Misstatements of antivivisectionists : correspondence with American humane association / [by] W.W. Keen.

  • Keen, William W. (William Williams), 1837-1932.
Date:
[1901]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Misstatements of antivivisectionists : correspondence with American humane association / [by] W.W. Keen. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

    11/32 (page 5)
    You will pardon me if I indignantly resent your imputation of untruthfulness in regard to this last statement. You entirely misinterpret my statement, which had no reference to my knoAvledge or ignorance of any other American experiments. I said that the pamphlet only contained two instances of such experiments which were alleged to have been done! in America. These are recorded on pages 4 and 5 of the pamphlet. All the rest were done in Europe, South America, and Hawaii, years before it came into our possession. If you still question the accuracy of my statement and believe that there is a third instance of experiments done in America and described in the pamphlet, point it out by page and paragraph. Turning to the other two really important matters referred to in your letter, let me again state clearly the question at issue. It is not whether the experiments meet with my approval, but solely whether the reports of them in the pamph- let issued by the American Humane Association are reliable and accurate both as to their sources and substance. I. MANY OF THE REFERENCES ARE VAGUE AND INDEFINITE. The references are so vague and indefinite in many cases that the statements and quotations made can not be verified by consulting the originals. The preface of your president and secretary states that in each case the authority is given, and what sort of authority do you depend upon? Newspaper medicine and surgery are notoriously inaccurate. I have per- sonally had so much experience and observation of this that I am always certain that at least one-half or more of the state- ments in newspapers in reference to medical matters are inaccurate, not purposely, but only because the writers are not medical men. Yet you depend for the accuracy of your state- ments upon newspapers as follows (I follow the inaccui'ate spelling of foreign names in your pamphlet) : 1. The Vienna correspondent of the London Morning Leader, Jan. 26, 1899 (p. 3), of whom more hereafter. 2. The Deutsche Volksblatt, Jan. 25, 1899, (p. 3.) 3. The Washington correspondent of the Boston Transcript _Sept. 24. 1897 (p. 9), of whom more hereafter. 4. The N. Y. Independent, Dec. 12, 1895 (p. 11). 5. The London Times. June 27, 1891 (p. 16). 6. The Tagliche Rundschau of Berlin (p. 17) ; no year, month or day being given. 7. The Vossische Zeitung of Berlin, no year, month or day being given (p. 18). 8. The Vorwartz, no year, month or day being given (p. 18). 9. The Danziger Zeitung, July 23. 1891 (p. 18). 10. The Schlesische Volkszeitung, July 24. 1891 (p. 18). II. The Hamburger Nachrichten, July, 1891, no day stated (p. 19). 12. A correspondent of the Newcastle (England?) daily Chron- icle, Sept. 21. 1888 (p. 22). 13. Dr. R. B. Dudgeon, in the Abolitionist, April 15, 1899 (p. 24). 14. A letter by Dr. Edward Berdoe to the London Chronirlp.