304 



knows of hundreds of birds having been reared on soaked 

 bread, he has never known a case of one dying from its ill 

 effects. He then goes on to contrast what he knows " z« 

 practice^'' with what I lay down " /« theory.'''' Surely it is 

 Mr. Seth-Sniith himself who is here theorizing. Until last 

 month he never knew what its ill effects were ; indeed he does 

 not even yet know what its ill effects are beyond the very 

 limited information that I have as yet given, because I have 

 not yet touched upon any description of pathological 

 processes. In addition to this it can only be a matter of guess- 

 ing on his part as to what his young birds have really died of : 

 I am quite sure he does not know anything about what did kill 

 them : how could he.' How then is he justified in assuming a 

 positive value to his asserted negative knowledge, and in saying 

 that he has never known of a young bird dying of its ill 

 effects ? He is in exacth' the same position as the man who 

 was cautioned against getting in and out of the train while in 

 motion lest he should be killed, and who answered that it was 

 all nonsense and that he had done it often without getting 

 killed. Yet the railway companies have seefi enough people 

 killed by the practice to warrant their warnings. ISIy critic's 

 " practice'- amounts to this: he thinks soaked bread is good 

 because he has had but few of his particular birds— evidently a 

 very immune lot— die after its use, and because not being in 

 any sense a pathologist he naturally cannot connect with it 

 what deaths have occurred. My " theory " consists in my 

 being able to connect the two facts, i.e. soaked bread and 

 death, on grounds that Mr. Seth-vSniith cannot in the nature of 

 things know anything about. 



There is just one difference between the Railway Companies 

 and myself. They, being in a fiduciar}- position towards the 

 reckless man, make laws to protect him against himself; I, 

 not being in the position of being \ny brother's keeper, simply 

 warn him to 'the best of my ability and knowledge, and then 

 leave him alone to follow his own bent. 



\V. Geo. CRiiswELiv. 



P.vS. — I may say that when writing my article I was not 

 aware that Mr. Seth-Sniith recommended soaked bread, and 

 that the expression "stupid fad" was therefore not intended 

 to bear any personally offensive meaning. 



