Experiments on animals during 1908 in Great Britain and Ireland.

  • Research Defence Society (Great Britain)
Date:
[1909]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Experiments on animals during 1908 in Great Britain and Ireland. 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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    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. 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 + EE, or B + F), a condition is attached to the license requiring all operative procedures to be carried out under anaesthetics 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 animal being anaesthetised. In no case has a cutting operation more severe than the lancing of a vein, just under the skin, been allowed to be performed without anaesthetics. II. The vast majority of experiments on animals in this country are inoculations, with a few feeding experiments, or administration of various substances by the mouth or by inhalation, or abstraction of a minute quantity of blood for examination. These experiments form no less than 97 per cent, of all experiments in this country during 1908. These experiments were all made without anaesthetics, as follows : Under Certificate A • 85,121 „ „ A + E 460 „ „ A+F 202 It will be seen that the operative procedures, in