HUMANE TREATMENT OF ANIMALS USED IN RESEARCH 369 
operation. Four weeks later the calf was killed, and its neck was sent to me. On 
my dissecting it, the beautiful truth was revealed that the dead material of the 
thread, instead of being thrown off by suppuration, had been replaced, under the 
new aseptic conditions, by a firm ring of living fibrous tissue, the old dangers of 
such an operation being completely obviated. 
“I have referred thus to my personal experiences because requested to do so ; 
and these examples are perhaps sufficient to illustrate the impediments which 
the existing law places in the way of research by medical men engaged in prac- 
tice, whose ideas, if developed, would often be the most fruitful in beneficent 
results. 
“But even those who are specialists in physiology or pathology, and have ready 
access to research laboratories, find their work very seriously hampered by the 
necessity of applying for licenses for all investigations and the difficulty and 
delay often encountered in obtaining them. Our law on this subject should 
never have been passed and ought to be repealed. It serves no good purpose and 
interferes seriously with inquiries which are of paramount importance to man- 
kind. 
“Believe me, 
“Sincerely yours, 
“Lister.” 
Statement of Hiram E. Essex, Ph. D., President of the National Society 
for Medical Research in Opposition to Legislation That Would Create 
Obstructions and Complications Rather Than Authorizing Constructive 
Action for the Advancement of Laboratory Animal Care 
The National Society for Medical Research is comprised of 672 organiza- 
tions and institutions concerned with research in biology and medicine. The 
NSMR is the instrument through which the many scientific groups cooperate 
in a program to build public understanding and support for experimental re- 
search in biology and medicine. 
When legislation was introduced in Congress to limit, license, and police 
research with animals, representatives of the organizations that make up 
the NSMR met to analyze the legislation. The conclusion was that the ostensi- 
ble purposes of the legislation were unquestionably desirable — this despite 
the fact that of all the association man has had with animals — in the wild, 
on farms, in zoos and in our homes — none is so careful, so elaborate, so ex- 
pensive as the care of laboratory animals. But even this is not good enough 
from the standpoint of scientists whose work can be made even more pro- 
ductive by better and better laboratory animal husbandry. Therefore, sci- 
entists want maximum progress in laboratory animal care. 
A second conclusion was that most mishaps in laboratory animal care are 
like accidents in industry. They are caused by improper methods, inade- 
quately trained personnel, and unsuitable equipment and facilities. The solu- 
tions to these problems require constructive programs of research, training, 
communication, and building. 
A third conclusion was that certification of animal laboratories by the Ani- 
mal Care Panel and exercise of disciplinary forces by professional societies 
represent the most efficient way to approach the needle-in-a-haystack problem 
of fare willful neglect. Once-a-year visits by Federal inspectors are unlike- 
ly to be effective, and efforts to make a Federal police program intensive 
enough might do much more harm than good. Furthermore, the enormous 
cost might better be devoted to constructive programs for the perfection of 
laboratory animal care. 
The group found nine specific objections to the negatively oriented restrictive 
legislation proposed by Representatives Moulder and Griffiths. 
(1) Presumably the proposals to police medical and biological research 
were introduced on the assumption that, at the present time, there exists 
significant mistreatment of animals in research and teaching laboratories. This 
is a false assumption. It is insulting to the men who are devoting their lives 
to scientific research and to the administrative officials in charge of the various 
institutions where research employing animals is done. If the committee is 
in doubt about this matter, an investigation should be ordered before regula- 
tory or punitive measures are considered. 
(2) It is not reasonable to assume that police inspectors could be hired 
who would be wiser, kinder, and better qualified technically to supervise the 
