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Dodge's Literary Zluscum.
for Tar were ExDIxo—
ATURDAY, Nov EMBER 25, 1854. ,
. ce oe
{G> Unxper the “ Notices to Correspondents,” on
page 395, will be found the announcement of all new
articles examined and accepted for publication.
oF
The Cruelties of Science.
* Tue world’ owes a vast debt to men of
seience—so vast, indeed, that it las’ given
up all idea of paying it, as the English their
national debt. To medical: men this debt is
* owing in very large amounts. The doctor's
: labors ¢ come so home to. us ‘all—not only to
our business and our bosoms, but to our
beads and our stomachs—that they outweigh
all those of scientific men who are employ-
ed in vaster fields ofvoperation{ Of the
thousands of men and women whom one
can mect on Washington street of a beanti-
fal autumnal afternoon, are there likely to
be ten who would give sixpence to ascer-
tain, beyond all “doubt, whether, there isa
“Plurality of Worlds” or not ?. For all
that they care, the stars “may be the abodes
of men or angels, or what the little boy told
his mother he thought they were; “ gim-
let-holes in the sky’ to let the glory
through.” But of the whole crowd, every
one is s interested i in having’ the ‘doctors and
surgeons and apothecaries” of the whole
world men of intelligence,. ability, and
experience. We say of the whole world,
for gentlemen of the medical profession, in
all its branches, form a sort of brotherhood,
like the sclepiade of antiquity. What
becomes known to one is made the property
of all, science—and ‘especially medical sci-
‘ence—being of no nation or race, bet uni-
versal in its sentiment and action.” We all
have heads, hearts, lungs, Sole legs,
arms, ears, eyes, feet, hands, toes, and all the
rest of the thousand-and-one items that go
to make up the absolute and ‘perfect man—
and a very imperfect ‘creature he is, too.
Hence our deep interest in ail that pertains
to the advancement of what our respectable
progenitors used to. éall “ Ieech-craft ;” for
all the said thousand-and-one ‘items are
most confoundedly liable to get out of or-
der. The “harp of a ‘thousand strings”
generally is “out’ of tune and harsh,” and
the doctor is the only man who can do any-
thing in the way of regu'ating it. We are
as much interested, therefore, in his being
thoroughly grounded in his profession as we
should be ia the experience and honesty of,
‘a guide through a strange and hostile coun-
* try into which we had been thrown by the
force of circumstances, and not as a conse-
quence of any act of pur own. Philoso-
phers tell us that ‘the world is a hostile
country, and we” * certainly have nothing to
do with those’ proceedings that result in
placing us fre} so that our comparison
may pass. -
’ But, did it ever occur to those who ad-
mire experienced doctors and skillful sur-
geons, at what an expense experience and
in order that medical men muy arrive at a
science? ‘The extent to which vivisection
is carried is probably known to but few, and
norance really is ;bliss.
animals that are annually dissected alive is
enormous, and all for the benefit of science,
‘}and that human beings may easily escape
the consequences _ ‘of their follies or crimes.
The French ‘medical school deservedly en-
joys ‘a ‘high’ reputation’ for knowledge,. but
its greatest admirers cannot deny that some
‘| of its ablest’ members have been as distin-
guished for their ruthlessness and cruelty as ,
for their learning. The great Magendie, at
ical world uncovers, seems not only to hare
dispatched his myriads of cats and. dogs,
kittens and puppies, but to have also enjoy-
ed the business. “It is droll,” he says,
“to see animals skip and jump about of
their own accord, after you have taken out
all ‘their brains a little above the optic tu-
bércles.” We should’ think that Aorrible
would here be a better word than “ droll,”
but'there is no accounting for a true pro-
fessional taste. Of the actions of new-born
kittens that have been subjected to the dis-
secting-knife, M. Magendie writes with a
gusto, that ‘does infinite credit to his hard-
ness of heart and firmness ‘of nerve. © The
tittle kittens, he says, ‘tumble over in all
directions, and walk so nimbly, if you cut
out their hemispheres, that it is quite aston-
ishing.” Perhaps it would be “ quite aston-
ishing” to’ some learned French doctor
were he to find himself in the claws of a
collection of ancient cats, who should pull
him to pieces tor the purpose of demonstrat-
ing some point concerning which the feline
world had been spitting at each other for
generations. Yet it would be uo more than
Justice to have such a turning of the tables
ovcasionally oveur,, just to teach humanity
to gentlemen who svem to stand not a little
in “need of a few practical lessons on the
subject.
