FROM THE 
 
 PUBLIC^ tf. ^LEDGER 
 
 Sixth and Chestnut Sts. 
 Philadelphia, Pa. 
 
 MONDAY, FEB. 27, 1911 
 
 DR. SNOW AND VIVISECTION 
 
 The London Physician's Opinions 
 Tested by His Recorded Testimony. 
 
 To the Editor of Public Ledger: 
 
 Sir— The coming of Dr. Herbert Snow, of 
 London, appears to be a notable event in anti- 
 vivisection circles. It may not, therefore, be 
 out of place to inquire who Doctor Snow is and 
 what are his self-recorded opportunities and 
 opinions. 
 
 Doctor Snow is not on the list of members 
 of the British Medical Association for 1906 
 (the latest list I have). His name is not 
 found in several of the ordinary biographical 
 dictionaries accessible here, nor even in the 
 British "Who's Who." 
 
 His opinions, however, have been put upon 
 record by himself in the report of the Royal 
 Commission on Vivisection and in his address 
 in Philadelphia on Monday, February 20. He 
 says (Vivisection Commission report, October 
 to December, 1906, question 2313), "I am 
 afraid I am getting very rusty now," and, 
 again, "I am getting old" (question 2213). 
 ii.at his assertions are true is clear from the 
 following facts: 
 
 In his Philadelphia address he is reported in 
 the Public Ledger (February 21, 1911) to 
 have attacked the germ theory of diseases. 
 and is quoted as saying that "Not in a single 
 instance had science been able to prove that 
 a germ was the real cause of a disease." Now. 
 the germ theory is as well established as that 
 the earth moves around the sun. If he has 
 been correctly quoted, it necessarily follows 
 that his medical views are mediaeval and not 
 modern. 
 
 He never reads the Journal of Physiology 
 (Q. 2225) His opinions, he says, are formed 
 by the reports he sees in the papers, and when 
 asked. "Do vou mean scientific papers or lay 
 

 BUKfc MED. CENTER U* 
 
 feiSTORiCAL 
 
 COLLECTION 
 
journals?" he says, "Mostly lay journals" 
 (Q. 2317, 2318). No wonder that he is "very 
 rusty." 
 
 He never saw any experiments upon animals 
 while a student (Q. 2218) and apparently none 
 since. His only knowledge of mouse tumors 
 is from literature; he never saw any (Q. 2184, 
 2185, 2186) He. however, ventures to pro- 
 nounce these cancer experiments on animals 
 "useless, cruel and misleading" (Q. 2222 and 
 2223). Yet he accepts as true the statement of 
 the Cancer Research Fund that "a tumor even 
 of greater weight than the mouse itself does 
 not necessarily * * * impair the general 
 health" (Q. 2108). 
 
 He actually declares that "the microscope 
 should never be called in except to verify an 
 opinion already formed or at least probable" 
 (Q. 2252)' What, then, is the use of tne 
 microscope? 
 
 He proposed that a cancer congress should 
 be called tQ. 2210), but when one was held at 
 Heidelberg and Frankfort he "really knew 
 nothing about it beyond the fact that there 
 was a congress" (Q. 2214). He also proposed 
 to the commission a number of fundamental 
 changes in the British act regulating experi- 
 ments, yet actually confessed "I have never 
 read the act" (Q. 2343)! 
 
 When he was asked, "Do you find any fault 
 with the present gentlemen who are licensed 
 under the act?" he expressly declares, "I do 
 not," thus holding blameless Horsley, Starling, 
 Bayliss, Schafer, etc. 
 
 He is even actually in favor of vivisection, 
 ror he says that if a germ which might cause 
 cancer were found, "I dare say that the ques- 
 tion of experiments on animals might arise" 
 (Q. 22SS). He admits that under very excep- 
 tional conditions there should be such experi- 
 ments, and when asked, "Do you mean pain- 
 ful or painless experiments or both?" re- 
 plied, "Both" (Q. 2227, 2228)! 
 
 He goes even further and says he "would 
 recommend their (i. e. , special licenses for ex- 
 periments on animals) being granted to any 
 one who had any special line of research to 
 pursue practically" (Q. 2414). In the case of 
 a new drug, he says he "would rather try It 
 on an animal first" than on a man, and "thinks 
 that this is justifiable" (Q. 2322, 2323), yet In 
 his Philadelphia address he declares (Public 
 L/Edgek report) that "Between them (men ana 
 animals) there is an enormous gulf that can- 
 not be bridged bv the efforts of the vivisec- 
 tors." 
 
 Any one wishing to consult the full text of 
 his testimony can see it in the library of the 
 College of Physicians, 22d street above Chest- 
 nut street. W. W. KEEN. 
 
 Philadelphia, February 25, 1911. 
 
*>UK£ MED. CENTER 
 
 HISTORICAL 
 COLLECTION 
 
 LIB, 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/drsnowvivisectioOOkeen