Medical scientists have not waited for government or other supervision
to establish control over animal experimentation that will make it
as nearly perfect as possible in preventing unnecessary pain and in
providing animals with the best of care. A committee of the American
Medical Association regularly functions for no other purpose. Under the
control of this committee each laboratory binds itself to observe the
rules laid down and to post those rules regularly in each department.
The rules require that animals be held at least as long as they are
held at the city pound; that they receive every consideration for their
bodily comfort; that no operations be made, except with the sanction
of the director of the laboratory; that animals be anesthetized and
rendered incapable of receiving pain in all operations, except in
those in which anesthesia would defeat the object of the experiment,
and finally that animals be killed painlessly at the conclusion of the
experiment. These rules are most rigidly enforced and laboratories
throughout the country are open to inspection by anyone interested from
a scientific point of view, or from the point of view of control of
this work.
If it be true, as has been said again and again, that science is
the hope of the future for the progress of humanity, those who
obstruct this progress by needless and unwarranted follies should be
considered as subjects for mental investigation, or else as misguided
sentimentalists whom one condones, but whom one does not take too
seriously.
Transcriber’s Note:
- Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
- Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.
- Minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice.
- Spelling was retained as in the original except for the following changes:
Page 1: “D. Haldeman-Julius” to “E. Haldeman-Julius”
Page 5: “such as digitalis, woud” to “such as digitalis, would”
Page 10: “Such conditions as Brights” to “Such conditions as Bright’s”