HENRY P. BOWDITCH 73 



I have used the words " misguided benevolence " in 

 speaking of this agitation, and there is no doubt that the 

 movement appeals to some of our noblest feelings --to 

 the sentiment that bids us be merciful as we would obtain 

 mercy. It is freely admitted that a large number (but 

 unfortunately not all) of the persons engaged in this 

 crusade are benevolent in their disposition and con- 

 scientious in their attitude; but it should be remembered 

 that, as President Roosevelt once remarked, " Common 

 sense without conscience may lead to crime, but con- 

 science without common sense may lead to folly, which is 

 but the handmaiden of crime." It has indeed been well 

 said that " the excesses of virtue are more dangerous 

 than those of vice because they are not restrained by the 



conscience.'' 



With this introduction let us come to the specific case 

 before us. 



The medical testimony in support of the bill is sur- 

 prisingly meagre. Many of the witnesses summoned were 

 conspicuous by their absence. Those who appeared were 

 chiefly homeopaths. Few had ever seen vivisections, and 

 that only as students. Of those who had seen them, some 

 thought them useful for instruction, others not; most 

 of them admitted the value of experiments on animals 

 in medical research. One witness did indeed testify that 

 he would prefer to have a new surgical method tested on 

 a patient rather than on a dog. We may hope for his 

 own sake as a practitioner of medicine that his views on 

 this subject will not be widely circulated in Roxbury. 



We heard incidentally some interesting views on educa- 

 tion ; e.g., that the training of the mind was no part of the 

 education of a physician. 



Experiments done in The Harvard Medical School have 

 been quoted as evidence of abuse ; of these and of the 

 practice of vivisection in general Dr. Porter will speak. 



