II.—Anæsthetics under the Act
In almost every case, the anæsthetic used is chloroform or ether; sometimes it is combined with or followed by morphia or chloral. The nature of the anæsthetic used in each case must, of course, be stated in the returns sent to the Home Office.
Of the use of ether, it need only be said that animals take it well, and that there is no difficulty in rendering them unconscious with it. With some animals, chloroform is equally good. Professor Hobday, of the Royal Veterinary College, published in 1898 an account of 500 administrations of chloroform to dogs, for operations, with only one death. Still, for dogs and cats, ether is used in preference to chloroform. Other animals take chloroform well.
Morphia is seldom used alone; but, in some cases, it is used after chloroform or ether. That morphia is a "real anæsthetic" is certain, for there are deaths every year from an over-dose of it. Again, it is certain that an animal, so far under the influence of morphia that it lies still, cannot be suffering, for the drug does not act directly on the muscles but on the higher nervous centres.
Very rarely a dog may fail to come readily under the influence of morphia, may be excited by it, not narcotized. But this is altogether exceptional. An animal in such a condition would not be suited for experiment, and another anæsthetic would be given. Except in these rare cases, animals take morphia well and are profoundly influenced by it.
Curare is not an anæsthetic under the Act. It is illegal to use it as an anæsthetic. In this country it is seldom used at all, and it is never used alone in any experiment involving any sort or kind of painful operation. In every such case a recognised anæsthetic must be given, and is given.[43]
A good account of curare was published in the Edinburgh Review, July 1899.
"The Act of 1876 expressly forbids its use as an anæsthetic. When it is used, it must be supplemented with some other drug to relieve pain. A good deal of misconception exists as to the actual physiological effect of curare. Claude Bernard believed that it did not in any way affect the sensory nerves, and he described in theatrical terms the animal as being unable to stir, but suffering horrible torture. It is pretty certainly known now that Claude Bernard was wrong, and that, though curare acts first upon the motor nerves, it also, though less rapidly, paralyses the sensory nerves.... Probably the truth is, that, like all other nerve-poisons, the effect of curare varies with the dose. The muscular nerves are the first affected, then the sensory, and finally the central nervous system. As a matter of fact, however, morphia or some other narcotic is always given in addition to curare when it is used in laboratory work in England."
III.—Latest Report (1905) of Inspectors
under the Act
(The various tables of names, places, &c., and the references to them, which are contained in this Report, need not be reprinted here. The Report, and other papers relating to the Act, may be bought for a few pence from Wyman & Sons, Ltd., Fetter Lane, E.C.)
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
April 17th, 1906.
Sir,—I have the honour to submit the following Report on Experiments performed in England and Scotland during the Year 1905, under the Act 39 & 40 Vict. c. 77.... Six new places were registered for the performance of experiments, and one place was removed from the register during the year. All licensees were restricted to the registered place or places specified on their licenses, with the exception of those who were permitted to perform inoculation experiments in places other than a "registered place," with the object of studying outbreaks of disease occurring in remote districts or under circumstances which render it impracticable to perform the experiment in a "registered place."
The total number of licensees was 381. Reports have been furnished by (or, in a few exceptional cases, on behalf of) these licensees in the form required by the Secretary for State. The reports show that 122 licensees performed no experiments. The numbers given above include 22 licensees whose licences expired on February 28, 1905, and who returned no experiments in 1905.
Tables I., II., and III. afford evidence,—
1. That licences and certificates have been granted and allowed only upon the recommendation of persons of high scientific standing;
2. That the licensees are persons who, by their training and education, are fitted to undertake experimental work and to profit by it;
3. That all experimental work has been conducted in suitable places.
Table IV. shows the number and the nature of the experiments returned by each licensee mentioned in Table II., specifying whether these experiments were done under the licence alone or under any special certificate.
Table IV. is divided into two parts, A. and B., for the purpose of separating experiments which were performed without anæsthetics from experiments in which anæsthetics were used.
The total number of experiments included in Table IV. (A.) is 2506.
