4 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



coal for us. Our fur coats are torn from the bleeding backs of 

 poor creatures of the arctic by our fellow-men, who risk their 

 lives for us in the work. The building of our houses, the laying 

 of our water-pipes and drains, and the daily supply of our 

 food, depend upon forced labour — forced by natural laws — of 

 thousands of others, perhaps less happy than ourselves. Our 

 journeys are made luxurious by those who swink at roaring 

 furnaces, or toil all day in a thousand factories ; and our ban- 

 quets are won at the expense of untold miseries to other living 

 creatures. Our simple daily food implies an enormous butcher's 

 bill, which can be roughly computed if we remember that each 

 of the thousand millions of human beings in the world destroys 

 so many lives a week. Nor can the meekest vegetarian escape 

 in this matter, because he slays populations of beautiful little 

 creatures in a mouthful of lettuce or celery! Even if he lives 

 merely on cereals and vegetables, still the crops must be pro- 

 tected by the slaughter of innumerable small birds and beasts ; 

 and by what right does he snatch the milk from the cow or 

 her egg from the hen ? By what right do we go forth, gun on 

 shoulder, to shoot creatures for the mere amusement of our idle 

 hours ; or, rod in hand, to drag fish by means of cruel hooks 

 from the water ? Who has given us a charter to flog weary 

 horses in order to save us the labour of our own overfed bodies ; 

 or to whip dogs in order to train them to perform on their hind 

 legs ; or to keep wild animals and small birds in cages ? If it 

 comes to that, by what right do we slay the tiger, which follows 

 his own nature in taking toll of our flocks ; or the murderer who 

 attacks us ; or the innocent germs which live in our own blood ? 

 Still further; if all these things are to be forbidden, how shall 

 we deal with our humble relations of the animal kingdom, who 

 themselves do to others just as we do to them? Yet, in face 

 of this immense complex of fact, comes the irrationalist, who, 

 ignoring all the unnecessary cruelties of the world, tries to 

 argue that science may not do a few experiments in order to 

 lessen suffering due to disease ! 



Of course, the fact that Nature is "red in tooth and claw" 

 does not debar us from efforts to mitigate the sufferings of 

 animals; but those efforts must be logically directed towards 

 reducing unnecessary pain. Even the killing of animals for 

 food may partly be brought into this category, since we all eat 

 a great deal too much meat. But of all the sufferings of animals 



