NA TURE 



[May 4, 18821 



Vivisection 



The editor of NATURE lias r.o room for proofs; I must, 

 the efore, confine myself to >ta:cnie hs of facts which "A Student 

 dicine " can verify by consulting the ' ooks I shall name. 



Prof. Schiff is the author of several works detailing an enor- 

 mous number of vivisections. Some six years ago the " Gazetta 

 d'ltalia" calculated that, of dogs alone, he had used in his 

 laboratory 14,000 — supplied to him gratuitously by the munici- 

 pality of Florence — besides great numbers of other animals 

 otherwise procured. Afterwards he received only about eight 

 week from the police, and, in consequence, posted up an 

 advertisement offering a franc for every dog brought to him, 

 and a bonus upon ten dogs brought by one person. In the 

 " Physiologie de la Digestion" he says: "I am forced to cut 

 the vocal cords of the greater number of my dogs, lest their 

 nightly bowlings should compromise my physiological pursuits." 



In Prof. Scruffs " Lezioni di Fisiologia Sperimenlale " will 

 be found ample justification of my statements with regard to the 

 character of the vivisections performed by him. I regret much 

 that there is no room to quote examples here. It will be ob- 

 served by the reader of the-e "Lessons of experimental physio- 

 logy," that the nature and durati >n of the majority of the experi- 

 ments render the administration of chloroform either impossible, 

 or at the best, utterly inadequate to hinder suffering. The 

 animal is either distinctly sensible throughout the experiment, or 

 has been already operated on some days previou-ly, being pre- 

 served in a mangled and paralysed condition for further experi- 

 ment. 



As regards the "anaesthesia," I have to-day questioned a 

 medical graduate, who resided seven years in Florence while 

 Prof. Schiff lived there, and was constantly in his laboratory. 

 He says that, although chloroform was commonly administered 

 on tying down the animals (be believes, for the convenience of 

 the operator), no pretence Mas made of keeping them under the 

 influence of the anaesthetic after the preliminary incision, and 

 that — as in fact is conclusively proved in Prof. Schiff' s own 

 works — mutilated animals were reserved from day to day, and 

 from week to week, for further investigation. 



If since leaving Fl irence and publishing his " Lessons" Prof. 



Schiff has mended his ways, I am -inc. rely glad to hear it. Should 



such, indeed, prove to be the case, public opinion at Florence — 



i ran high against him and his doings — must be credited 



with some share in the reformation. 



In conclusion, let me say in regard to the discourteous charges 

 of "error," " ignorance," and disregard of "facts" so freely 

 brought against me by your correspondent, that if in this case 

 any person is amenable to them, it is certainly not one who, being 

 perfectly acquainted with the works both of Prof. Mantegazza 

 and of Prof. .Schiff, bases her estimate of their performances on 

 vn explicit statements. Anna Kingsford 



11, Chapel Street, Park Lane, W., April 14 



[Mks. Kingsford's letter was forwarded to our correspondent 

 in Geneva, who sends the following reply : — ] 



In reply to Mrs. Kingsford's letter, I have the following 

 remarks to offer : — 



1. If Mrs. Kingsford is " perfectly acquainted " with the 

 works of Prof. Schiff, she must know that there exists a small 

 bo ,1. iii ubich he has explained in detail his methods of vivisec- 

 tion, &c. The title is : "Sofra il metodo seguito negli esperi- 

 menti sugli animali viventi nel laoratorio di fisiologia di 

 Firenze." It first appeared in 1S64; the second enlarged edi- 

 tion bears the date 1874. The book is written in a popular style, 

 so as to render it easy even for the uninitiated to understand 

 what vivisection is, and how it is practised by Prof. Schiff; it 

 should be read by every per. on desirous of forming an unbiased 

 judgment on the subject. 



2. My letter was a reply to the accusation brought against 

 ' if. Schiff of perpetrating "horrible tortures," "atrocities," 

 &c. The number of dogs used for experiments (which number 

 is erroneously stated), and the price supposed to have been paid 

 for them are evidently irrelevant to the question. Moreover, 

 yi u will find stated on' p. 53 of the above pamphlet, that Prof. 

 Schiff never accepted a dog unless its owner assured him that he 

 would otherwise kill it himself ; and I can corroborate from 

 personal recent experience here in Geneva the further statement 

 111 the same passage, that if a person likely to be a kind master 

 offers to take one of his dogs, he is always ready to give it away. 



