yEBEUARY 6, 1914] 



SCIENCE 



217 



THE FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SO- 

 CIETIES FOB EXFEMIMENTAL 

 BIOLOGT 



Fob a number of years the members of the 

 Physiological, the Biochemical and the Pharmaco- 

 logical Societies have felt the desirability of a 

 closer cooperation of these and other biological 

 societies, especially as regards the annual scien- 

 tific meetings. At the meeting in Chicago in 1907 

 the Physiological Society appointed a committee 

 on policy with instructions to report at the next 

 annual meeting. At the meeting in Baltimore in 

 1908 the chairman of this committee, Dr. A. P, 

 Mathews, presented a plan for reorganizing all the 

 present biological societies into a general Biolog- 

 ical Society. The plan involved a change in pol- 

 icy and in the character of the membership of at 

 least some of the societies, and an extensive ven 

 ture in the publication of scientific journals, 

 These features were not endorsed by the society, 

 but the general plan of affiliation of all the bio 

 logical societies was favorably received and Dr, 

 Mathews was appointed delegate from the Physio 

 logical Society to confer with delegates from the 

 other biological societies to this end. This com- 

 mittee does not appear to have made any progress 



At the meeting in Cleveland in 1912, the Physio 

 •logical, Biochemical and Pharmacological So- 

 cieties appointed committees to propose plans for 

 affiliation. The committee consisted of Drs. Melt- 

 zer, Lee and Cannon from the Physiological So- 

 ciety, Drs. Lusk, Gies and Wells from the Biochem- 

 ical Society and Drs. SoUmann, Loevenhart and 

 Auer, from the Pharmacological Society. This com- 

 mittee submitted the following plan: 



1. That the three societies affiliate under the 

 name of the Federation of American Societies for 

 Experimental Biology. 



2. That the presidents and secretaries of the 

 three societies constitute the executive committee 

 ■of the federation. 



3. That programs of the annual meetings be 

 printed under one cover, and that the secretaries 

 confer and adjust the papers with the view of 

 the greatest coordination. 



4. That a common meeting place of the federa- 

 ition with the anatomists, zoologists and natural- 

 ists is desirable. 



The annual meeting in Philadelphia, December 

 -28-31, 1913, was arranged by the executive com- 

 mittee of the federation according to the above 

 plan. Those present at the meeting were in sub- 

 !Stantial agreement that it was a success. At this 



meeting the plan of the organization committee 

 was ratified by the three societies and the Society 

 for Experimental Pathology joined the federa- 

 tion. This brings the total membership of the 

 federation up to about 450. 



The distinctive feature of the federation plan 

 is the cooperation and coordination in the essen- 

 tial things, with no interference with the individ- 

 uality of the societies. This cooperation is cer- 

 tainly desirable between all the biological societies, 

 and we believe the federation plan can and ought 

 to be extended in that direction. We believe it 

 will increase the efficiency of the societies as 

 agencies for the promotion of research and dis- 

 semination of truth. 



At the first executive meeting of the federation, 

 December 31, 1913, the following declaration on 

 the subject of animal experimentation was unani- 

 mously adopted: 



1. We, the members of the Federation of Amer- 

 ican Societies for Experimental Biology — com- 

 prising the American Physiological Society, the 

 American Society of Biological Chemists, the 

 American Society for Pharmacology and Experi- 

 mental Therapeutics and the American Society 

 for Experimental Pathology,- — in convention as- 

 sembled, hereby express our accord with the 

 declaration of the recent International Medical 

 Congress and other authoritative medical organi- 

 zations, in favor of the scientific method desig- 

 nated properly animal experimentation but some- 

 times vivisection. 



2. We point to the remarkable and innumerable 

 achievements by means of animal experimentation 

 in the past in advancing the knowledge of biolog- 

 ical laws and devising methods of procedure for 

 the cure of disease and for the prevention of suf- 

 fering iu human beings and lower animals. We 

 emphasize the necessity of animal experimenta- 

 tion in continuing similar beneficent work in the 

 future. 



3. We are firmly opposed to cruelty to animals. 

 We heartily support all humane efforts to prevent 

 the wanton infliction of pain. The vast majority 

 of experiments on animals need not be and, in 

 fact, are not accompanied by any pain whatso- 

 ever. Under the regulations already in force, 

 which reduce discomfort to the least possible 

 amount and which require the decision of doubt- 

 ful cases by the responsible laboratory director, 

 the performance of those rare experiments wliieh 

 involve pain is, we believe, justifiable. 



4. We regret the widespread lack of informa- 



