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EXPERIMENTS ON LIVING ANIMALS
42 was
prosecutor as well as judge. Do not these suggest that the withdrawals of members of the
not
cases
General Medical Council who are merely ordinary members of a defence society concerned in the case before them are unnecessarily scrupulous ? The practitioner against whom the complaint is made could presumably waive any objection to members of the tribunal but he cannot be pressed to do so. In any event, the Council is not so strictly judicial a body as a court of law and the legal requirements of
competence are less rigid than in the and magistrates.
case
of
judges
There the matter remains. Meanwhile the members who are directed to withdraw must often feel that their exclusion is something of a slur upon their impartiality. If they know nothing about the case until it comes before them at the Council, they may well feel inclined to stay and perform their quasijudicial duty rather than to walk outside. There is an ancient legal dictum that " favour shall not be presumed in a judge." Members of the General Medical Council are as much entitled to the benefit of the doubt as any other judges.
pain after completion of severe experiment, especially one which involves an operation, are to be painlessly killed at once so far as in the judgment siderable
of the scientific director this is consistent with the object of the experiment. (v) Experiments on horses, dogs, cats, or apes may only be carried out when the object cannot be reached by experiments on other animals. (vi) No more animals may be used than are necessary for clearing up the particular question. (vii) Animal experiments for teaching purposes are only allowed if other teaching material-e.g., picture, model, preparation, film-is insufficient. (viii) Record is to be made of the animals employed, the object, the method, and the result of the experiments. (3) These regulations are not applicable to animal experiments for determining the ends of justice, or for the inoculations and venesections of living animals for the purpose of determining disease in man or animals, or for obtaining or testing serums or vaccines according to processes already approved or officially recognised ; but these animals also are to be painlessly killed at once if they have to suffer considerable pain and their despatch is consistent with the object of the experiment.
EXPERIMENTS ON LIVING ANIMALS THE NEW GERMAN LAW
of animals (Tierschutzgesetz), which came into force on Nov. 24th, 1933, in the German Reich, contains in Section III. regulations for the conduct of experiments on living animals.1 In general all experiments which are associated with considerable pain or injury are forbidden on living animals for experimental purposes unless they are expressly permitted under the three following clauses : (1) The Home Secretary may at the suggestion of the proper authorities give permission to certain scientific institutes or laboratories to undertake scientific experiments on living animals in so far as the scientific director possesses the necessary technical equipment and standing, the proper arrangements are available for the experiments, and guarantee is given for good attendance on the animals. *The Home Secretary may delegate the granting of the permission to other high authorities. Permission can at any time be withdrawn without compensation. (2) In carrying out the experiments the following regulations are to be observed : (i) The experiments may only be made under the full responsibility of the scientific director or of someone expressly nominated by him as deputy. (ii) The experiments may only be carried out by persons scientifically trained for them or under their direction, and only with avoidance of any pain not essential for the particular purpose. (iii) Experiments for research purposes are only to be undertaken if they give expectation of a definite result not yet established by science, or so far as they serve to clear up questions as yet unsolved. (iv) Unless in the judgment of the scientific director the object of the experiment positively excludes anaesthesia, or unless the pain associated with the operation is less than the discomfort entailed in the narcosis of the animal, experiments are only to be undertaken under narcosis. On the same unnarcotised animal no more than one severe operation or painful bloodless experiment is to be done. Animals which have to suffer any conTHE law for the
1
protection
It will be seen from the text of these regulations, for which indebted to the Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift of Dec. 22nd, 1933, that the restrictions imposed follow rather closely those in force in this country.
we are
(FROM
POLAND CORRESPONDENT)
OUR OWN
POLAND lies between the Baltic and the Black Sea, between eastern and central Europe. Revived in 1918 as a Sovereign State, it has an area of some 389,000 sq. kilometres and a population of more than 32 millions-82-7 to the sq. kilometre. Agriculture and allied occupations are the livelihood of nearly two-thirds of the people. But although the country is not conspicuously rich in mineral resources, there are supplies enough for considerable development of its economic life. The most important of these raw materials is oil, the amount of which available to a depth of 1000 metres is conservatively estimated at 62,000 million tons. Iron, zinc, and lead are to be found in Upper Silesia, and there are quantities of sodium and potassium salts in the Carpathians. Of industries, the greatest is textiles, after which come the working of metal, wood, leather, and minerals, the manufacture of clothes, and building. Poland is a Republic. At the head of the executive is the President, elected every seven years by a national assembly composed of 444 deputies and III members of the senate. The President rules through his ministers and through officials .subordinate to them. There are at present 11 ministers, and since July, 1932, most of the questions relating to the health of the people have come within the province of the minister of social assistance, or have been referred to the department of public health, which has a medical director. There are five divisions in this department, and all save the section of pharmacy are in charge of doctors. First comes the administrative section, which deals with the organisation of the public health service (Service de Sante), its personnel, and the inspections it undertakes. This section also superintends the work of public health societies and institutions, and provides medical aid for State employees. Next we have the section of hygiene engaged in the campaign against social diseases (tuberculosis, venereal diseases, cancer, alcoholism). It arranges for pre-natal and post-natal care, and is concerned with the questions of mental hygiene, clean food, drinking-water, and housing. A section for infectious diseases deals with vaccination, the investigation and control of epidemics,
prosecutor as well as judge. Do not these suggest that the withdrawals of members of the
not
cases
General Medical Council who are merely ordinary members of a defence society concerned in the case before them are unnecessarily scrupulous ? The practitioner against whom the complaint is made could presumably waive any objection to members of the tribunal but he cannot be pressed to do so. In any event, the Council is not so strictly judicial a body as a court of law and the legal requirements of
competence are less rigid than in the and magistrates.
