Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/269

 FRIDAY, MARCH 27,

��COMMENT AND CRITICISM. If ouk confiflence in posterity be not mia- plaoed. it will look with peculiar interest upon tUe hobby-horses of our day, particularly those used by some persona, with many external claims to consideration, in their raids upon phy8iol<^ist8 and their work. One of these ftnimnls has recently been ridden in an attack upon a deceptive figure which was labelled with the name of Professor Martin of Johns Hopkins university. The arena as well as the figure, whith, of course, was demolished, was furnished by the Zoophilist, falsely so called, — a journal supported by some antiviviscclion societies in England. But the real Professor Murtin has come upon the scene with a httle pamphlet, which is not only a ' correction,' but a severe ' castigalion ' and an ' appeal," as iU sub-title tells us.

During some nine years, Dr. Martin has been the esteemed head of the department of biology in Johns Hopkins university. Both by him, and by enthusiastic pupils working under his direction, many interesting researches have l>een undertaken, and some very impor- tant results have been obtained. One of the most valuable ' finds ' is an admirable method for the study of the mammalian heart, isolated from all the influences of the body. This method involves the killing of the entire ani- mal, except the heart and the lungs, which are needed for the artificial aeration of the blood. With the exception of the brief perioti required for administration of the narcotic or anaesthetic, the entire procedure is painless. The only pos- sible exception is found in two instances where curare was used to exclude and control the action of the narcotics usually employed ; and here the period of possible pain is very brief, lasting only until the blood-supply to the brain can be cut off. These experiments are not

��merely of the greatest theoretical interest, but their practical impoitauce is immense and far- reaching. Already it has been possible to determine that fever terai}erature8 of the blood are alone sufflcient to act powerfully upon the heart, and alter its work. The hope which this form of study holds out, not ouly of increasing our understanding of the heart's action, but also of giving us much exacter knowledge of the action of drugs ui>on that organ, and the great value of such knowledge, must he evident to every candid person.

��The Baltimore investigations have all been published in detail: no secret has been made of the method, and the work has had all the publicity which the ordinary channels o|jen to such communications permit. The ZonpkHUt people met with one of the reports in the Phil- o»ophical transactions of the Royal society, and proceeded to give a garbled version, with comments, according to the method familiar to ail who have read anj' of the peculiar writings of the antivivisectionists. This was well spiced with allusions to the barbarity [wrmitted in ' far-off' America, and to the callousness of Dr. Martin, with ' his learned jargon and sup- posed results.' The reply will be found to be an honest and vigorous protest, which will have the hearty approval of every right-minded and clear-hefldL'd man. It not only gives a plain statement of the maliciousness and injustice and ignorance of his accusers, whose lies ho numbers as he nails them, but it also contains a manly appeal to those among whom he has worked and taught, to stand by him, to protect bim and others from this form of abusive mis- representation : and he api>eais, f\irthermoi-e, to the officers and committee of the society, whose mouthpiece the Zoophilist is said to be. The list contains many names of those in good repute and in high places (there are not only ecclesiastical and courtly dignitaries among them, but, mirabile dictu, scientific worthies as

�� �