De. Brachet, another Frenchman, and of
some eminence in his professioa, seems to
have been as great a brute as the immortal
Magendie, aud a much greater one than
ever ran upon four. Jegs. “ L inspired a dog
with the greatest aversion for me,” he says,
“by plaguing and inflicting some pain or
other upon it as often as: J saw it. When
this feeling was carried to its height, so that
the animal became furious as soon as it saw
or heard me, I put out its eyes; I could
then appear before it without its, manifest-
ing any aversion.” 1 spoke, and inmediate-
ly its barkings and furious movements prov-
ed the passion which animated it.. 1 des-
troyed the drum of its, cars, and disorgan-
ized the | internal ear_as much as 1 could;
when an intense inflammation which was ex-
cited bad rendered it deaf, f filled up its
ears with wax. ‘It could no longer bear
atall. Then I went to its side, spoke aloud,
and even caressed it, without its falling into
a rage; it seemed even Sensible to my ca-
resses.” And what did all this atrocious
cruelty prove? Why, that if a dog be de-
prived of the organs of ‘hearing and of
sight, he can neither hear nor see! What
philosophical truths, and how well worth
the going through work that would make
skill are alone ‘attainable ? How much of|even a fiend blush for his cruelty! Dr.
misery, in the varions forms’ of sickness,
must the physician have observed, and have
ministered to, before he could lay claim to
the title of experienced! Letting that |
point pass, however, are people aware how
mush of downright cruelty hs perpetrated | sion a when it has no means of knowing that
~~ ain
Elliotson, a humane English physician, thus
speaks of Brachet’s cruelty and demonstra-
tions:—" What was all this to. prove?
\ j Simply, that if one brute has an aversion to
| another, it does not feel nor show that aver-
proper degree of knowledge in their great ,
perhaps this is one of the cases in which ig-
The number of dog did not scent him.
the mention of whose name the whole med- |
the other brute is present. If he had stood
near the dog on the other side of the wall,
he might have equally proved what com-
mon sense required ‘not tu be proved. Af.
ter all, 1 do. not understand how the poor
i blush for human
nature in detailing this experiment, and
| shall finish it by informing my readers that
| the Memoir containing this and all the oth-
er horrors, obtained the physiological prize
from the French Institute in 1826." A
good scourging would have been ‘a much
‘better reward for the’ cruelty—alike atro-
| cious and useless—of the scientific repro-
' bate. :
The English school of medicine has nev-
er been so cruel as that of France, inbu-
manity not being an English vice. Still, it
has not been averse altogether to. French
practices. In Mr. Cooper's “Lite” of his
cient facts are mentioned to show that that
eminent man was, partial to” vivisection.
It is stated that as many:as thirty dogs, be-
side other animals, were kept in Sir Astley’s
hay-loft at one time, awaiting their turns to
be cut up in the most scientific manner.
We, have somewhere read that Sir Astley
enticed away, or stole, more than one pet
animal of his patients, for the purpose of
operating on’ them; and a story is told of
his having got possession of a pet spaniel,
the property of one of his female patients,
who, the next day, favored her physician
with a full account of her loss, and ¢numer-
ated the virtues of the “dear departed”
little brate with’ much unction. People
who have pets wonld act wisely in keeping
them out of the way of gentlemen whose
scientific pursuits are: of so peculiar a char-
acter as to demand the slow and painfu
sacrifice of life.” But what if the human
animal be sometimes dissected alive, sacri-
ficed on the altars of that craving. science
which demands human victims, but is not
always vampyrish or ghoul-like in its tastes
and demands? The thought is horrible,
yet that the thing has been done by mem-
bers of the French school, we have no
more doubt than we have of that school’s
existence, :
eae Iantveratixe —To find some~
thing in the mind’s cye.
