THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 49 



munerative service for the public good, are not suffered to pursue their 

 beneficent work in peace ? 



You know that certain persons who profess to be shocked by the 

 methods of physiological research have succeeded in placing this 

 branch of science under as great disabilities as that sense of humor 

 would allow which so often redeems British ignorance from its most 

 mischievous results. 



The method that has given rise to so much excitement is the per- 

 formance of experiments upon living animals. Now, if this were in- 

 jurious to the greatest good of the greatest number of the community, 

 or if freedom to perform these experiments interfered with the free- 

 dom of other persons to abstain from them, or if such experiments 

 were forbidden by any religious or moral authority, by the ten com- 

 mandments, or by Mr. Matthew Arnold, of course they must be given 

 up ; but, equally of course, the science of physiology must also come 

 to a stop, and the farmer, the cattle-breeder, and the physician must 

 be content with such knowledge or such ignorance as he at present 

 possesses. I know it has been asserted that the science of the func- 

 tions of living organs is quite independent of experiment upon living 

 organs. But this is said by the same persons who have denied that 

 the art of setting right the functions of the body when they go wrong 

 has anything to do with the knowledge of what those functions are. 



If you could be persuaded that chemistry can make progress with- 

 out retorts and balances, that a geologist's hammer is a useless incum- 

 brance, or that engineers can build bridges just as well by the rule of 

 thumb as by the knowledge gained in a workshop, then you might 

 believe that physiology also is independent of experiment. 



It is absurd to object to the difiiculties of the research or even the 

 contradictory results sometimes obtained. The functions of a muscle 

 or a gland are more complicated than those of water or gas, and 

 their investigation needs greater skill, more caution, and more frequent 

 repetition. Imperfect experiments can lead to nothing but error ; 

 criticism from other physiologists, or from scientific men experienced 

 in other branches of research, is not wanting, and is always welcome. 

 But vague assertion that further progress is impossible by the very 

 means which have led to all our present knowledge, coming from those 

 " who are not of our school," or any school, is undeserving of serious 

 notice. 



The real contention, of course, is a moral one, that we ought to 

 relinquish the advantage of all experiments which are accompanied 

 with pain to the creature experimented on. The botanist may serve 

 his plants as he pleases, and even the animal physiologist may cut, or 

 starve, or poison all sentient organisms which happen not to possess a 

 backbone, and he may try experiments with all backboned animals, 

 including himself and his friends, so long as they do not hurt ; but that 

 must be the limit. On the most extreme humanitarian views no ob- 



TOL. XVI. — i 



