102 ANIMAL EXPERIMENTATION 



these errors, natural enough in those who meddle with 

 the business of experts, were pointed out at the public 

 hearings. Their latest demands, therefore, must have been 

 framed with all the skill and knowledge that the petitioners 

 possess. 



It will be interesting to inquire whether the demands 

 now made present internal evidence of that profound ac- 

 quaintance with medical science that should fairly be 

 expected from the petitioners for legislation so important 

 to the public health. 



The proposed legislation permits the considerable pain 

 of hydrophobia or other disease with which an animal may 

 be painlessly inoculated, but directs that the animal shall be 

 killed at the conclusion of any painful operation without 

 regard to whether the animal would recover from the oper- 

 ation without pain or with far less pain than that experienced 

 in the course of a disease produced by inoculation. This 

 provision excludes absolutely many fields of medical and 

 biological research. A large part of our knowledge of 

 digestion comes from observations upon animals in which 

 an external opening has been made into the stomach or 

 intestine. The opening is made under the influence of 

 anesthetics. The recovery from the necessary operation 

 is almost or quite painless. After recovery the process of 

 digestion may be watched through the artificial opening, 

 and the digestive juices may be obtained in their natural 

 state. These valuable observations could be no longer 

 made. Great advances in practical medicine have followed 

 the prolonged study of animals from which certain organs, 

 such as the stomach, pancreas, and thyroid have been 

 removed. The operation is performed under the influence 

 of anesthetics and the recovery is almost or quite pain- 

 less. Such experiments also are excluded. This legis- 

 lation would put an end to researches on the repair of 

 fractures, the healing of wounds, the mode of union of 



