There was a very learned (?) young man--a lately fledged M. D.--who,
while spending a few weeks in the town, often sought my master's
company. Among other things he, the young man, talked pompously and
heartlessly of his love for using the knife.
"I just delight in surgery," he affirmed. "When I first went to college
the sight of blood unmanned me, and I was weak enough to shrink from
cutting up even a cat; but I soon cut my eye teeth, and now I don't mind
anything; would like no better practice than to dissect a live human
being."
As Master made no reply and the blood-thirsty young M. D. did not
understand, as I do, a certain ominous silence on the former's part, he
went airily on:
"I intend to make a specialty of scientific research as soon as I've
earned money enough to make it possible. There is very much to be
discovered yet, I am convinced. By the way, I suppose you read all the
reports of our own and German vivisectionists?"
"I confess to skipping some."
Strange the young fool blundered right on into the trap, but then he had
the "big head"--whatever that is; Master says all young doctors have a
spell of it, and that some never fully recover--and thought Master's
silence was induced by a feeling of ignorance and inferiority.
"Well," said he, "you know, of course, that chloroform is not used as
much as formerly in the practice; our modern scientists are using
curare, a drug, you understand, that paralyzes motion while sensibility
is unimpaired. It is a great thing. The creature endures the greatest
amount of suffering possible under the circumstances, and makes a fine
study. I have a few notes here taken from recent reports. I assure you
they are worthy of attention. Vivisection is going to prove a boon to
suffering humanity."
I knew by the tremor along the reins that Master would be unable to
control himself much longer. And then the young man read an extract
taken from a book he called "A Microscopical Study of Changes," that
told of the torture of a number of kittens. Some were starved eleven
hours and from that on up to seventeen. They were then made mute and
motionless by means of this drug, curare, but were acutely conscious.
After this stimulation was continued for five hours. In another case the
sciatic nerve in various creatures was stimulated with electricity from
one-half to seven hours. There was a good deal more telling of the work
along this line in various noted universities and medical schools.
Speaking of instances where the sciatic nerves of cats are divided and
the spinal cord experimented upon in rabbits, it told of their wild
shrieks of agony. In dogs the thyroid glands were removed and their
consequent sufferings described. A noted Eastern scientist excites
inflammation in the eyes of small animals by passing a thread through
the corner and applying croton oil, hot irons and the like. Another
professor "hobbled" over 140 dogs, and then dashed them from a height of
twenty-four feet upon bars and ridges of iron. And so he went on telling
of cutting up live animals, even of a horse that was vivisected. At last
he was describing, with evident relish, the sufferings of a dog that
some New York professor had twisted all out of shape and fastened in a
plaster of Paris cast for several weeks, the creature's sufferings being
so great that it scarcely took any food at all, when Master burst forth.
Well, I can never begin to tell what he said; his words were like
thunderbolts, and the very atmosphere was blue with the lightnings of
his righteous wrath. Out of it all I learned that he considered
vivisection (cutting up live animals) not only unnecessary to the
interests of humanity and science, but a most criminal proceeding. He
denounced the vivisection professors as bloodthirsty scoundrels, who,
under the pretense of making scientific research, are merely satisfying
a bloodthirsty curiosity of their own. He said such men are never public
benefactors, that, in truth, they care nothing about alleviating human
ills or prolonging life. It is a mania with them to cut, cut, cut,
torture, torture, torture. He further said that something must be done
to stop vivisection in our common schools and colleges; that ordinary
pupils have no need for even lessons in dissecting dead bodies.[A]
Physiology, he said, can be taught all that is needful without recourse
to hardening, brutalizing experiments. For his part, when his hour of
suffering comes, he said he wanted a physician with a heart as well as
head, and he would sooner that a boy or girl, dear to him, would grow up
unable to read or write than to be a scholar without feeling and
humanity. His conclusion was something like this: "And now, my young
friend, pardon me if I have spoken hotly, but I feel deeply on these
matters. You, with thousands of other youths, are more sinned against
than sinning. You admit that you were tender-hearted when you went away
from home influences, and seem ashamed of it. Crush that feeling, my
boy; the manly man is always tender-hearted; in other words, God-like.
Pity and tenderness are God's own attributes. Further, you will never be
a truly successful physician unless your touch is tender as well as
firm, unless your heart is as full of sympathy as your head of wisdom. I
do not say that there may not be some experiment necessary in medical
schools, but none where entire insensibility is not induced. I know what
I am talking about, and thousands of our older and better physicians at
home and abroad bear me out in this statement."
I guess the young M. D. was glad that Master reined up, at this
juncture, before a pretty white cottage; anyway, I noticed that he
neither resumed the conversation nor attempted to patronize Master
during the remainder of the drive.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] It is exceedingly to be regretted that vivisection is creeping into
our common schools and lower institutions of learning. Nothing can be
more useless and harmful, and it behooves patrons and school officers to
be on the alert. We have enough of bloodshed and anarchy menacing our
commonwealth without training our youth to disregard the rights of the
helpless and inure them to the shedding of innocent blood.