsome compe-
tence by letting out her body to surgeons
and Psychologists for experimental pur-
poses.
In the middle ages criminals were Ger
t&inly handed over to medical men as sub
Jccts upon whom experiments might be
tried with poisons and reputed remedies
but 1t may be doubted whether either the
customs of Alexandria in the fourth cen
fury before the Christian era or those Of
the contemporaries of the Borgias would
be accepted as of authority in the present
day; and 1t is certain that any attempt 20
obtain legal authority for carrying into
practice DIR. Kings suggestion would arouse
most reasonable storm of disapprovaI.
We know perfectly well what many of the
most sensible, well informed and humane
men in the world will be found saying IN
support Of experiments upon condemned
criminals who, be it understood, place
themselves voluntarily in the physicians
or surgeons hands in return for some slight
DR.. Kings suggestion is that the GRIMM II
should be permitted to ransom himself
from the death penalty by voluntary sub
mission to experiments of a kind caIcu-
lated to increase knowledge with regard
TO the causes of disease and the Operation
oI prevenuves or of remedies; or, in other
words, that, instead of being regarded as
merely useless carriCn, his body should be
rendered of as much value to mankind a.
that Of a guinea pig or ra bbit 1t might
even be of considerably more value, because
It would admit of more accurate renro-
Guctton of the morbid conditions against
which men have to contend. 1t would be
necessary fer the securing or perfect JUS
tice that the atOnement should bear some
die proportion TO the offcnse and that t5e
pain suffered or the risks incurred by the
criminal or the mutiations or disabilities
inflicted upon him should bear some pre-
portion to what he himself had done TO
others.
This point having been attended to
though what legal machinery could be C,e-
Yised for the purpose we are at a loss 10
gUeSS-thc criminal might be asked in r.
turn for possible safety. to submit to dan
gers 20 which some Of the noblest of man
Kind have submitted themselves with no
hope Of reward. Nothing more would he
asked of him than was done by the Amerl-
can soldiers, who, in full confidence OF Their
medical officers, consented TO sleep in the
be DIS and bedding vacated by the deceased
victims of yellow fever, CT permitted them
selves to be bitten by infected specimens
Of stegomyia in order to afford conclusive
evidence of the manner in which the dis
ease was conveyed
We do not think that on the part of the
criminal population there would be any nes-
itation to avail themselves of such a pro-
vision OF the law as Dr. King suggests so
that the outcTy that would follow in 'nu-
manitarfan' circles upon any support OF
Or Kings ideas would probably be direct
ed against the cruelty of a scheme wnlca
the sufferers under the scheme would no.
themselves call cruel. The sanctity of nu-
man life is more recognized today than It
was in the times of Herophilus, while the
respectful treatment of the bodily structure
IS more intimately a part of the natural
religion of all men. Because life is sacred
those who have deprived others of life pay
the corresponding forfeit-the law is de-
signed to be preventive and deterrent rarh-
er than purely punitive. To give the con-
Victed murderer another chance by invie-
Ing him to undergo scientific experiment
would be TO remove a safeguard with
which society cannot yet dispense.