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Vivisection and the Mayos
j{istorica{Profiles of:Mayo Vivisection and the Mayos
Throughout their lives, the Mayo brothers supported animal research as a means to advance medical knowledge and to improve the health ofboth humans and animals. On separate occasions, each of the brothers paid public tribute to the achievements brought about through such studies. Dr. William J. Mayo, the elder brother, spoke in favor of vivisection in a 1921 address, as follows: . Animal experimentation has resulted in gifts ofinestimable value to humanity. The pernicious activities of antivivisectionists seriously threaten the continuance of these investigations, which are of such paramount importance to the nation's health.... 1t is undoubtedly true that much of the opposition to animal experimentation among reasonable persons has been brought about by a few careless physicians....Fortunately, the organized physicians of the country have already made considerable progress in controlling the conditions of animal experimentation from within....By pursuing a policy of honesty and faithfulness to a trust, animal experimentation can be carried on without serious objection.l
In 1925, Dr. Charles H. Mayo, the younger brother, testified before the Minnesota legislature against the passage of an antiviviseCtion bill with the following comments: "It is time that we replace emotion with reason and stop the appeal to prejudice people by playing on their emotions.... If any animal was not treated right, we would lose all value ofour experiment." According to Dr. Charlie, animal research studies benefit animals as well as humans. He cited the eradication of cattle fever as one example that saved the people of the South about $50 million. In Rochester, Minnesota, in 1924, Dr. Charlie supported the development of a Mayo institute on his personal property that was devoted to experimental medicine and research. The institute had well-maintained animal facilities that were monitored by a full-time veterinarian to ensure proper treatment ofthe animals and accurate research. During its early years, the facility was the scene of prominent pioneering studies, such as those that dealt with the physiology of the liver and transplanted organs and surgical shock. In later years, research on tuberculosis was done, including the first administration of streptomycin to treat the centuries' old disease successfully, and certain experiments that furthered the discovery of cortisone were performed. Surprisingly, despite their positive stands, both the Mayo brothers have had their words and their meaning twisted and shaped throughout the years to correspond to the sentiments of antivivisectionists. Even today, they are occasionally misquoted. The emotions that Dr. Charlie referred to in 1925 are still at play and make the resolution of differences difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. Clark W. Nelson, B.S. Mayo Historical Unit REFERENCE
1. Mayo WJ: In the time of Henry Jacob Bigelow. JAMA 77:597-603,1921
Mayo Clin Proc 66:772, 1991
772
Throughout their lives, the Mayo brothers supported animal research as a means to advance medical knowledge and to improve the health ofboth humans and animals. On separate occasions, each of the brothers paid public tribute to the achievements brought about through such studies. Dr. William J. Mayo, the elder brother, spoke in favor of vivisection in a 1921 address, as follows: . Animal experimentation has resulted in gifts ofinestimable value to humanity. The pernicious activities of antivivisectionists seriously threaten the continuance of these investigations, which are of such paramount importance to the nation's health.... 1t is undoubtedly true that much of the opposition to animal experimentation among reasonable persons has been brought about by a few careless physicians....Fortunately, the organized physicians of the country have already made considerable progress in controlling the conditions of animal experimentation from within....By pursuing a policy of honesty and faithfulness to a trust, animal experimentation can be carried on without serious objection.l
In 1925, Dr. Charles H. Mayo, the younger brother, testified before the Minnesota legislature against the passage of an antiviviseCtion bill with the following comments: "It is time that we replace emotion with reason and stop the appeal to prejudice people by playing on their emotions.... If any animal was not treated right, we would lose all value ofour experiment." According to Dr. Charlie, animal research studies benefit animals as well as humans. He cited the eradication of cattle fever as one example that saved the people of the South about $50 million. In Rochester, Minnesota, in 1924, Dr. Charlie supported the development of a Mayo institute on his personal property that was devoted to experimental medicine and research. The institute had well-maintained animal facilities that were monitored by a full-time veterinarian to ensure proper treatment ofthe animals and accurate research. During its early years, the facility was the scene of prominent pioneering studies, such as those that dealt with the physiology of the liver and transplanted organs and surgical shock. In later years, research on tuberculosis was done, including the first administration of streptomycin to treat the centuries' old disease successfully, and certain experiments that furthered the discovery of cortisone were performed. Surprisingly, despite their positive stands, both the Mayo brothers have had their words and their meaning twisted and shaped throughout the years to correspond to the sentiments of antivivisectionists. Even today, they are occasionally misquoted. The emotions that Dr. Charlie referred to in 1925 are still at play and make the resolution of differences difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. Clark W. Nelson, B.S. Mayo Historical Unit REFERENCE
1. Mayo WJ: In the time of Henry Jacob Bigelow. JAMA 77:597-603,1921
Mayo Clin Proc 66:772, 1991
772