ACT 39 AND 40 VIC. c. 77
The Royal Commission "On the Practice of subjecting Live Animals to Experiments for Scientific Purposes," was appointed on 22nd June 1875. Its members were--Lord Cardwell (chairman), Lord Winmarleigh, Mr. W. E. Forster, Sir John Karslake, Mr. Huxley, Mr. (Sir John) Erichsen, and Mr. Hutton. Between 5th July and 30th December, 53 witnesses were examined, and 6551 questions were put and answered. The report of the Commission bears date 8th January 1876, and in that year the present Act received the Royal Assent.
The evidence before the Commission was all, or nearly all, concerned with physiology, with the work of Magendie, Claude Bernard, and Sir Charles Bell, the action of curare, the _Handbook of the Physiological Laboratory_, the teaching of physiology, and so forth. Very little was said of pathology; and of bacteriology next to nothing. Practically, physiology alone came before the Commissioners; and such experiments in physiology as are now, the youngest of them, more than thirty years old.
Bacteriology, at the time of the passing of the Act, had hardly made a beginning. Therefore the Act made no special provision for inoculations, injections, and the whole study of immunisation of animals and men against disease. Experiments of this kind have to be scheduled under one of the existing certificates, to bring them under an Act that was drafted without foreknowledge of them. Certificate A or Certificate B has to be used for this purpose:--
_Certificate A._
"We hereby certify that, in our opinion, insensibility in the animal on which any such experiment may be performed cannot be produced by anæsthetics without necessarily frustrating the object of such experiment."
_Certificate B._
"We hereby certify that, in our opinion, the killing of the animal on which any such experiment is performed before it recovers from the influence of the anæsthetic administered to it, would necessarily frustrate the object of such experiment."
Under one or other of these certificates must be scheduled all inoculations, injections, feeding-experiments, transplantations of particles of disease, immunisations, and the like. They must be scheduled somehow; and that is the only way of doing it. Where the act of inducing the disease would itself give any pain, if an anæsthetic were not administered--as in the subdural inoculation of a rabbit, or the intra-peritoneal inoculation of an animal with a particle of cancerous tissue--there the licensee must hold, together with the license, Certificate B, because the act of inducing the disease is itself an operation, done under an anæsthetic. If the animal be a dog or a cat, he must hold Certificates B and EE; if it be a horse, ass, or mule, Certificates B and F.
Where the act of inducing the disease is not itself painful--as in ordinary inoculation, and in feeding-experiments--the licensee must hold, together with his license, Certificate A, because the animal is not anæsthetised. It is not a painful operation; the experiment consists not in the act of putting the hypodermic needle under the animal's skin, but in the subsequent observation of the course of the disease. Take, for instance, the inoculation of a guinea-pig with tubercle-bacilli: the experiment is the production of tubercle; the experiment lasts till the animal is killed and found to be infected; it is therefore scheduled under Certificate A. Or take the testing, on an animal, of an antitoxin; the experiment is not the injection, but the observation of the result; the animal may not suffer, but the injection must still be done under Certificate A. And, if the animal be a dog or a cat, the licensee must hold Certificates A and E; or, if it be a horse, ass, or mule, Certificates A and F.
This want of a special certificate for inoculations is an important matter, because it has led to the belief that painful operations are performed, without anæsthesia, in cases where the only instrument used is a needle. It is hardly reasonable, for instance, that the inoculation of a mouse should be scheduled as a painful operation performed without anæsthesia. The disease, thus painlessly induced, may in many cases be called painless; for instance, snake-venom in the rat, septicæmia in the mouse, malaria in small birds. In other cases, there are such pain and fever as are part of the disease. The form that rabies take in rabbits may fairly be called painless. Inoculations not under the skin, but into the anterior chamber of the eye, are very seldom made; they sound cruel, but cocain renders the surface of the eye wholly insensitive, and the anterior chamber is so far insensitive that a man with blood or pus (_hypopyon_) in the anterior chamber of the eye may suffer no pain from it. A horse or an ass kept for the giving of an antitoxic serum has a more comfortable life than an omnibus horse; and this preparation of the antitoxins, since it is not an experiment, but a direct use of animals in the recognised service of man, does not require a license or certificates under the Act. But the testing of an antitoxin is an experiment, and must be made under a license and Certificate A.
