VIVISECTION IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. 177 



IV. The experiment above mentioned is characterized by Mr. 

 Bergh as " the crucifixion of a sentient, unoffending being, ... an im- 

 mortal work of the Deity." The grave question of the immortality of 

 animals need not be discussed here. The adjective unoffending is ob- 

 jectionable merely because, like so many other words used by the same 

 writer, it tends to throw a sentimental film over the eyes of logic and 

 severe justice through which the whole matter should be viewed, and 

 it is altogether probable that the dog thus utilized for the exemplifica- 

 tion of several important physiological truths was, like most vivisec- 

 tion "subjects," a worthless street cur whose death, in the manner 

 described, was a relief to the community, and a positive deliverance 

 from a worse fate through hunger or cold, or at the hands of ill-regu- 

 lated boys. But, in the entire absence of evidence that the animal was 

 conscious, the use of the words sentient, crucifixion, and exhibition of 

 a similar sort constitutes an exaggeration so great and so mischievous 

 that it can not be lightly passed. It is akin to affirmations in other 

 parts of the address : " The effect of curare in itself is horrible beyond 

 conception ; ... it is an error to suppose that anaesthetics subdue com- 

 pletely the pain of operations ; . . . the hands of the preceptors in our 

 medical colleges are daily incarnated with the warm blood of tortured 

 animals ruthlessly slaughtered." If, with Huxley, we hold that "the 

 assertion that outstrips evidence is not only a blunder but a crime," 

 the offenses of Mr. Bergh are too many for enumeration here. 



The "quotations" upon which Mr. Bergh bases the surprising 

 claim * that " vivisection has been the subject of universal condemnation 

 by the more eminent members of the medical profession in Europe," 

 have been scrutinized by Dr. Dalton.f After showing that Professor 

 "W. B. Carpenter expressly repudiates the views attributed to him, Dr. 

 Dalton inquires : " What shall we call this manipulation of the facts 

 used to convey an impression at variance with the reality ? If we did 

 not know that it came from a professional philanthropist, we should be 

 inclined to give it a very awkward name." Again : "If confinement 

 in State-prison were the legal penalty for tampering with an author's 

 opinions and falsifying his language, I am afraid Mr. Bergh would 

 have been there loner ao-o." 



It can hardly be denied that, taken by themselves, some of Mr. 

 Bergh's affirmations and accusations suggest that his hatred of vivi- 

 section is stronger than his love for courtesy and truth, and if the ar- 

 gument scevus in Europa, scevus in America, which is really all he has 

 to offer against New York physiologists, were turned against him in 

 the original form of falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus, the advocates of 

 unlimited dog-fights and cocking-mains might well object to the recog- 

 nition of such a witness against their favorite sports. But, when all 



* "Memorial to the Legislature," 1880, section 5. 



f "Mr. Bergh as a Commentator," "The Nation," October 16, November 6 and 

 20, 1879. 



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