Document xX65bGz6KEevZYRj4a5kORXm

D r. Heyroth M r . Ch olak Dr. Treon M r. W ith erup Dr. Horton D r, Clevelan d I h ave ju st com pleted (or n early com pleted) the editin g of a lar ge se r ie s of r e p o r t s to v ar io u s sp o n so r s of th e Lab o r at o r y . Sin ce th ese h ad been p r e p ar ed fo r som e tim e an d sin ce the la t e r r e p o r ts could not be m od ified b e fo r e com in g to m e in ac co r d an ce w ith c r it ic ism s o f th o se of th is se r ie s th at h ad been edited p reviou sly , I h eld m y p eace, asid e from cer t ain co m m en ts, w h ich at t im e s w ere h igh ly c r it ic a l an d p e r h ap s, at tim e s, not altogeth er im p erson al. It se e m s d e sir a b le n ow , b e fo r e a n ew cr o p a p p e a r s, to com m en t on ce r t ain of th e sh o r t co m in gs of t h ese r e p o r t s. I do so in w r itin g in o r d e r to save every on e's tim e but m y own, and a s a b a sis fo r an y fu rth er d iscu ssio n , w h ich a ft e r co n sid er atio n of m y co m m en ts, m ay be th ough t d e sir a b le . F i r s t , th e t o x ic o lo gic a l r e p o r t s, in p a r t ic u la r , an d o t h e r s to a l e s s e r exten t,ten d to becom e too m uch ster eoty p ed a s to p h r ase o lo gy , too m uch steep ed in th e jar go n o f th is an d oth er to xico lo gical la b o r a t o r ie s, an d too fa r ou tsid e th e com preh en sion an d p r ac t ical in terp retation of in telligen t tech n ical people w h ose k n ow ledge o f t o xico lo gic lan gu age is lim it e d , bu t w h ose u n d er stan d in g o f in d u st r ial h ygien e i3 co n sid e r ab le an d su sce p tib le of im p rovem en t. We n eed u rgen tly, a ll of u s, to str iv e to e xp r e ss ou r r esu lts and in terpretation s in sim p le ,st r a igh t fo r w a r d lan gu age , an d to v ar y ou r t e r m s an d st at e m e n ts so a s not to bu ild up jar go n an d a p seu d o - scien tific an d sp e cialize d lan gu age. Two p o in ts, in p a r t ic u la r , r e q u ir e sim p licit y of sp eech an d c la r it y of th ough t. Th e on e r e la t e s to st a t ist ic a l co n sid er atio n s. To the exten t th at N 6495 2. th ese h ave c r it ic a l valid ity , th ey can be e x p r e sse d sim p ly , an d in com m on lan gu age. T h er e is no poin t in goin g to g r e a t len gth s to d e al w ith st a t ist ic a l p r o ce d u r e s an d tech n iqu es in th e c r it ic a l exam in ation of d ata w h ich at b e st h ave d u b iou s clin ical o r b io lo gical sign ific a n c e . O u r co n ce r n i s w ith b io lo gical ph en om en a in t h e ir sim p le st m ean in g fo r ou r p u r p o se s. We a r e in so m e d an ge r , in k eep in g w ith m od er n e xp e r im e n t al t r e n d s, of em p loy in g st a t ist ic s to ele v at e th e sign ifican ce of d ata, w h ich in t h e m se lv e s a r e so m e w hat le ss than con vin cin g. Th e o th er r e sp e c t in w h ich ou r w ork, an d o u r r e p o r t s, in p a r t ic u la r , a r e lack in g in m axim u m u se fu ln e ss an d c la r it y , is th at of o u r h an dlin g of th e in form ation w h ich d e r iv e s fr o m the exam in ation of th e t issu e s of an im a ls. Th e fir st d efect is the lack of ad equ ate reportin g of the g r o ss fin d in gs. It is o f ten tru e th at the g r o ss exam in ation of an an im al o r grou p of an im als is m or e rew ard in g th an th e m ic r o sc o p ic , p ar t ic u lar ly in r elatio n to the d ir e c t toxic effects an d the in terp retation o f in ciden tal d ise a se . A fter a ll, a section is but a sm all piece of an organ , and a se r ie s of section s of the v isc e r a com p r ise on ly a m in ute b it of th e to tal o r gan ism . Th e sign ifican ce of th e o v e r - a ll exam in ation an d an at o m ical d iagn o sis is often m u ch g r e a t e r , in a v e r y p r ac t ical se n se , th an is th e m in u te exam in ation of so m etim es u n related b its an d p ie c e s of o r gan s. 1 su sp e ct th at th is is n ot bein g over look ed in the p er fo r m an ce to th e exten t th at it is in th e r e p o r t s, but the fact is th at ou r r e p o r t s, in cr easin gly , lack g r o ss path ologic in form ation , an d give the im p r e ssio n th at su ch in form ation is n ot av a ila b le . Th e secon d se r io u s d efect in th e r ep o r tin g of th e path ology a sso c ia t e d w ith to xic e ffe c t s, on the b ack grou n d of in cid en tal d ise a se an d illn e ss am on g 3. th e an im a ls, p r e se n t s it se lf in two a sp e c t s: 1. We a r e p rovid in g h ist o lo gic d e sc r ip t io n s, w h ich a r e e n t ir e ly u n in telligib le to ou r lay sp o n so r s, an d w h ich yet a r e n ot su fficie n t ly grou p ed an d c la ssifie d to sa t isfy