In view of the mystery that still surrounds the causation of cancer, this regulation of the Department of Agriculture should be entirely changed. Its basis is regard for financial considerations rather than the public welfare. No part or portion of any animal found to be affected by malignant disease should ever be permitted to be sold for human food. The regulation should read:
Section 7.—Any animal or carcass of any animal found upon inspection to be affected, however slightly, with malignant disease (carcinoma or sarcoma) shall be wholly condemned as unfit for human food.
APPENDIX IX
England and Wales: Deaths of Females from Cancer at Different
Age-Periods, and the Ratio to Population, during Twelve Years of this
Century.
——————————————————————————————— |Year.|Under 35.|35-44.|45-64.|65 and|Total.|Rate per Million| | | | | | over.| | Population | |——-|————-|———|———|———|———|————————| | 1901| 695 | 1,811| 8,263| 5,827|16,596| 985 | | 1902| 701 | 1,872| 8,229| 5,972|16,774| 986 | | 1903| 702 | 1,896| 8,490| 6,202|17,290| 1,006 | | 1904| 703 | 1,934| 8,511| 6,448|17,596| 1,010 | | 1905| 719 | 1,904| 8,683| 6,445|17,751| 1,011 | | 1906| 740 | 1,921| 8,945| 6,805|18,411| 1,038 | | 1907| 731 | 1,956| 8,841| 7,018|18,546| 1,035 | | 1908| 658 | 1,943| 9,026| 7,189|18,816| 1,036 | | 1909| 701 | 1,952| 9,466| 7,671|19,790| 1,082 | | 1910| 780 | 2,030| 9,376| 7,578|19,764| 1,070 | | 1911| 730 | 2,080| 9,485| 8,018|20,313| 1,088 | | 1912| 695 | 2,009| 9,926| 8,505|21,135| 1,117 | ———————————————————————————————
The foregoing table strikingly illustrates the increasing prevalence of cancer in England during the present century. Among women it will be seen that the rate of mortality has increased from 985 to 1,117 per million living within almost a single decade. The slow and yet regular recurrence year after year of a slightly increased mortality from cancer at each period of life after the thirty-fifth year is peculiarly ominous. The connection between increase of cancer and the permitted utilization for food purposes of animals suffering from cancerous ailments is a problem that awaits solution.
APPENDIX X
In the spring of 1915, the Society for the Prevention of Abuse in Animal Experimentation decided to ascertain whether certain of the principal facts connected with vivisection would be freely given if courteously asked. Accordingly, to the directors of laboratories in over a hundred institutions of higher learning in America, the following letter was sent by Mr. F. P. Bellamy, the counsel for the Society:
Brooklyn, N.Y.
DEAR SIR,—One of the criticisms urged against the practice of animal experimentation in America at the present time is the laack of any reliable information concerning its extent. Believing that the remedy of this defect lies within the power of the laboratories, I venture to ask whether you would be willing to fill out the accompanying blank form, returning it to me as soon as practicable? If so, I should be glad if you would state whether the figures are based upon a register giving exact numbers or whether they are simply the best estimate you are able to give. If impossible to supply the details asked, can you not give the total number of each species of animals?