case
of
judges
There the matter remains. Meanwhile the members who are directed to withdraw must often feel that their exclusion is something of a slur upon their impartiality. If they know nothing about the case until it comes before them at the Council, they may well feel inclined to stay and perform their quasijudicial duty rather than to walk outside. There is an ancient legal dictum that " favour shall not be presumed in a judge." Members of the General Medical Council are as much entitled to the benefit of the doubt as any other judges.
pain after completion of severe experiment, especially one which involves an operation, are to be painlessly killed at once so far as in the judgment siderable
of the scientific director this is consistent with the object of the experiment. (v) Experiments on horses, dogs, cats, or apes may only be carried out when the object cannot be reached by experiments on other animals. (vi) No more animals may be used than are necessary for clearing up the particular question. (vii) Animal experiments for teaching purposes are only allowed if other teaching material-e.g., picture, model, preparation, film-is insufficient. (viii) Record is to be made of the animals employed, the object, the method, and the result of the experiments. (3) These regulations are not applicable to animal experiments for determining the ends of justice, or for the inoculations and venesections of living animals for the purpose of determining disease in man or animals, or for obtaining or testing serums or vaccines according to processes already approved or officially recognised ; but these animals also are to be painlessly killed at once if they have to suffer considerable pain and their despatch is consistent with the object of the experiment.
EXPERIMENTS ON LIVING ANIMALS THE NEW GERMAN LAW
of animals (Tierschutzgesetz), which came into force on Nov. 24th, 1933, in the German Reich, contains in Section III. regulations for the conduct of experiments on living animals.1 In general all experiments which are associated with considerable pain or injury are forbidden on living animals for experimental purposes unless they are expressly permitted under the three following clauses : (1) The Home Secretary may at the suggestion of the proper authorities give permission to certain scientific institutes or laboratories to undertake scientific experiments on living animals in so far as the scientific director possesses the necessary technical equipment and standing, the proper arrangements are available for the experiments, and guarantee is given for good attendance on the animals. *The Home Secretary may delegate the granting of the permission to other high authorities. Permission can at any time be withdrawn without compensation. (2) In carrying out the experiments the following regulations are to be observed : (i) The experiments may only be made under the full responsibility of the scientific director or of someone expressly nominated by him as deputy. (ii) The experiments may only be carried out by persons scientifically trained for them or under their direction, and only with avoidance of any pain not essential for the particular purpose. (iii) Experiments for research purposes are only to be undertaken if they give expectation of a definite result not yet established by science, or so far as they serve to clear up questions as yet unsolved. (iv) Unless in the judgment of the scientific director the object of the experiment positively excludes anaesthesia, or unless the pain associated with the operation is less than the discomfort entailed in the narcosis of the animal, experiments are only to be undertaken under narcosis. On the same unnarcotised animal no more than one severe operation or painful bloodless experiment is to be done. Animals which have to suffer any conTHE law for the
1
protection
It will be seen from the text of these regulations, for which indebted to the Deutsche medizinische Wochenschrift of Dec. 22nd, 1933, that the restrictions imposed follow rather closely those in force in this country.
we are
(FROM
POLAND CORRESPONDENT)
OUR OWN
POLAND lies between the Baltic and the Black Sea, between eastern and central Europe. Revived in 1918 as a Sovereign State, it has an area of some 389,000 sq. kilometres and a population of more than 32 millions-82-7 to the sq. kilometre. Agriculture and allied occupations are the livelihood of nearly two-thirds of the people. But although the country is not conspicuously rich in mineral resources, there are supplies enough for considerable development of its economic life. The most important of these raw materials is oil, the amount of which available to a depth of 1000 metres is conservatively estimated at 62,000 million tons. Iron, zinc, and lead are to be found in Upper Silesia, and there are quantities of sodium and potassium salts in the Carpathians. Of industries, the greatest is textiles, after which come the working of metal, wood, leather, and minerals, the manufacture of clothes, and building. Poland is a Republic. At the head of the executive is the President, elected every seven years by a national assembly composed of 444 deputies and III members of the senate. The President rules through his ministers and through officials .subordinate to them. There are at present 11 ministers, and since July, 1932, most of the questions relating to the health of the people have come within the province of the minister of social assistance, or have been referred to the department of public health, which has a medical director. There are five divisions in this department, and all save the section of pharmacy are in charge of doctors. First comes the administrative section, which deals with the organisation of the public health service (Service de Sante), its personnel, and the inspections it undertakes. This section also superintends the work of public health societies and institutions, and provides medical aid for State employees. Next we have the section of hygiene engaged in the campaign against social diseases (tuberculosis, venereal diseases, cancer, alcoholism). It arranges for pre-natal and post-natal care, and is concerned with the questions of mental hygiene, clean food, drinking-water, and housing. A section for infectious diseases deals with vaccination, the investigation and control of epidemics,