It is not the business of this book to consider whether the sensitiveness of a dog, a rabbit, or a guinea-pig can fairly be stated in terms of the physical and mental sensitiveness of men and women. In the world of animals, as in the world of humanity, there are differences of sensitiveness. Anyhow, the pain inflicted on animals may in some cases be measured:--
"A guinea-pig that will rest quietly in your hands before you commence to inject it, will remain perfectly quiet during the introduction of the needle under the skin; and the moment it is returned to the cage it resumes its interrupted feeding.
"Arteries, veins, and most of the parts of the viscera, are without the sense of touch. We have actual proof of this in what takes place when a horse is bled for the purpose of obtaining curative serum. With a sharp lance a cut may be made in the skin so quickly and easily that the animal does nothing more than twitch the skin-muscle of the neck, or give his head a shake, whilst of the further proceeding of introducing a hollow needle into the vein the animal takes not the slightest notice. Some horses, indeed, will stand perfectly quiet during the whole operation, munching a carrot, nibbling at a wisp of hay, or playing with a button on the vest of the groom standing at its head.
"Harrowing details concerning the horrors of trephining rabbits for Pasteur's antirabic treatment are frequently supplied for popular consumption, but how little real existence any suffering in connection with the operation has, may be gathered from the fact that if, as a preliminary measure, the skin be benumbed with carbolic acid, the whole operation, from making the incision through the skin to cutting out the piece of bone with a fine trephine and passing a needle under the dura mater, may be done without once causing the animal to withdraw its attention from the important business of munching a bit of cabbage-leaf or a scrap of succulent carrot." (Prof. Woodhead, _Medical Magazine_, June 1898.)
It may be well to put here--(1) the full text of the Act; (2) an account of the anæsthetics used for animals; (3) the latest Report of Government Inspectors appointed under the Act.
1.--AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO CRUELTY TO ANIMALS
_15th August 1876_
Whereas it is expedient to amend the law relating to cruelty to animals by extending it to the cases of animals which for medical, physiological, or other scientific purposes are subjected when alive to experiments calculated to inflict pain:
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1. This Act may be cited for all purposes as "The Cruelty to Animals Act, 1876."
2. A person shall not perform on a living animal any experiment calculated to give pain, except subject to the restrictions imposed by this Act. Any person performing or taking part in performing any experiment calculated to give pain, in contravention of this Act, shall be guilty of an offence against this Act, and shall, if it be the first offence, be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds, and if it be the second or any subsequent offence, be liable, at the discretion of the court by which he is tried, to a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months.
3. The following restrictions are imposed by this Act with respect to the performance on any living animal of an experiment calculated to give pain; that is to say,
(1.) The experiment must be performed with a view to the advancement by new discovery of physiological knowledge or of knowledge which will be useful for saving or prolonging life or alleviating suffering; and
(2.) The experiment must be performed by a person holding such license from one of Her Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, in this Act referred to as the Secretary of State, as is in this Act mentioned, and in the case of a person holding such conditional license as is hereinafter mentioned, or of experiments performed for the purpose of instruction in a registered place; and
(3.) The animal must, during the whole of the experiment, be under the influence of some anæsthetic of sufficient power to prevent the animal feeling pain; and
(4.) The animal must, if the pain is likely to continue after the effect of the anæsthetic has ceased, or if any serious injury has been inflicted on the animal, be killed before it recovers from the influence of the anæsthetic which has been administered; and
(5.) The experiment shall not be performed as an illustration of lectures in medical schools, hospitals, colleges, or elsewhere; and
(6.) The experiment shall not be performed for the purpose of attaining manual skill.
Provided as follows; that is to say,
(1.) Experiments may be performed under the foregoing provisions as to the use of anæsthetics by a person giving illustrations of lectures in medical schools, hospitals, or colleges, or elsewhere, on such certificate being given as in this Act mentioned, that the proposed experiments are absolutely necessary for the due instruction of the persons to whom such lectures are given with a view to their acquiring physiological knowledge, or knowledge which will be useful to them for saving or prolonging life, or alleviating suffering; and
(2.) Experiments may be performed without anæsthetics on such certificate being given as in this Act mentioned, that insensibility cannot be produced without necessarily frustrating the object of such experiments; and
(3.) Experiments may be performed without the person who performed such experiments being under an obligation to cause the animal, on which any such experiment is performed, to be killed before it recovers from the influence of the anæsthetic, on such certificate being given as in this Act mentioned, that the so killing the animal would necessarily frustrate the object of the experiment, and provided that the animal be killed as soon as such object has been attained; and
(4.) Experiments may be performed not directly for the advancement by new discovery of physiological knowledge, or of knowledge which will be useful for saving or prolonging life, or alleviating suffering, but for the purpose of testing a particular former discovery alleged to have been made for the advancement of such knowledge as last aforesaid, on such certificate being given as is in this Act mentioned that such testing is absolutely necessary for the effectual advancement of such knowledge.