c r it ic a l p at h o lo gist s. T h ese d e scr ip t io n s often h ave the fu rth er fau lt th at th ey do not attem pt to an sw er the qu estion s th ey r a ise . the W hen on e is stu dyin g a n ew m a t e r ia l th e im p o r t an t con tr ib u tion o f,p at h o lo gist i s th at of d ep ictin g th e p ath ologic p r o c e ss a s a w h ole, in t e r m s of th e n at u r e an d the d istr ib u tion of th e m orb id ch an ges, a s a m ean s of b e tte r u n d erstan d in g th e toxic p r o c e ss. W hen, h ow ever, on e is u sin g th e path ologic ap p roach to d iffer en tiate betw een in cid en tal ab n o r m alities in an im als * i sp e cific toxic effects in duced hy the ab sorp tion of a m at e r ial, th e m in ute h isto logic d e sc r ip t io n , e x c e p t in u n u su a l in st a n c e s, is^ u n im p o r t a n t . T h e p r i m a r y qu estion s a r e - did th is an im al d ie, o r w as th is an im al ill, b ecau se of the m at e r ial ab so r b e d o r b e c au se of e xt r an e o u s c a u se s? It often h appen s th at o u r r e p o r t s , w h ile so u n d in g e r u d it e an d '' sc ie n t ific ,"n o t o n ly f a i l t o a n sw e r th ese p r im ar y qu estion s, but m ak e no attem pt to do so . T h is, I su sp e ct, r e su lt s fr o m th e fac t th at th e p ath ologist d oes n ot w ork in su ch relatio n sh ip to th e t o x ic o lo gist a s to p r o v id e h im w ith th e p r o p e r in fo r m atio n o r to se e th at su ch in for m ation is w ritten in to th e r e p o r t a t th e p r o p e r p lace an d in th e p r o p e r m an n er . Th e t o x ico lo gist can n ot, an d sh ou ld n ot be exp ected to, CQ tak e th e h ist o lo gical r e p o r t s an d in co r p o r ate th em in to th e m an u scr ip t. Th is CO r ; i s th e job of th e p ath o lo gist. Th is tou ch es upon , an d la r ge ly c o v e r s th e secon d type of d efect, w h ich , h ow ever, 1 u n d e r sco r e by a se p ar a t e r e fe r e n ce . 2 . We a r e n ot w ritin g up th e p ath ology in o u r r e p o r t s in an exp er t m an n e r . A s in d icated p r e v io u sly , t h is, I b e lie v e , is d u e, in p a r t , to th e KF oo 4. exp erim en ts. H ow ever, it se e m s lik ely th at th e path ological w ork is bein g p er fo r m ed b e t t e r th an it is bein g u se d in th e in ter p r etatio n o f th e r e su lt s an d in th e p r e p ar at io n of o u r r e p o r t s. We a r e spen din g m u ch t im e , e ffo r t an d o m on ey in th e stu d y of path o^gy in r e lat io n to t o xico lo gy , an d w e a r e n ot gettin g a ju st retu rn fo r th ese expen d itu res in ou r r e p o r t s. T h ese, I m u st sa y in a ll h on esty , a r e w ord y, in ept an d in co n clu siv e in m a t t e r s in w h ich th ey m u st be r eason ab ly con clu sive if th e w ork is to be ju stifie d . Th e d ifficu lty h e r e , in la r g e p ar t , a r is e s fr o m th e fa c t th at th e p ath ologic w ork i3 n ot p r o p e r ly an d th ou gh tfu lly w ritten in to th e r e p o r t s. T h ese r e m ar k s a r e n ot w ritten in ir r it at io n but out of p rid e fo r w hat we h ave ach ieved togeth er and r e sp e ct fo r w h atw ecan do, d esp ite the fact th at m y editin g of ou r r e p o r ts h as com e to be an u n n e ce ssar ily len gth y an d t r o u b le so m e t a sk . In th e fu t u r e , r e p o r t s of in v e st igat io n s sh ou ld com e to m e in su ch 3tate th at I do n ot h ave to r e w r it e th em to m ak e t h e ir lan gu age in telligib le an d p assa b le , an d th at I do not h ave to qu estion the valid ity of t h e ir su b stan ce. I sh all con tin ue to do both of t h e se , to the exten t th at th ey a r e r e q u ir ed , but I sh ou ld n ot h ave to r e v ise th e h ead in gs of t ab le s when t h e se a p p e a r w ith e r r o r s an d o b fu scatio n s th at I h ave poin ted out p r e v io u sly , an d I sh ou ld n ot h ave to tak e fr eq u en t excep tion to th e m an n er of p r esen t in g an d in terpretin g evid en ce. T h ese th in gs can be done sat isfact o r ily by th ose who h ave the p rim ary resp on sib ility fo r the preparation of r ep o rts. They sh ou ld n ot b e le ft to m e, b e cau se it is known th at I w ill, even tu ally, tak e th e t im e an d t r o u b le to atten d to th em . I m ak e d ir e c t poin t of t h is, w h ich is n ot kin d of m e, p e r h ap s, b e cau se I am fo r ce d to r eco gn ize th at th e grow in g KE" 0003143 / 5. r e sp o n sib ilit ie s in volved in th e ad m in ist r at io n of th e a ffa ir s of th is D ep artm en t and Lab oratory , cannot be expected to leave eith er the tim e o r the en ergy r e q u ir e d of m e if I am to k eep u p w ith th e p r e se n t e d it o r ial lo ad . RAK ef R o b e r t A . Keh o % 0003144