Of these there were performed,—
| Under | Licence alone[44] | 1348 |
| " | Certificate C. | 145 |
| " | Certificate B. | 665 |
| " | Certificate B. + EE | 346 |
| " | Certificate B. + F. | 2 |
Table IV. (B.) is devoted entirely to inoculations, hypodermic injections, and some few other proceedings, performed without anæsthetics. It includes 35,429 experiments, whereof there were performed,—
| Under | Certificate A. | 34,778 |
| " | Certificate A. + E. | 549 |
| " | Certificate A. + F. | 102 |
The total number of experiments is 37,935, being 5373 more than in 1904; the increase in the number of experiments included in Table IV. (A.) is 290, and in Table IV. (B.), 5083.
All experiments involving a serious operation are placed in Table IV. (A.). The larger part of the experiments included in this Table, viz., all performed under licence alone, and under Certificate C., 1493 in number, come under the provision of the Act that the animal must be kept under an anæsthetic during the whole of the experiment, and must, if the pain is likely to continue after the effect of the anæsthetic has ceased, or if any serious injury has been inflicted on the animal, be killed before it recovers from the influence of the anæsthetic.
In the experiments performed under Certificate B., or B. linked with EE. or with F., 1013 in number, the initial operations are performed under anæsthetics, from the influence of which the animals are allowed to recover. The operations are required to be performed antiseptically, so that the healing of the wounds shall, as far as possible, take place without pain. If the antiseptic precautions fail, and suppuration occurs, the animal is required to be killed. It is generally essential for the success of these experiments that the wounds should heal cleanly, and the surrounding parts remain in a healthy condition. After the healing of the wounds the animals are not necessarily, or even generally, in pain, since experiments involving the removal of important organs, including portions of the brain, may be performed without giving rise to pain after the recovery from the operation; and after the section of a part of the nervous system, the resulting degenerative changes are painless.
In the event of a subsequent operation being necessary in an experiment performed under Certificate B., or B. linked with EE. or with F., a condition is attached to the licence requiring all operative procedures to be carried out under anæsthetics of sufficient power to prevent the animal feeling pain; and no observations or stimulations of a character to cause pain are allowed to be made without the animals being anæsthetised.
In no case has a cutting operation more severe than a superficial venesection been allowed to be performed without anæsthetics.
The experiments included in Table IV. (B.), 35,429 in number, are all performed without anæsthetics. They are mostly inoculations, but a few are feeding experiments, or the administration of various substances by the mouth, or the abstraction of a minute quantity of blood for examination. In no instance has a certificate dispensing with the use of anæsthetics been allowed for an experiment involving a serious operation. Inoculations into deep parts, involving a preliminary incision in order to expose the part into which the inoculation is to be made, are required to be performed under anæsthetics, and are therefore placed in Table IV. (A.).
It will be seen that the operative procedures in experiments performed under Certificate A., without anæsthetics, are only such as are attended by no considerable, if appreciable, pain. The Certificate is, in fact, not required to cover these proceedings, but to allow of the subsequent course of the experiment. The experiment lasts during the whole period from the administration of the drug, or injection, until the animal recovers from the effects, if any, or dies, or is killed, possibly extending over several days, or even weeks. The substance administered may give rise to poisoning, or set up a condition of disease, either of which may lead to a fatal termination. To administer to an animal such a poison as diphtheria toxin, for example, or to induce such a disease as tuberculosis, although it may not be accompanied by acute suffering, is held to be a proceeding "calculated to give pain," and therefore experiments of the kind referred to come within the scope of the Act 39 & 40 Vict., c. 77. The Act provides that, unless a special certificate be obtained, the animal must be kept under an anæsthetic during the whole of the experiment; and it is to allow the animal to be kept without an anæsthetic during the time required for the development of the results of the administration that Certificate A. is given and allowed in these cases.
It must not be assumed that the animal is in pain during the whole of this time. In cases of prolonged action of an injected substance, even when ending fatally, the animal is generally apparently well, and takes its food as usual, until a short time before death. The state of illness may last only a very few hours, and in some cases it is not observed at all.
In a very large number of the experiments included in Table IV. (B.), the results are negative, and the animals suffer no inconvenience whatever from the inoculation. These experiments are therefore entirely painless.
In the event of pain ensuing as the result of an inoculation, a condition attached to the licence requires that the animal shall be killed under anæsthetics as soon as the main result of the experiment has been attained.