4. The substance known as urari or curare shall not for the purposes of this Act be deemed to be an anæsthetic.
5. Notwithstanding anything in this Act contained, an experiment calculated to give pain shall not be performed without anæsthetics on a dog or cat, except on such certificate being given as in this Act mentioned, stating, in addition to the statements hereinbefore required to be made in such certificate, that for reasons specified in the certificate the object of the experiment will be necessarily frustrated unless it is performed on an animal similar in constitution and habits to a cat or dog, and no other animal is available for such experiment; and an experiment calculated to give pain shall not be performed on any horse, ass, or mule except on such certificate being given as in this Act mentioned that the object of the experiment will be necessarily frustrated unless it is performed on a horse, ass, or mule, and that no other animal is available for such experiment.
6. Any exhibition to the general public, whether admitted on payment of money or gratuitously, of experiments on living animals calculated to give pain shall be illegal.
Any person performing or aiding in performing such experiments shall be deemed to be guilty of an offence against this Act, and shall, if it be the first offence, be liable to a penalty not exceeding fifty pounds, and if it be the second or any subsequent offence, be liable, at the discretion of the court by which he is tried, to a penalty not exceeding one hundred pounds, or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months.
And any person publishing any notice of any such intended exhibition by advertisement in a newspaper, placard, or otherwise shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding one pound.
A person punished for an offence under this section shall not for the same offence be punishable under any other section of this Act.
_Administration of Law_
7. The Secretary of State may insert, as a condition of granting any license, a provision in such license that the place in which any experiment is to be performed by the licensee is to be registered in such manner as the Secretary of State may from time to time by any general or special order direct; provided that every place for the performance of experiments for the purpose of instruction under this Act shall be approved by the Secretary of State, and shall be registered in such manner as he may from time to time by any general or special order direct.
8. The Secretary of State may license any person whom he may think qualified to hold a license to perform experiments under this Act. A license granted by him may be for such time as he may think fit, and may be revoked by him on his being satisfied that such license ought to be revoked. There may be annexed to such license any conditions which the Secretary of State may think expedient for the purpose of better carrying into effect the objects of this Act, but not inconsistent with the provisions thereof.
9. The Secretary of State may direct any person performing experiments under this Act from time to time to make such reports to him of the result of such experiments, in such form and with such details as he may require.
10. The Secretary of State shall cause all registered places to be from time to time visited by inspectors for the purpose of securing a compliance with the provisions of this Act, and the Secretary of State may, with the assent of the Treasury as to number, appoint any special inspectors, or may from time to time assign the duties of any such inspectors to such officers in the employment of the Government, who may be willing to accept the same, as he may think fit, either permanently or temporarily.
11. Any application for a license under this Act and a certificate given as in this Act mentioned must be signed by one or more of the following persons; that is to say,
The President of the Royal Society;
The President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh;
The President of Royal Irish Academy;
The Presidents of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in London, Edinburgh, or Dublin;
The Presidents of the Royal Colleges of Physicians in London, Edinburgh, or Dublin;
The President of the General Medical Council;
The President of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow;
The President of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, or the President of the Royal Veterinary College, London, but in the case only of an experiment to be performed under anæsthetics with a view to the advancement by new discovery of veterinary science;
and also (unless the applicant be a professor of physiology, medicine, anatomy, medical jurisprudence, materia medica, or surgery in a university in Great Britain or Ireland, or in University College, London, or in a college in Great Britain or Ireland, incorporated by royal charter) by a professor of physiology, medicine, anatomy, medical jurisprudence, materia medica, or surgery in a university in Great Britain or Ireland, or in University College, London, or in a college in Great Britain or Ireland, incorporated by royal charter.
Provided that where any person applying for a certificate under this Act is himself one of the persons authorised to sign such certificate, the signature of some other of such persons shall be substituted for the signature of the applicant.
A certificate under this section may be given for such time or for such series of experiments as the person or persons signing the certificate may think expedient.
A copy of any certificate under this section shall be forwarded by the applicant to the Secretary of State, but shall not be available until one week after a copy has been so forwarded.
The Secretary of State may at any time disallow or suspend any certificate given under this section.
