EDITOR'S TABLE. 



75^ 



to be tliirty-eiglit, Dr. Hooker, Prof. 

 Huxley, and Dr. Carpenter, ask only 

 for six hours to be devoted to science, 

 while Prof. Tyndall demands only eight. 

 The recent commission has shown by a 

 large number of returns from the en- 

 dowed schools that, when science is 

 studied at all, not more than two hours 

 a week are given to it, while in a large 

 number it is entirely ignored. Out of 

 one hundred and twenty of the larger 

 endowed schools, in more than half no 

 science whatever is taught, and out of 

 the whole number only thirteen attach 

 any weight at all to scientific subjects 

 in the examinations. 



It is by the skillful working of these 

 "exammations " that the adherents of 

 the older studies resist the educational 

 progress of science. The Universities 

 of Oxford and Cambridge, backed by 

 the immense authority of these great 

 institutions, have recently appointed a 

 joint board to undertake the examina- 

 tions of schools. The studies are dis- 

 tributed in four groups: 1. The lan- 

 guages; 2. Mathematics; 3. Scripture 

 knowledge, history, etc. ; 4. The sci- 

 ences. But the certificates are award- 

 ed under such conditions that the mod- 

 ern languages and the sciences are vir- 

 tually suppressed. As Sir John Lub- 

 bock says, " the result will be to dis- 

 courage the teaching of French and 

 German," while " the nominal intro- 

 duction of science is under the circum- 

 stances little more than a hollow mock- 

 ery; " the effect being that "boys may 

 obtain university certificates while they 

 know nothing of history, nothing of 

 geography, nothing of any modern lan- 

 guage, or of any branch of science." 



VIVISECTION VINDICATED. 



Theee was a loud and passionate 

 outcry a year ago in England, which 

 had its echoes in this country, about 

 the fiendishness of physiologists in their 

 experiments upon living animals. They 

 were represented as devoid of all hu- 



manity, indurated and indifferent to 

 suffering, and as delighting to torture 

 poor dumb creatures for mere amuse- 

 ment or class-room show, and on the 

 most frivolous pretexts of helping on the 

 progress of science. There was a great 

 deal of screaming about it, and Hutton, 

 of the London Spectator, led the cru- 

 sade, demanding governmental interfer- 

 ence to restrain the brutalities of the 

 scientists and protect the helpless vic- 

 tims of their barbarity. And so, as is 

 wont with the English, a commission 

 was appointed to inquire into the mat- 

 ter, and Hutton was among the com- 

 missioners. It was a sensible body, and 

 raked together every thing that claimed 

 to be evidence upon the subject. Of 

 course, the stories of horrors which got 

 such wide credence, turned out to be ab- 

 surd exaggerations. Brought to book, 

 the secretary of the " Eoyal Society for 

 the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals " 

 acknowledged that he did not know a 

 single instance of wanton cruelty. The 

 case of the agitators broke down signal- 

 ly, and after the most patient examina- 

 tion of the whole subject the commis- 

 sioners declare that "a general senti- 

 ment of humanity on this subject appears 

 to pervade all classes in this country." 

 They point out how much science is in- 

 debted, and how much the world owes, 

 to experiments upon living animals, and 

 they recognize that in the further prog- 

 ress of medical science this means of 

 knowledge cannot be avoided. The com- 

 mission, in fact, accepts the position 

 taken by the physiologists themselves 

 at the British Association in 1871, and 

 demands only " the reasonable superin- 

 tendence of constituted authority." The 

 legislation asked for will not in any 

 way alter the existing facilities for re- 

 search or impede its progress, while it 

 will calm needless apprehension, and 

 put an end to the odious misrepresen- 

 tations which have recently been rife 

 upon the subject. Perhaps the friends 

 of the lower animals, wlio have been so 

 ardent in attacking and denouncing 



