used in range-finding tests “to determine procedures and
dosages for LSDadministration.” She wasgiven the drug
orally and bydart-gun. After this theexperimenters dosed
both elephants every
dayfortwomonthsandobservedtheirbehavior.Highdoses
ofthehallucinogen causedthefemaletofall downonher
side,tremblingandbarelybreathing,foronehour.Thehigh
doses caused the bull elephant to become aggressive and
charge Siegel, who described such repeated aggressive
behavior as “inappropriate.”^95
Myfinalepisodein thisgrimtale ofdrug experimentation
does,atleast,havea happyending.ResearchersatCornell
UniversityMedicalCollegefedlargedosesofbarbituratesto
catsbymeansoftubessurgicallyimplantedintheirstomachs.
They then abruptly stopped the barbiturates. Here is their
description of the withdrawal symptoms:
Somewereunabletostand....The“spreadeagleposture”was
seeninanimalsdisplayingthemostsevereabstinencesigns
andthemostfrequentgrandmaltypeconvulsions.Almostall
of these animals died during or soon after periods of
continuous convulsive activity.... Rapid or labored
respirationwasoftennotedwhenotherabstinencesignswere
mostintense....Hypothermiawasnotedwhenanimalswere
weakest,especially afterpersistent seizuresand when near
death.^96
Theseexperimentsbeganin1975.Althoughbarbiturateabuse
hadbeenaseriousproblemafewyearsearlier,bythattime
theuseofbarbiturateswasseverelyrestricted,andabusehad
declined.Ithascontinuedtodososince.Nevertheless,thecat
experimentsatCornellcontinuedforfourteenyears.Then,in