12. The powers conferred by this Act of granting a license or giving a certificate for the performance of experiments on living animals may be exercised by an order in writing under the hand of any judge of the High Court of Justice in England, of the High Court of Session in Scotland, or of any of the superior courts in Ireland, including any court to which the jurisdiction of such last-mentioned courts may be transferred, in a case where such judge is satisfied that it is essential for the purposes of justice in a criminal case to make any such experiment.
_Legal Proceedings_
13. A justice of the peace, on information on oath that there is reasonable ground to believe that experiments in contravention of this Act are being performed by an unlicensed person in any place not registered under this Act, may issue his warrant authorising any officer or constable of police to enter and search such place, and to take the names and addresses of the persons found therein.
Any person who refuses admission on demand to a police officer or constable so authorised, or obstructs such officer or constable in the execution of his duty under this section, or who refuses on demand to disclose his name or address, or gives a false name or address, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds.
14. In England, offences against this Act may be prosecuted and penalties under this Act recovered before a court of summary jurisdiction in manner directed by the Summary Jurisdiction Act.
In England "Summary Jurisdiction Act" means the Act of the session of the eleventh and twelfth years of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter forty-three, intituled "An Act to facilitate the performance of the duties of justices of the peace out of sessions within England and Wales with respect to summary convictions and orders," and any Act amending the same.
"Court of summary jurisdiction" means and includes any justice or justices of the peace, metropolitan police magistrate, stipendiary or other magistrate, or officer, by whatever name called, exercising jurisdiction in pursuance of the Summary Jurisdiction Act: Provided that the court when hearing and determining an information under this Act shall be constituted either of two or more justices of the peace in petty sessions, sitting at a place appointed for holding petty sessions, or of some magistrate or officer sitting alone or with others at some court or other place appointed for the administration of justice, and for the time being empowered by law to do alone any act authorised to be done by more than one justice of the peace.
15. In England, where a person is accused before a court of summary jurisdiction of any offence against this Act in respect of which a penalty of more than five pounds can be imposed, the accused may, on appearing before the court of summary jurisdiction, declare that he objects to being tried for such offence by a court of summary jurisdiction, and thereupon the court of summary jurisdiction may deal with the case in all respects as if the accused were charged with an indictable offence and not an offence punishable on summary conviction, and the offence may be prosecuted on indictment accordingly.
16. In England, if any party thinks himself aggrieved by any conviction made by a court of summary jurisdiction on determining any information under this Act, the party so aggrieved may appeal therefrom, subject to the conditions and regulations following:---
(1.) The appeal shall be made to the next court of general or quarter sessions for the county or place in which the cause of appeal has arisen, holden not less than twenty-one days after the decision of the court from which the appeal is made; and
(2.) The appellant shall, within ten days after the cause of appeal has arisen, give notice to the other party and to the court of summary jurisdiction of his intention to appeal, and of the ground thereof; and
(3.) The appellant shall, within three days after such notice, enter into a recognizance before a justice of the peace, with two sufficient sureties, conditioned personally to try such appeal, and to abide the judgment of the court thereon, and to pay such costs as may be awarded by the court, or give such other security by deposit of money or otherwise as the justice may allow; and
(4.) Where the appellant is in custody the justice may, if he think fit, on the appellant entering into such recognizance or giving such other security as aforesaid, release him from custody; and
(5.) The court of appeal may adjourn the appeal, and upon the hearing thereof they may confirm, reverse, or modify the decision of the court of summary jurisdiction, or remit the matter to the court of summary jurisdiction with the opinion of the court of appeal thereon, or make such other order in the matter as the court thinks just, and if the matter be remitted to the court of summary jurisdiction the said last-mentioned court shall thereupon re-hear and decide the information in accordance with the order of the said court of appeal. The court of appeal may also make such order as to costs to be paid by either party as the court thinks just.
17. In Scotland, offences against this Act may be prosecuted and penalties under this Act recovered under the provisions of the Summary Procedure Act, 1864, or if a person accused of any offence against this Act in respect of which a penalty of more than five pounds can be imposed, on appearing before a court of summary jurisdiction, declare that he objects to being tried for such offence in the court of summary jurisdiction, proceedings may be taken against him on indictment in the Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh or on circuit.
Every person found liable in any penalty or costs shall be liable in default of immediate payment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or until such penalty or costs are sooner paid.
18. In Ireland, offences against this Act may be prosecuted and penalties under this Act recovered in a summary manner, subject and according to the provisions with respect to the prosecution of offences, the recovery of penalties, and to appeal of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, and any Act amending the same, and in Dublin of the Acts regulating the powers of justices of the peace or of the police of Dublin metropolis. All penalties recovered under this Act shall be applied in manner directed by the Fines (Ireland) Act, 1871, and any Act amending the same.
