The shambles of science Part 2

'The shambles of science': early physiology teaching at UCL & The Brown Dog Affair 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.