On the use of dogs in scientific experiments / by Ernest H. Starling.

  • Starling, Ernest Henry, 1866-1927.
Date:
[1908?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: On the use of dogs in scientific experiments / by Ernest H. Starling. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    these sciences they must be such as can be kept in health and comfort within the limits of the laboratory. The following animals come within this category : the frog, mouse, rat, guinea-pig, rabbit, dog, cat, and monkey. Of these the frog owes its value to the fact that, being a cold-blooded animal, its isolated tissues survive a con- siderable time after removal from the body, and can therefore be used for the study of fundamental pheno- mena common to all animals, such as muscular contrac- tion, the function of nerves, etc. The guinea-pig, rat, and mouse are of chief value for inoculation experiments, such as those of diphtheria and tubercle, where large numbers of experiments have to be made, and the operation in each case is relatively simple, the answer required being generally given by the survival or the death of the animal. The rabbit takes an intermediate place between this class and that including the dog and cat. It can be used for certain more complicated experiments, but for many its organs are too small or too delicate. Moreover, the great differences between its diet and digestive system and those of man, and the low organisation of its nervous system, and, indeed, the greater simplicity of its organisation, limit its capabilities as a means of physio- logical analysis of higher functions, and, in particular, render it impossible to apply results obtained on it directly to the elucidation of the functions of man. The only animals left, therefore, are the cat, dog, and monkey. The latter animal is useful especially for ex- periments on the brain and central nervous system. In a sense, it has the most highly developed nervous system, and is in this respect nearest to man. For this very reason we should be loath to use it for experiments where animals lower in the scale would suffice. Moreover, the