19. In Ireland, where a person is accused before a court of summary jurisdiction of any offence against this Act in respect of which a penalty of more than five pounds can be imposed, the accused may, on appearing before the court of summary jurisdiction, declare that he objects to being tried for such offence by a court of summary jurisdiction, and thereupon the court of summary jurisdiction may deal with the case in all respects as if the accused were charged with an indictable offence and not an offence punishable on summary conviction, and the offence may be prosecuted on indictment accordingly.
20. In the application of this Act to Ireland the term "the Secretary of State" shall be construed to mean the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for the time being.
21. A prosecution under this Act against a licensed person shall not be instituted except with the assent in writing of the Secretary of State.
22. This Act shall not apply to invertebrate animals.
II.--ANÆSTHETICS UNDER THE ACT
In almost every case, the anæsthetic used is chloroform or ether; sometimes it is combined with or followed by morphia or chloral. The nature of the anæsthetic used in each case must, of course, be stated in the returns sent to the Home Office.
Of the use of ether, it need only be said that animals take it well, and that there is no difficulty in rendering them unconscious with it. With some animals, chloroform is equally good. Professor Hobday, of the Royal Veterinary College, published in 1898 an account of 500 administrations of chloroform to dogs, for operations, with only one death. Still, for dogs and cats, ether is used in preference to chloroform. Other animals take chloroform well.
Morphia is seldom used alone; but, in some cases, it is used after chloroform or ether. That morphia is a "real anæsthetic" is certain, for there are deaths every year from an over-dose of it. Again, it is certain that an animal, so far under the influence of morphia that it lies still, cannot be suffering, for the drug does not act directly on the muscles but on the higher nervous centres.
Very rarely a dog may fail to come readily under the influence of morphia, may be excited by it, not narcotized. But this is altogether exceptional. An animal in such a condition would not be suited for experiment, and another anæsthetic would be given. Except in these rare cases, animals take morphia well and are profoundly influenced by it.
Curare is not an anæsthetic under the Act. It is illegal to use it as an anæsthetic. In this country it is seldom used at all, and it is never used alone in any experiment involving any sort or kind of painful operation. In every such case a recognised anæsthetic must be given, and is given.[43]
[43] See Part IV., "Curare."
A good account of curare was published in the _Edinburgh Review_, July 1899.
"The Act of 1876 expressly forbids its use as an anæsthetic. When it is used, it must be supplemented with some other drug to relieve pain. A good deal of misconception exists as to the actual physiological effect of curare. Claude Bernard believed that it did not in any way affect the sensory nerves, and he described in theatrical terms the animal as being unable to stir, but suffering horrible torture. It is pretty certainly known now that Claude Bernard was wrong, and that, though curare acts first upon the motor nerves, it also, though less rapidly, paralyses the sensory nerves.... Probably the truth is, that, like all other nerve-poisons, the effect of curare varies with the dose. The muscular nerves are the first affected, then the sensory, and finally the central nervous system. As a matter of fact, however, morphia or some other narcotic is always given in addition to curare when it is used in laboratory work in England."
III.--LATEST REPORT (1905) OF INSPECTORS UNDER THE ACT
(The various tables of names, places, &c., and the references to them, which are contained in this Report, need not be reprinted here. The Report, and other papers relating to the Act, may be bought for a few pence from Wyman & Sons, Ltd., Fetter Lane, E.C.)
* * * * *
ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND
_April 17th, 1906._
SIR,--I have the honour to submit the following Report on Experiments performed in England and Scotland during the Year 1905, under the Act 39 & 40 Vict. c. 77.... Six new places were registered for the performance of experiments, and one place was removed from the register during the year. All licensees were restricted to the registered place or places specified on their licenses, with the exception of those who were permitted to perform inoculation experiments in places other than a "registered place," with the object of studying outbreaks of disease occurring in remote districts or under circumstances which render it impracticable to perform the experiment in a "registered place."
The total number of licensees was 381. Reports have been furnished by (or, in a few exceptional cases, on behalf of) these licensees in the form required by the Secretary for State. The reports show that 122 licensees performed no experiments. The numbers given above include 22 licensees whose licences expired on February 28, 1905, and who returned no experiments in 1905.