E> Rarway “jams” are anything but
preserves; for those who suffer by them
often get in sad pickles.
| pg Farner Maruew has resorted to
Madeira tor the benefit of his health. Queer
method of relief for a temperance apostle to
adopt, isn’t it ? ,
Er A LAzy office-holder, about twenty
years ago, spelled the name of the then
President of the United States in the fullow-
ing tunny-graphig fashion: “ &ra Jaxn.”
gg> Great Crop or WeEps.—Thur-
low Weed, editor of the Albany Evening
Journal, has eighteen children; his wit
having presented him with one every eleven
amonths siuce they were married,
ga> Witiiam Howitt has been tray;
eling in Australia, and writing the * No, e
Book of a Naturalist.” is, wife, Mary
Howitt, is at home, in England, compiling a
“ History of the United States” for popular
use; such a work being gredtly needed. «
E> Sriexpip STEAMERS Lost.—Six
first-class ocean steamers have been, lost
during the present year, the melancholy list
being as follows: The City of Glasgow, the
Franklin, the Humboldt, the City of Puila-
| delpbia, the Arctic, and the Yankee Blade.
uncle, the famous Sir Astley Cooper, sutli-
A Child’s Pun,
A LITTLE boy seated himself at the
breakfast table, a few mornings since, with
his hands slightly soiled.
Ilis mother, noticing their condition, exe
claimed,
‘“ Charles, T think your hands would be
much improved if they should come in con-
tact with some clean water.” -
Charley hung his head, moved back from
the table, and remained silent for a number
of minutes ;. when, thinking to rally his own
spirits, and create a laugh among the other
members of the family, be exclaimed,
“ Awful pause!”
A younger brother, a curly-headed three-
year-older, thinking he had reference to, his
paws, replied,
“ Well, I guess you’d better go and wash
’em, then, as mother wanted you to.”
Great boys among our acquaintances, -
The |Midnight Stabber.
- Dr. Grama, convicted by a jury of
eleven of the homicide of Col. Loring, bas
been sentenced to the New York Peniten-
tiary for seven years—the extent’ of the
the bill of exceptions filed by his counsel is
argued and decided, which may take sever-
al months. Ife has money and influential
friends, and there is danger that the mid-
night stabber will get clear. The stern
and incorruptible goddess of Justice, in our
land, is fast sinking into a serf and worship-
er of the groveling deity, Mammon. Look
at-the complete ‘acquittal of Matt Ward in
Kentucky, and the shilly-shallying delay in
punishing Dr. Graham, and say if this is
not the lamentable tendency of things in
our courts of law.
p> Know Norninatsm is overwhelm-
ingly victorious in this State, electing a Gov-
ernor and Lieut. Governor by about 32,000
majority, almost every member of the Leg-
islature, and every Representative to Con-
gress. No new broom ever swept half so
clean before. As the new Governor isa
Gardner, and the Lieut. Governor (Simon
Brown) is editor of the N. E. Farmer, the
interests of horticulture and agriculture will
doubtless be well cared for by the incoming
State Government.
£ap> Coprism are among the aristocracy
of the piscatorial races, and as such, are fond.
of good living. An incredible quantity of
lobsters are devoured by them; and it has
sometimes happened that from a cod weigh-
ing six pounds a lobster weighing nearly
one pound has been taken. That sort of
shell-fish is their especial prey, as the work+
ing classes are of the “cod-fish aristocracy”,
among humans.
ge> Fire in New Beprorp.—Liberty
Hall building in New Bedford was burned
onthe 9th inst.. The fire broke out in one
of the stores underneath. The dwelling-
house of Eli” Haskell was also destroyed.
Liberty Uall was formerly the First Con-
gregational Church, and was the’ largest,
hall: in New Beédford. It was valued at
from 12 to Sts 1000, and was partially i in-
sured.
£> ImrorTaNt From THE West.—
Many of the banks and businesa houses in
Ohio and other Western States are stop-
ping payment. There are intimations of a
general suspension of all the banks in Cin-
cinnati.
gg> Tur Sandusky (Obie) Register is
ona of the Lest papers in the Union.
law. But he will not be commited till after
A