y and injustice will for
ever cease.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE FINAL PHASE: EXPERIMENTATION ON MAN

There is one phase of scientific research which cannot be passed in
silence. It is experimentation upon human beings. That "no
experiments on animals are absolutely satisfactory unless confirmed
upon man himself," a well-known vivisector has asserted; and no one
acquainted with the trend of events, could doubt the coming of a time
when opportunity for such "confirmation" would be given, and when a
more precious and a less costly "material" than domestic animals would
be used for investigations of this kind. Writing many years ago, a
distinguished jurist declared that "to whomsoever in the cause of
Science, the agony of a dying rabbit is of no consequence, it is
likely that the old or worthless man will soon be a thing which in the
cause of learning, may well be sacrificed."

It is necessary at the outset, however, to draw a careful distinction
between those phases of experimentation upon man which seem to be
legitimate and right, and those other pases of inquiry which are
clearly immoral. It is, of course, to be expected that certain
experimenters upon human being will endeavour to confound both phases
of inquiry in the public estimation; and yet there is no difficulty in
drawing clear distinctions between them. Let us see what differences
may be perceived between the experimentation upon human beings which
is laudable and right, and the other phase of inquiry which Society
should condemn.

I. Any intelligently devised experiment upon an adult human being,
conscientiously performed by a responsible physician or surgeon solely
for the personal benefit of the individual upon whom it is made, and,
if practicable, with his consent, would seem to be legitimate and
right. In the practice of medicine, there must always be a "first
time" when a new method of medical treatment is tested, a new
operation performed, a new remedy employed. Whether the procedure
pertain to medicine or surgery, so long as the amelioration of the
patient is the one purpose kept in view, IT IS LEGITIMATE TREATMENT.
The motive determines the morality of the act.

II. Now human vivisection is something quite different. It has been
defined as "the practice of subjecting to experimentation human
beings--men, women, or children, usually inmates of public
institutions--by methods liable to involve pain, distress,