The endowment of torture : revelations from the Rockefeller Hell, New York, 1909 : three affidavits / from employees at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York, U.S.A., made Dec. 3rd, 1909.
- Kennedy, Mary L.
- Date:
- 1909
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The endowment of torture : revelations from the Rockefeller Hell, New York, 1909 : three affidavits / from employees at the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, New York, U.S.A., made Dec. 3rd, 1909. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![Uh e iSnbowment of Revelations from the Roc NEW YORK, 1909. FIRST AFFIDAVIT Statement of Mrs. MARY L. KENNEDY. Facts pertaining' to experiments made by Dr. Carrel in Rockefeller Institute, made to the New York Anti-Vivisec- tion Society, November 22nd, 1909:— Dr. Carrel, Miss Lilly, Emil Clausnitzer and I saw the experiments performed. Sometimes Dr. Flexner would come in for a few minutes. I went there October 21st, 1908, cleaning in the after- noons. Miss Lilly discharged a Miss Butler, who had assisted Dr. Carrel in his operations for about two years before Miss Lilly came. Miss Lilly then hired another girl and explained the work to her. This young girl was about eighteen. Miss Lilly showed her how to thread needles, etc. After about an hour this young girl asked me where Miss Lilly’s room was. I told her No. 505. The young girl apparently went to this room to see Miss Lilly, but when she was asked whether the girl had been there Miss Lilly said no, she had not. It was then discovered that the girl had left. I suppose it was because she was not able to stand the howlings and moanings of the dogs and other animals. Then Miss Lilly asked me if I would like that work [operations, etc.] and if I was nervous at the sight of blood. I said I would of course be nervous if I saw blood from any of my children. As I needed work so much on account of my children, although I didn’t care for that kind of work, I took the position at $35 a month, beginning November 27th, 1908. I felt I would do anything for my children. Neck Operations under Light Anaesthesia. Dr. Carrel would cut out a piece of am artery, or vein, and then sew the dog up. He would put the piece cut out into cold storage ; at other times he just cut the artery, or vein, and sewed it up just as it was; or sometimes he would transplant a piece of an artery, or vein, from one dog into another. They often performed these operations for the benefit of visitors. We called them “ show off” operations. Dr. Carrel would frequently make Miss Lilly sew up the dogs after operations, while he would look on. He said he was tired doing operations for people—he had done so many—and that she should learn to do them to show off the operation. One dog was found in a dreadful condition after a neck operation because the stitches of his wound broke down. He was all covered with blood, and so was the floor of the cage, and the wound was wide open its entire length, I should say fully six inches. Leg Operations under Anaesthesia. Dr. Carrel performed leg operations last year. He put the first dog on one table and cut off his leg, while the second dog was being made ready ; then he cut the leg of the second dog; he then sewed the leg of the first dog to the body of the other dog. The dog without the leg grafted on was just left to die. After the operation the dog with the grafted leg was put in a plaster cast. Then there was a galvanised iron stand that had a piece of canvas stretched across it very tight on a sort of frame. The dog was placed on this and buckled down very tight. One strap went around the neck, one back of the front legs, and another at the back. The operated leg was sometimes suspended from a swing-like arrangement; at other times it was bolstered up with little cushions we made of non-absorbent cotton. The bandage around the neck was so tight it had to be loosened so the dog could swallow even soft nourishment. The dog’s sufferings from the neck strap were just awful, They were left there for days. Dr. Carrel kept one dog for three weeks or more. The latter part of the time it was down in his room lying on the floor, where it wasted away to nothing until it just died. It was such a human-like little dog—just like a baby in its sufferings. It would look up at you so pitifully, and each time you would speak to it or pet it, it would look up just as if it knew you were trying to help it. The tears came to my eyes when I saw it lying dead. I used to go into Dr. Carrel’s room every morning to see how-it was, and I found it one morning dead and out of its misery. About the third day the body would get black and green and all colours, and swell up as big as a small keg, and it was in an unspeakable condition. The odour was frightful. No anaesthetic during this time. The dogs would moan and cry like a baby and look at you so piteously. Sometimes Dr. Carrel would take them off the stretched canvas, where they were tied down immovable, and make an incision in the wound and put in a rubber tube to drain off pus and matter. He would often take hold of the dog’s leg and turn and twist the grafted part to see if he could find out whether or not the bones had grown together. This hurt the dog terribly. It was sickening : so much so that I fainted. To see Dr. Carrel twist and turn the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22288673_0007.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
