theapplicationisrepeated.Therabbitsareobserveddailyfor
eyeswelling,ulceration,infection,andbleeding.Thestudies
canlastup tothree weeks.Oneresearcher employed bya
largechemical company hasdescribed thehighestlevel of
reaction as follows:
Totallossofvisionduetoseriousinternalinjurytocorneaor
internal structure. Animal holds eye shut urgently. May
squeal, claw at eye, jump and try to escape.^51
But, ofcourse, whenintheholdingdevice therabbitscan
neither claw at their eyes nor escape (see photograph
following page 157). Some substances cause such serious
damage that the
rabbits’eyes losealldistinguishingcharacteristics—theiris,
pupil,andcornea beginto resembleone massiveinfection.
Experimenters are not obliged to use anesthetics, but
sometimestheywilluseasmallamountoftopicalanesthetic
whenintroducingthesubstance,provideditdoesnotinterfere
withthetest.Thisdoesnothingtoalleviatethepainthatcan
resultaftertwoweeksofhavingovencleanerintheeye.U.S.
Department of Agriculture figures show that, in 1983,
toxicology testing laboratories used 55,785 rabbits, and
chemicalcompaniesanadditional22,034.Itcanbeassumed
thatmanyofthesewereusedforDraizetests,although no
estimate of the number is available.^52
Animalsare also subjected to other tests to determine the
toxicity of many substances. During inhalation studies,
animalsareplacedinsealedchambersandforcedtoinhale
sprays,gases,andvapors.Indermaltoxicitystudies,rabbits
havetheirfurremovedsothatatestsubstancecanbeplaced
ontheirskin.Theanimalsarerestrainedsothattheydonot