New-York tribune., 1918-01-10
Anti-Vivisection in War Time

The president Of the New York Anti
Nivisection Society is dissatisfied with The
Tribunc's observations on some recent
activities of her friends and offers in a
letter, printed elsewhere on this page, "to
meet these animadversions." Though a
great part of her discourse has little or no
bearing on the points at issue, it may be
advisable to comment briefly on two or
three passages which might possibly lead
the ignorant astray.
AS Mrs. Belais appears to know little
about the history of typhoid fever and
anti-typhoid vaccination. those who read
her letter would do we'll before accepting
her conclusions to turn to the health re-
ports of our own army and consider the
conditions before and after the introduce
tion of compulsory vaccination. In the
three years before G90S to 19l0), the cases
reported annually numbered 1876, 173 and
142; in the three years following, 70, 27 and
4. Likewise in the navy there were Goa cases
in the three years before compulsory vac
cination, and in the three years after, 92.
The surgeon general CT the navy is salts
fled that the improvement is attributable
almost IN toto" to compulsory vaccna-
ton, and though Mrs. Belais may be Of Il
different opinion the judgment Of the sur
geon general will be accepted by others as
more valuable.
It would be unreasonable and waste of
time to argue with Mrs Belais on matters
she has not studied and cannot discuss
with profit, but her readers may be assured
that the paratyphoid organisms arc not fig
ments imagined by the doctors. Diagnosis
is more complicated business than she
supposes. She may be surprised to learn
that the distinction she accepts unques-
tionngly and as a matter of course between
typhus fever and what we call typhoid
was wholly unsupported in her grand
fathers time. When it was at last recog-
nized and an attempt made to dfferen-
tiate between two clearly distinct diseases
the new title "typhoid' u inaccurate and
misleading, it is true, yet marking q sub
stantial advance in diagnoss-was doubt
less sneered at by the unlearncd and su-
tuted by the medical profession"
AS to Mr.. Arlss, his fiippant advice is
not Of much Importance, for, as it has
been remarked before, even the idlest
Broadway playgoers would probably un-
derstand that the opinion of a person Of his
training and experience in such matters
was not to be taken seriously But in
point of fact he protested against the use
of animals for experimental purposes on
the preposterous ground that "any physi-
clan Or surgeon who secks fresh Lno1rl-
edge" ought to find opportunity enough
among the wounded Mrs. Beais's at
tempt to interpret his words in a more
amiablc sense is we'll intended, but Mr.
Arliss would have done wisely to stick to
his trade of providing harmless amuse-
ment to the public instead of offering
thoughtless and offensive advice on mat
ters out of his sphere.
Finally Mrs. Belais is right in holding
that the "vvisection aboltionists" in Eng
land have with "unceasing cxertions" en-
deavcrcd to prevent the protection of Brit
ish troops against typhoid fever. Fortu-
nately however, we have the assurance OF
many soldiers and army medical MEN. a:
we'll as of the Research Defence Society
that "this agitation has had no apprecia
bic effect on the army Probably about
95 per cent of the soldiers have been in
oculated. The anti-vivisection societies
have also lost their hold on the civil popu
lation in England, because, presumably
there are fewer idle hands to do that mis-
chief which, according to the hymnist
is commonly intrustcd to them by ths
Evil One.