Tables I., II., and III. afford evidence,--
1. That licences and certificates have been granted and allowed only upon the recommendation of persons of high scientific standing;
2. That the licensees are persons who, by their training and education, are fitted to undertake experimental work and to profit by it;
3. That all experimental work has been conducted in suitable places.
Table IV. shows the number and the nature of the experiments returned by each licensee mentioned in Table II., specifying whether these experiments were done under the licence alone or under any special certificate.
Table IV. is divided into two parts, A. and B., for the purpose of separating experiments which were performed without anæsthetics from experiments in which anæsthetics were used.
The total number of experiments included in Table IV. (A.) is 2506.
Of these there were performed,--
Under Licence alone[44] 1348 " Certificate C. 145 " Certificate B. 665 " Certificate B. + EE 346 " Certificate B. + F. 2
[44] In experiments performed under licence alone, the animal must during the whole of the experiment be under the influence of some anæsthetic of sufficient power to prevent the animal feeling pain; and the animal must, if the pain is likely to continue after the effect of the anæsthetic has ceased, or if any serious injury has been inflicted on the animal, be killed before it recovers from the influence of the anæsthetic which has been administered.
Certificate C. allows experiments to be performed, under the foregoing provisions as to the use of anæsthetics, in illustration of lectures.
Certificate B. exempts the person performing the experiment from the obligation to cause the animal on which the experiment is performed to be killed before it recovers from the influence of the anæsthetic; and when the animal is a dog or a cat, Certificate EE. is also necessary.
Certificate A. allows experiments to be performed without anæsthetics; and when the animal on which the experiment is performed is a dog or a cat, Certificate E. is also necessary.
Certificate F. is required in all cases of experiments on a horse, ass, or mule.
Table IV. (B.) is devoted entirely to inoculations, hypodermic injections, and some few other proceedings, performed without anæsthetics. It includes 35,429 experiments, whereof there were performed,--
Under Certificate A. 34,778 " Certificate A. + E. 549 " Certificate A. + F. 102
The total number of experiments is 37,935, being 5373 more than in 1904; the increase in the number of experiments included in Table IV. (A.) is 290, and in Table IV. (B.), 5083.
All experiments involving a serious operation are placed in Table IV. (A.). The larger part of the experiments included in this Table, viz., all performed under licence alone, and under Certificate C., 1493 in number, come under the provision of the Act that the animal must be kept under an anæsthetic during the whole of the experiment, and must, if the pain is likely to continue after the effect of the anæsthetic has ceased, or if any serious injury has been inflicted on the animal, be killed before it recovers from the influence of the anæsthetic.
In the experiments performed under Certificate B., or B. linked with EE. or with F., 1013 in number, the initial operations are performed under anæsthetics, from the influence of which the animals are allowed to recover. The operations are required to be performed antiseptically, so that the healing of the wounds shall, as far as possible, take place without pain. If the antiseptic precautions fail, and suppuration occurs, the animal is required to be killed. It is generally essential for the success of these experiments that the wounds should heal cleanly, and the surrounding parts remain in a healthy condition. After the healing of the wounds the animals are not necessarily, or even generally, in pain, since experiments involving the removal of important organs, including portions of the brain, may be performed without giving rise to pain after the recovery from the operation; and after the section of a part of the nervous system, the resulting degenerative changes are painless.
In the event of a subsequent operation being necessary in an experiment performed under Certificate B., or B. linked with EE. or with F., a condition is attached to the licence requiring all operative procedures to be carried out under anæsthetics of sufficient power to prevent the animal feeling pain; and no observations or stimulations of a character to cause pain are allowed to be made without the animals being anæsthetised.
In no case has a cutting operation more severe than a superficial venesection been allowed to be performed without anæsthetics.
The experiments included in Table IV. (B.), 35,429 in number, are all performed without anæsthetics. They are mostly inoculations, but a few are feeding experiments, or the administration of various substances by the mouth, or the abstraction of a minute quantity of blood for examination. In no instance has a certificate dispensing with the use of anæsthetics been allowed for an experiment involving a serious operation. Inoculations into deep parts, involving a preliminary incision in order to expose the part into which the inoculation is to be made, are required to be performed under anæsthetics, and are therefore placed in Table IV. (A.).
