The Washington herald., 1910-12-19
MAKING MICE SUFFER.
'Researches'' Which Cause Pain
Are Condemned.

Bitter TIE Washington Herald:
A scientist ltheFe are 30 many scientists
now. writing for the American Journal
Of Medical Science for July, 1852. gives
the following description of his re-
searches:
I have demonstrated he SAYS. by
repeated experiments that my saliva IN
jected into the SIMULTANEOUS connective
tissue Of rabbit Cthat Is. under its
skim invariably produces death, usually
within fOrty-eght hours I think / am
quite safe in stating that have repeated
the experiment at least twenty-five times
with my own saliva. I beg those who
undertake To repeat my experiments 10
observe that my saliva produced results
recorded The saliva of four students.
residents of Baltimore. gave negative re-
suits. In, MEASUREMENTS. the rabbits
were commonly found dead or dying on
the second morning after inocculation. q"
This scientist, who afterward rose 10
a high position, apparently performed
these experiments (by which twenty
i've rabbits died a lingering and cruel
death, according TO his further descrip-
tion-but that is a detaiD in order to
demonstrate the venomous qualities Of
his saliva. Four students lad. however
followed his example, though IN their
cases the experiment was a failure and
he evidently expected that others would
undertake 10 repeat his experiments" in
future Probably this has been the case.
All this leads Us. by an easy and nat
ural transition, 70 the extensive expert
mentatlon now going on in making cancer
grow and flourish upon animals
In McClure's Magazine for last july
there is an article, written from the ex-
perimenters' point of view. regarding this
industry. We are told that there are I'VE
American laboratories now In which II
is extensively carried on. These are the
Gratwiek Laboratory at Buffalo. the
medical schools OF Cornell. Harvard, and
the University of Pennsylvania, and the
Rockefeller Institute OF New York. There
Is a picture 10 illustrate the article
showing large room in one OF these lab
oratories piled high with an infnity OF
tiny cages, each containing small suf-
ferer in the shape OF a white mouse or
rat.
They always luse the white variety be-
cause these are perfectly gentle
There is also pitiful picture OF one of
these little creatures upon which inoeu-
lation has been quite successful.
Dogs are used in these researches" but
white mice and white rats are so much
more obtainable and easily managed that
they are the fayorites.
We are told by the eulogist in Nc
Cures that the Imperial Cancer Re
search fund in London has had. thirty
thousand of these. little animals in six
years. In three years the Buffalo Labor
atory has used 20,000 and the Rockefeller
Institute 1900
Consider this 4 certain tumor. discoy-
cred on a certain mouse in Copenhagen
aud thence transplanted into hundreds of
thousands of mice, has developed a most
amazing virulence. Apparently nothing
can stop it. from present indications it
may be growing thousands OF years
hence. AS long as il regularly receives
soil and nourishment-that is. animals 10
grow upon-it is immortal. Several tons
have already accumulated"
That hopeful representation OF the i'm
mortality of this disease is very striking.
But the writer-in the enthusiasm of
seience-goes further.
He says, "A single incubation, if
tfansplanted as many times and into as
many animals as possible. would in a
single year attain a bulk $50 times larger
than the sun and nil a space that it would
take light 100 years to traverse.
And il would all be cancer-think Of that
But leaving for the present this
utopian vision of the blotting out OF the
solar system by one disease. it is ger
name to ask what has been the result Of
this investigation.
We know that uncounted thousands Of
animals have been inoculated in this
research" and that it has been going
on all over the world for a number of
years-the same thing with the same
monotonOus iteration.
This enthusiastic writer says: mo
cancer cure has been discovered. Inves-