Science and Scruples: Francois Magendie (1783-1855) and Sir Charles Bell (1774-1842)

In the early part of the nineteenth century there began a scientific controversy that has never been finally settled and, in fairly close connection with this, an ethical controversy that still flares up at intervals to the present day. An anatomist in London and a physiologist in Paris each claimed priority in an important neurological discovery. The anatomist, whose father was a minister, introduced into the dispute scruples against inflicting pain; whereas the physiologist, whose father was a surgeon, was cited as a horrid example of the ruthless and sadistic experimenter on living animals