Remarks on the use of vivisection as a means of scientific research : in a letter addressed to the Earl of Caernarvon, President of the Society for Preventing Cruelty to Animals / [Richard Jameson].

  • Jameson, Richard.
Date:
1844
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the use of vivisection as a means of scientific research : in a letter addressed to the Earl of Caernarvon, President of the Society for Preventing Cruelty to Animals / [Richard Jameson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    bis conduct, lest silence should be considered a con¬ fession of guilt. And yet it is a bold undertaking for any man to at¬ tempt the defence of that which popular clamour has condemned. The crusade against Vivisection is one in which it is most easy to enlist the passions of the multitude : natural feelings of humanity, unwilling¬ ness to inflict pain, disgust at the sight of blood, the vague fear which the aspect of death always inspires, all these are arguments more powerful than the la¬ boured efforts of the orator, or the pathetic fervour of the enthusiast. The unconditional denouncer of Vivi¬ section is sure of meeting with a sympathizing audi¬ ence ; whilst those only who have devoted themselves to the study of Physiology, and have experienced its difficulties, can truly appreciate the obstacles which every instant rise up in the path of the inquirer, and force him to employ means for their removal which Necessity alone can justify. I cannot therefore but regard the Addresses of the Society over which your Lordship presides as most injudicious. They appeal to the passions of the igno¬ rant rather than to the understanding of the educated, and raise a prejudice against those great men who have devoted their time, their health, their lives to the service of mankind. They encourage the timid and the indolent among the medical profession in a super¬ stitious reverence for great names, which, if once fully established, would put a stop to all farther inquiry, and take us back to the times when physicians used