Evidence of Lord Justice Fletcher Moulton before the Royal Commission on vivisection, Wednesday, July 24th, 1907.

  • Moulton, J. Fletcher (John Fletcher), 1844-1921.
Date:
[1913?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Evidence of Lord Justice Fletcher Moulton before the Royal Commission on vivisection, Wednesday, July 24th, 1907. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    incorrect idea of the result of the work of these 40 years, if I was to say that it has revealed the fact that we live not as isolated living organisms, but that we are surrounded by and penetrated by infinitely smalt living things of very varied descriptions—that we are, as it were, bathed within and without in a sea of microbic life ; I am usinof the word microbic in its. broadest sense. Within us we have them permanently and probably normally; in fact, if you include the organisms which live in the blood, certainly normally. We are surrounded by them, and instead of diseases of this kind having to be looked at as due to defects or failure in normal action in the organism itself, we have grown to realise that they are the result of attacks upon the organism by external foes. 12729. Do you regard all this state of things which you have been describing as wholly due to experiments on animals ?—Absolutely. It is absolutely due to them. 12730. We have had a good deal of evidence from other witnesses on the subject, and we need not trouble you to describe the instances—Quite so. It is difficult for me to say which is the earliest case in which this was established; but I will take one of them, because I wish to show how baseless is the idea that the work which has been done in this respect is work which has only led to doubtful or hypothetical results. I wish to- show the actual and certain advance of knowledge. Then I wish to show next the way in which that is duo to experimental methods. Then I wish to show the- practical methods to which it has led. I will take a single example—any one will do—but I will take the example of anthrax. When Pasteur took up anthrax, it was only known as a terrible disease among cattle, leading to a vast proportion of deaths. He ascertained