It will be seen that the operative procedures in experiments performed under Certificate A., without anæsthetics, are only such as are attended by no considerable, if appreciable, pain. The Certificate is, in fact, not required to cover these proceedings, but to allow of the subsequent course of the experiment. The experiment lasts during the whole period from the administration of the drug, or injection, until the animal recovers from the effects, if any, or dies, or is killed, possibly extending over several days, or even weeks. The substance administered may give rise to poisoning, or set up a condition of disease, either of which may lead to a fatal termination. To administer to an animal such a poison as diphtheria toxin, for example, or to induce such a disease as tuberculosis, although it may not be accompanied by acute suffering, is held to be a proceeding "calculated to give pain," and therefore experiments of the kind referred to come within the scope of the Act 39 & 40 Vict., c. 77. The Act provides that, unless a special certificate be obtained, the animal must be kept under an anæsthetic during the whole of the experiment; and it is to allow the animal to be kept without an anæsthetic during the time required for the development of the results of the administration that Certificate A. is given and allowed in these cases.
It must not be assumed that the animal is in pain during the whole of this time. In cases of prolonged action of an injected substance, even when ending fatally, the animal is generally apparently well, and takes its food as usual, until a short time before death. The state of illness may last only a very few hours, and in some cases it is not observed at all.
In a very large number of the experiments included in Table IV. (B.), the results are negative, and the animals suffer no inconvenience whatever from the inoculation. These experiments are therefore entirely painless.
In the event of pain ensuing as the result of an inoculation, a condition attached to the licence requires that the animal shall be killed under anæsthetics as soon as the main result of the experiment has been attained.
The number of inoculations and similar proceedings recorded in Table IV. (B.) continues to increase in accordance with the progressive importance attached to biological tests generally in practical medicine for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease, and to the more widely recognised need for such experiments on the part of those responsible for the care of the public health. Several County Councils and Municipal Corporations have their own laboratories in which bacteriological investigations are carried on, including the necessary tests on living animals; and many others have arrangements by which similar observations are made on their behalf in the laboratories of Universities, Colleges, and other Institutions. A sewage farm is registered as a place in which experiments on living animals may be performed in order that the character of the effluent may be tested by its effects on the health of fish. The Board of Agriculture has two laboratories which are registered for the performance of experiments having for their object the detection and study of the diseases of animals. In other places experiments have been made on behalf of the Home Office, the War Office, the India Office, the Local Government Board, the Office of Works, the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the Metropolitan Asylums Board. A very large proportion of the experiments in Table IV. (B.) have thus been performed either on behalf of Official Bodies with a view to the preservation of the public health, or directly for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Forty-one licensees return over 8000 experiments which were performed for Government Departments, County Councils, or Municipal Corporations; 2187 experiments were made by four licensees for the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis; twelve licensees performed 6265 experiments, almost all inoculations, for testing antitoxic sera and vaccines and standardising drugs; and 12,187 experiments, mostly inoculations into mice, were performed on behalf of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.
The number of injections made during the year 1905 for the diagnosis of rabies in dogs is 27; these are placed in Table IV. (A.).
During the year the usual inspections of registered places have been made by Sir James Russell, by myself, and by Mr. W. B. L. Trotter, who was appointed temporary Assistant Inspector during my absence for three months. We have found the animals suitably lodged and well cared for, and the licensees attentive to the requirements of the Act, as well as to the conditions appended to their licences by the Secretary of State.
The irregularities recorded during the year have been few, and not of a serious character.
Two licensees, holding certificates (A.) entitling them to perform inoculations without anæsthetics, administered an anæsthetic during some of their experiments, whereas the Act prescribes another form of certificate (B.) when an animal is anæsthetised during an experiment and allowed to recover from the anæsthetic.
A licensee, through inadvertence, performed 54 inoculation experiments in excess of the number allowed by his certificate.
Another licensee, not understanding that joint experiments are reckoned to both of the licensees, took part in the performance of eight experiments in excess of the number allowed by his certificate.
By direction of the Secretary of State a suitable admonition was addressed to the licensee in each of the above cases.
In the month of April 1905 the attention of the Secretary of State was directed to certain experiments which were performed in 1903 and the early part of 1904 by persons not holding a licence under the Act 39 & 40 Vict. c. 77. The experiments consisted in vaccinating dogs against distemper and then exposing them to infection, the object being to test the efficacy of a method of vaccination as a safeguard against this disease. The Secretary of State thereupon caused inquiries to be made, and from these it appeared that the experiments, in some instances at least, had been accompanied by pain, and were, therefore, illegal. The persons, who were not aware that their experiments were of such a kind as to come within the provisions of the Act, were suitably admonished and warned against any similar illegal action in the future. The matter was not brought to the knowledge of the Secretary of State until it was too late for further proceedings to be taken if such had been considered necessary. It is as well to point out here that to expose an animal to an infectious and painful disease like distemper is a proceeding calculated to cause pain within the meaning of the Act, and that such experiments can only be legally performed by a person holding a licence and appropriate certificates.--I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
G. D. THANE, _Inspector_.
The Right Hon. HERBERT JOHN GLADSTONE, _Secretary of State for the Home Department_.