3. I regret to find that Mrs. Kingsford allows herself to 



mi-quote. The passage in the " Physiologie de la Diges-j- 

 tion" referred to is on p. 291 of vol. i. : " Je suis oblige de» 

 fane subir la section des ncrfs larynges c beaucoup de nasi 



f 1 lie VOCal cords is a dreadful operation] 

 that of the nerves in question s > slight, that if performed ondogsj 

 whilst at their meals, they do 1, atingl To this I ) 



can testify. Moreover, you will notice that Schiff says, "Je suis 

 I the fact i- he was forced by the police in Florence to; 

 cut the nerves in question ; n A indeed on most of his dogs, but] 

 on those which were n >t used for vivisection properly so called, 

 but were kept during long periods for other (and perfectly pain- 

 less) observations, luch as those detailed regarding the very dog 

 mentioned in that lecture (see the 13th lesson, p. 325). 



4. People not versed in physiology are not competent to draw 

 conclusions from a work such as the " I.ezioni di Fisiologia 

 sperimentale." Mrs. Kingsford he^elf offers an example of how ' 

 gross the errors are into which they may fall when she declares 

 that in the majority of experiments the administration of anaes- 

 thetics is either " impossible or inadequate." On p. 70 of the 

 pamphlet " Sofra il metodo," &c, Schiff .-ays : " Nello stato 1 

 attuale delle nostre conoscenza r.on existo un solo esperimento 

 praticato nell' aniniale viventi, al qualo 11011 si possa, e quindi 

 non si debba, togliere il carattere di crudelta mediante l'uso 

 degli anestetici ; " and lower down : " Pa 25 anni non mi sono 

 neppure una volta veduto nella necessity di escludere l'uso degli 

 anestetici." On p. 52 he writes : " Brediamo dover aspettare 

 finche ogni traccia di sensibilita, e l'effetto meccanico delle 

 sensaiioni sia scomparso." 



5. To the medical graduate's statement and insinuations I 



of. Schiff s affirmation and my own knowledge of his 

 character and scientific habits. It is curious that this gentleman, 

 after having spent seven years in Prof Schiff s laboratory, should 

 be ignorant that chloroform is never used by him (see p. 49). 



6. That many animals which have been operated upon are 

 kept alive for ulterior observations is expressly stated in my first 

 letter, and any per on, however ignorant of science, can under- 

 stand that whole branches of physiology can only be studied 

 under the condition of this being so. They are kept not only as 

 Mrs. Kingsford so pathetically exclaims, "from day to day, and 

 from week to week," but sometimes from year to year." The 

 question at is-ue is whether they suffer or not, a question easy to 

 decide by their appearance, appetite, and demeanour. And the 

 fact is they do not suffer, a statement any one can corroborate 

 who chooses to come and loak at the dogs in the School of 

 Medicine here. Why they do not sutler is explained in detail in 

 the pamphlet referred to above. 



7. Prof. Schiff has not, alas, "mended his ways in deference 

 to public opinion ;" he tells me that never since the year 1847 

 has he departed from the methods detailed in the book quoted 

 at the beginning of this letter. 



Geneva, April 23 B.Sc, Student of Medicine 



Red Variable Stars— "Variab. Cygni (Birmingham), 

 1881," <£c. 



The above star, so called by Schmidt in the A sir. Nach., 

 No. 2421, is now a striking object of 8 magnitude. On 

 December 21, last year, it was certainly not over 12, and, 

 probably, it was less. This appeared about its minimum, and 

 its maximum seemed to have been attained on June 6, when it 

 was S mag., as at present. On May 22, when I first found it, 

 it was about 9. If it is now at maximum, there must be a 

 striking inequality in its periods of decrease and increase, but 

 perhaps it will go on to a greater magnitude this time than 

 before. 



U Cygni (No. 553 in my Red Star Catalogue) seemed last 

 night (April 28) to he smaller than I ever saw it previously, and 

 under 11 mag. Its colour was, however, very marked. The 

 blue star near it (Arg. +47° 307S), which I have long considered 

 to be slightly variable (see Catalogue), seems now at a maximum 

 of S magnitude, though contrast with its diminished neighbour, 

 may have some effect on its apparent size. 



No. 44S, in which I have also detected variability, is now 

 about S'5, and as deeply coloured as when I first found it in 

 April, 1S76. J- Birmingham 



Millbrook, Tuam, April 29 



Matter and Magneto-electric Action 



The very interesting lecture by Mr. Spottiswoode on the 

 above subject incidentally throw s light upon a phenomenon which 

 probably has puzzled some other of your readers besides myself. 



