Vivisection

Albert Leffingwell weighs the claims of experimental medicine against the suffering of living animals in two essays first published in 1880 and 1884. Writing as a physician, he argues for legal limits on painful demonstrations of facts already accepted by science, while allowing a place for research. His introduction also considers how medical training can weaken a student's sympathy and why reform depends on changing professional opinion.

The later discussion examines uncertainty within science itself. Conflicting statements by prominent physiologists about animals' capacity for pain become evidence in an argument about the reliability of experimental conclusions. Proposals for official observation and written reports give the debate a practical dimension. Readers interested in medical ethics or the history of animal welfare will find a physician trying to reconcile scientific inquiry with accountability, humane feeling and careful judgment.