INOCULATIONS 



323 



Anyhow, the pain inflicted on animals may in some 

 cases be measured : — 



" A guinea-pig that will rest quietly in your 

 hands before you commence to inject it, will remain 

 perfectly quiet during the introduction of the needle 

 under the skin ; and the moment it is returned to 

 the cage it resumes its interrupted feeding. 



" Arteries, veins, and most of the parts of the 

 viscera are in the same way (as the heart) * without 

 the sense of touch. We have actual proof of this 

 in what takes place when a horse is bled for the 

 purpose of obtaining curative serum. With a sharp 

 lance a cut may be made in the skin so quickly and 

 easily that the animal does nothing more than 

 twitch the skin-muscle of the neck, or give his head 

 a shake, whilst of the further proceeding of intro- 

 ducing a hollow needle into the vein the animal 

 takes not the slightest notice. Some horses, indeed, 

 will stand perfectly quiet during the whole opera- 

 tion, munching a carrot, nibbling at a wisp of hay, 

 or playing with a button on the vest of the groom 

 standing at its head. 



" Harrowing details concerning the horrors of 

 trephining rabbits for Pasteur's antirabic treatment 

 are frequently supplied for popular consumption, 

 but how little real existence any suffering in con- 

 nection with the operation has, may be gathered 

 from the fact that if, as a preliminary measure, the 

 skin be benumbed with carbolic acid, the whole 

 operation, from making the incision through the 



* The reference is to the famous case showed by Harvey 

 to King Charles I., where the heart was exposed almost naked 

 through an opening in the chest, and was found insensitive. 

 See Power's Life of Harvey, p. 246. 