IRELAND
8 ELY PLACE, DUBLIN, _April 26th, 1906_.
SIR,--I beg to submit Tables showing the experiments performed in Ireland during the year 1905, under the Act 39 & 40 Vict. c. 77, together with a list of the Registered Places in Ireland.
Twelve licences were in force during the year; of these four expired, and two were renewed. One new license was granted.
The certificates in existence or allowed were:--
A. to 4 licensees. B. " 7 " C. " 3 " E. " 2 " EE. " 3 " F. " 1 licensee.
One expired during the year, and six new ones were allowed.
The experiments performed number 218; 106 being under licence alone, and 112 under certificates. Ten licensees performed experiments. Twenty certificates were in force among 12 licensees, of whom 10 performed experiments, viz.:--
Under Certificate A. 88 " " B. 14 " " C. 8 " " F. 2
The animals experimented on were:--
Guinea pigs 55 Birds 53 Rabbits 48 Cattle 27 Mice 14 Dogs 13 Cats 2 Horses 2 Goats 2 Sheep 2
The experiments were mainly pathological inoculations, done for the purposes of the investigation or diagnosis of various diseases, such as canine rabies, tuberculosis, cancer, glanders, and typhoid fever. A few were physiological, for the investigation of the functions of the thymus gland, and of the effects of chloroform and ether on renal activity. All of these seem to have been of a reasonable character and intended to serve useful purposes in the elucidation of the phenomena of disease or of vital functions. They are reported to have been free from pain.
Experiments numbering eight were performed in illustration of lectures, to demonstrate the phenomena of circulation and respiration and of nervous control. In these experiments, two dogs, two cats, and four rabbits were employed.
Some of the investigations were devoted to the study of diseases in cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, and seem to be useful and of economic value.
The registered places were inspected and their condition found satisfactory. The inspectors in Belfast and Cork report that in those places the provisions of the Act have been satisfactorily complied with.--I have, &c.,
W. THORNLEY STOKER, _Inspector for Ireland_.
To the Right Honourable The Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
This Report gives a clear answer to certain false statements alleged against experiments on animals. It shows that more than 90 _per cent._ of these experiments are inoculations, with a few feeding experiments, administrations of substances by the mouth, or abstractions of a minute quantity of blood for examination. _In no instance has a certificate dispensing with the use of anæsthetics been allowed for an experiment involving a serious operation. In no case has a cutting operation more severe than a superficial venesection been allowed to be performed without anæsthetics._ It shows, also, that the results, in a very large number of these inoculations, are negative, painless, not even inconvenient.
The Report shows, also, that the vast majority of all experiments are inoculations made on the smaller animals; and that the larger animals (dog, cat, horse, mule, or ass) are seldom used for inoculation.
It shows, also, that a great proportion of these inoculations are made in the direct practical service of the public health and the public purse: to standardise drugs, to ensure the purity of food and of rivers, to protect flocks and herds, and to decide quarantine. Government Departments, County Councils, Municipal Corporations, and a Royal Commission made more than one-third of the total number of inoculations; and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund made more than one-third, mostly on mice; and a sixth was made over the testing and standardising of sera and of drugs.
The operations performed under the License + Certificate B, or B + EE, or B + F, were 3 per cent. of the whole number of experiments. The majority of the animals were neither cats nor dogs. They can hardly be compared to the same number of the larger animals mutilated by breeders and farmers: for these mutilations may be inflicted, and are inflicted, without an anæsthetic. They can hardly be compared to the same number of pheasants or rabbits wounded, but not killed, in sport; for the animals wounded in sport get no subsequent care, and, if they are in pain, nobody need put them out of it. They may fairly be compared to the same number of pet animals that have undergone surgical operations, under anæsthesia, at the hands of a skilled veterinary surgeon; only with this difference, that many of them lose health, or suffer disablement or disease, and so die or are killed; but, if the wound suppurates, the animal must be killed, and, after the wound has healed, the animals are not necessarily, or even generally, in pain. And there must be no _further_ experiment without anæsthesia. _No observations or stimulations of a character to cause pain are allowed to be made without the animals being anæsthetised._ It is evident that good care is taken to ensure an irreducible minimum of pain.