The number of inoculations and similar proceedings recorded in Table IV. (B.) continues to increase in accordance with the progressive importance attached to biological tests generally in practical medicine for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease, and to the more widely recognised need for such experiments on the part of those responsible for the care of the public health. Several County Councils and Municipal Corporations have their own laboratories in which bacteriological investigations are carried on, including the necessary tests on living animals; and many others have arrangements by which similar observations are made on their behalf in the laboratories of Universities, Colleges, and other Institutions. A sewage farm is registered as a place in which experiments on living animals may be performed in order that the character of the effluent may be tested by its effects on the health of fish. The Board of Agriculture has two laboratories which are registered for the performance of experiments having for their object the detection and study of the diseases of animals. In other places experiments have been made on behalf of the Home Office, the War Office, the India Office, the Local Government Board, the Office of Works, the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Metropolitan Asylums Board. A very large proportion of the experiments in Table IV. (B.) have thus been performed either on behalf of Official Bodies with a view to the preservation of the public health, or directly for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Forty-one licensees return over 8000 experiments which were performed for Government Departments, County Councils, or Municipal Corporations; 2187 experiments were made by four licensees for the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis; twelve licensees performed 6265 experiments, almost all inoculations, for testing antitoxic sera and vaccines and standardising drugs; and 12,187 experiments, mostly inoculations into mice, were performed on behalf of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.
The number of injections made during the year 1905 for the diagnosis of rabies in dogs is 27; these are placed in Table IV. (A.).
During the year the usual inspections of registered places have been made by Sir James Russell, by myself, and by Mr. W. B. L. Trotter, who was appointed temporary Assistant Inspector during my absence for three months. We have found the animals suitably lodged and well cared for, and the licensees attentive to the requirements of the Act, as well as to the conditions appended to their licences by the Secretary of State.
The irregularities recorded during the year have been few, and not of a serious character.
Two licensees, holding certificates (A.) entitling them to perform inoculations without anæsthetics, administered an anæsthetic during some of their experiments, whereas the Act prescribes another form of certificate (B.) when an animal is anæsthetised during an experiment and allowed to recover from the anæsthetic.
A licensee, through inadvertence, performed 54 inoculation experiments in excess of the number allowed by his certificate.
Another licensee, not understanding that joint experiments are reckoned to both of the licensees, took part in the performance of eight experiments in excess of the number allowed by his certificate.
By direction of the Secretary of State a suitable admonition was addressed to the licensee in each of the above cases.
In the month of April 1905 the attention of the Secretary of State was directed to certain experiments which were performed in 1903 and the early part of 1904 by persons not holding a licence under the Act 39 & 40 Vict. c. 77. The experiments consisted in vaccinating dogs against distemper and then exposing them to infection, the object being to test the efficacy of a method of vaccination as a safeguard against this disease. The Secretary of State thereupon caused inquiries to be made, and from these it appeared that the experiments, in some instances at least, had been accompanied by pain, and were, therefore, illegal. The persons, who were not aware that their experiments were of such a kind as to come within the provisions of the Act, were suitably admonished and warned against any similar illegal action in the future. The matter was not brought to the knowledge of the Secretary of State until it was too late for further proceedings to be taken if such had been considered necessary. It is as well to point out here that to expose an animal to an infectious and painful disease like distemper is a proceeding calculated to cause pain within the meaning of the Act, and that such experiments can only be legally performed by a person holding a licence and appropriate certificates.—I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
G. D. THANE, Inspector.
The Right Hon. HerbertJohn Gladstone,
Secretary of State for the Home Department.
IRELAND
8 Ely Place, Dublin,
April 26th, 1906.
Sir,—I beg to submit Tables showing the experiments performed in Ireland during the year 1905, under the Act 39 & 40 Vict. c. 77, together with a list of the Registered Places in Ireland.
Twelve licences were in force during the year; of these four expired, and two were renewed. One new license was granted.
The certificates in existence or allowed were:—
| A. | to | 4 | licensees. |
| B. | " | 7 | " |
| C. | " | 3 | " |
| E. | " | 2 | " |
| EE. | " | 3 | " |
| F. | " | 1 | licensee. |
One expired during the year, and six new ones were allowed.
