About this Event
This event will take place IN PERSON.
The shambles of science
On 2 February 1903, William Bayliss, Assistant Professor of Physiology at UCL, gave a lecture on the process of secretion, which included a demonstration using an anaesthetised dog. Present were two students of the London School of Medicine for Women, whose account of proceedings led to allegations of law-breaking, questions in Parliament, and a libel trial. When a statue commemorating the dog was installed in a recreation ground in Battersea, serious public disorder on the streets of London followed, bringing medical students into conflict with anti-vivisectionists, the working people of Battersea, and campaigners for women’s suffrage. Consequences included the removal of the statue under cover of darkness, and ultimately a new Royal Commission on Vivisection.
This event uses drama, music, talks, archives and museum exhibits to explore the original lecture and the issues arising from it.
Event programme
We begin with a dramatic reading of proceedings at the libel trial, performed by UCL medical-student drama group The MDs and transcribed and abridged from UCL's institutional archives by Head Of Records Colin Penman.
This will be followed by a talk from historian Dr. Carole Reeves exploring the issues arising from, and responses to, Bayliss's lecture.
Also on the programme are popular Edwardian animal-themed songs performed by UCL Library Services staff Caroline Kimbell and Andrew Watson, a discussion incorporating the perspective of a current medical student, and an opportunity to view items from UCL Special Collections, UCL Art Museum and other UCL collections that illustrate the history and after-history of this much-misunderstood incident in medical history.
We are grateful to London School Of Economics Library for loan of a collection item to display at the event, and to the Max Tyler Music Hall Collection, University Of Kent Special Collections And Archives for assisting in sourcing original Edwardian sheet music for this event.
Image of the reconstruction of the demonstration, carried out for the court case. Image reproduced courtesy of UCL Special Collections.
Filming will be taking place at this event.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Object-Based Learning Lab, Wilkins Building, UCL, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
