Antennae for droplets of received wisdom

Wednesday, August 6, 2014


Dr. Christian Bernard performed the world’s first human heart transplant in 1967, had the following to say about his observations of a chimpanzee:

"I bought two male chimps from a primate colony in Holland. They lived next to each other in separate cages for several months before I used one as a [heart] donor. When we put him to sleep in his cage in preparation for the operation, he chattered and cried incessantly. We attached no significance to this, but it must have made a great impression on his companion, for when we removed the body to the operating room, the other chimp wept bitterly and was inconsolable for days. The incident made a deep impression on me. I vowed never again to experiment with such sensitive creatures.”

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