The experiments performed number 218; 106 being under licence alone, and 112 under certificates. Ten licensees performed experiments. Twenty certificates were in force among 12 licensees, of whom 10 performed experiments, viz.:—
| Under | Certificate | A. | 88 |
| " | " | B. | 14 |
| " | " | C. | 8 |
| " | " | F. | 2 |
The animals experimented on were:—
| Guinea pigs | 55 |
| Birds | 53 |
| Rabbits | 48 |
| Cattle | 27 |
| Mice | 14 |
| Dogs | 13 |
| Cats | 2 |
| Horses | 2 |
| Goats | 2 |
| Sheep | 2 |
The experiments were mainly pathological inoculations, done for the purposes of the investigation or diagnosis of various diseases, such as canine rabies, tuberculosis, cancer, glanders, and typhoid fever. A few were physiological, for the investigation of the functions of the thymus gland, and of the effects of chloroform and ether on renal activity. All of these seem to have been of a reasonable character and intended to serve useful purposes in the elucidation of the phenomena of disease or of vital functions. They are reported to have been free from pain.
Experiments numbering eight were performed in illustration of lectures, to demonstrate the phenomena of circulation and respiration and of nervous control. In these experiments, two dogs, two cats, and four rabbits were employed.
Some of the investigations were devoted to the study of diseases in cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, and seem to be useful and of economic value.
The registered places were inspected and their condition found satisfactory. The inspectors in Belfast and Cork report that in those places the provisions of the Act have been satisfactorily complied with.—I have, &c.,
W. THORNLEY STOKER,
Inspector for Ireland.
To the Right Honourable
The Chief Secretary to the
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
This Report gives a clear answer to certain false statements alleged against experiments on animals. It shows that more than 90 per cent. of these experiments are inoculations, with a few feeding experiments, administrations of substances by the mouth, or abstractions of a minute quantity of blood for examination. In no instance has a certificate dispensing with the use of anæsthetics been allowed for an experiment involving a serious operation. In no case has a cutting operation more severe than a superficial venesection been allowed to be performed without anæsthetics. It shows, also, that the results, in a very large number of these inoculations, are negative, painless, not even inconvenient.
The Report shows, also, that the vast majority of all experiments are inoculations made on the smaller animals; and that the larger animals (dog, cat, horse, mule, or ass) are seldom used for inoculation.
It shows, also, that a great proportion of these inoculations are made in the direct practical service of the public health and the public purse: to standardise drugs, to ensure the purity of food and of rivers, to protect flocks and herds, and to decide quarantine. Government Departments, County Councils, Municipal Corporations, and a Royal Commission made more than one-third of the total number of inoculations; and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund made more than one-third, mostly on mice; and a sixth was made over the testing and standardising of sera and of drugs.
The operations performed under the License + Certificate B, or B + EE, or B + F, were 3 per cent. of the whole number of experiments. The majority of the animals were neither cats nor dogs. They can hardly be compared to the same number of the larger animals mutilated by breeders and farmers: for these mutilations may be inflicted, and are inflicted, without an anæsthetic. They can hardly be compared to the same number of pheasants or rabbits wounded, but not killed, in sport; for the animals wounded in sport get no subsequent care, and, if they are in pain, nobody need put them out of it. They may fairly be compared to the same number of pet animals that have undergone surgical operations, under anæsthesia, at the hands of a skilled veterinary surgeon; only with this difference, that many of them lose health, or suffer disablement or disease, and so die or are killed; but, if the wound suppurates, the animal must be killed, and, after the wound has healed, the animals are not necessarily, or even generally, in pain. And there must be no further experiment without anæsthesia. No observations or stimulations of a character to cause pain are allowed to be made without the animals being anæsthetised. It is evident that good care is taken to ensure an irreducible minimum of pain.
PART IV
THE CASE AGAINST ANTI-VIVISECTION
THE CASE AGAINST ANTI-VIVISECTION
[The following pages are taken, with a few changes and omissions, from a pamphlet which I published in 1904. I am glad to say that the tone of the Anti-Vivisection Societies is not quite so bad as it was a few years ago; but I think that what I wrote in 1904 is still fairly accurate.]