Vivisection, scientifically and ethically considered / in prize essays by James Macaulay, Rev. Brewin Grant, and Abiathar Wall.

  • James Macaulay
Date:
1881
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Vivisection, scientifically and ethically considered / in prize essays by James Macaulay, Rev. Brewin Grant, and Abiathar Wall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    ters must have licenses, either ordinary or special; and reports are made by the inspectors. Why not wait to sec how the Act works ? Such is at present the laissez faire tone of professional opinion, and it is largely shared by the general public. In opposition to this spirit of indifference, I maintain tliat the sooner and the more fully this matter is discussed tlic better. And this not in the cause of humanity only, but in the interests of science, and for the honour of our profession. If this new system of research and of instruction is wrong, let it not have time to take deep root and to spread in our medical schools. To the credit of the profession in Ireland, the programme of the practical course of Institutes of Medi- cine, under the joint-direction of Trinity College, Dublin, and the College of Physicians, concludes with the significant N.B.—' Vivisections are absolutely pi-ohihited! Even if this prohibition is still maintained in Ireland, we fear tliat it will not for some time be imitated in other schools. The number of licensed vivisectors may vary from year to year, but the names of those to whom licenses are granted are kept secret, and the reports of the Inspectors ai'e not open to the public. No one can tell the nature or extent of the experimental researches, except so far as the operat(j]s choose to record them in medical journals, as Professor Rutherford has done; or to bring them before scientific societies, as Professor Ferrier has done in his Reports to tlie British Association. The publication of such experiments is is sure to give a fresh impulse to research by vivisection. I think, therefore, the time has come for making an appeal to the medical profession for a calm inquiry as to the position and claims of the system. Enough has been done to bring the matter before the general public. There is no fear of the agitation out of doors being at an end, although the advocates of vivisection seem to think that the licensing of laboratories has silenced their opponents. No Act of Parliament can suppress public sentiment on this
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