life for a dinner 



THE RIGHT TO I>IVE 201 



He has introduced the refinement of refrain- 

 ing from eating his fellow man, but he usually 

 does not scruple to partake of any other 

 kind of flesh that suits his palate, and never 

 thinks of hesitating when plant life is in ques- 

 tion. He has advanced so far as to cook 

 much of his food, but he still enjoys a live 

 oyster, and munches live celery, radishes and 

 lettuce with a satisfaction that denotes utter 

 absence of sensitiveness regarding the exercise 

 of his rights. It occurred to me to notice 

 how^ many individual lives were destroyed 

 to furnish' me a dinner to-day. The beef Destmction of 

 and the fowl required two animal livesi. 

 There were over a hundred lima beans, some 

 six or seven hundred kernels of green corn, 

 part of two or three Irish and sweet potatoes,. 

 many hundred grains of wheat for the bread, 

 and still greater numbers of yeast cells to 

 lighten it. I did not count the number of 

 seeds in the sliced tomato, and do not know 

 how many grains were required for the cup 

 of coffee, neither can I well estimate the num- 

 ber of bacteria that took part in flavoring 

 my piece of cheese, and which were smother- 

 ed in the curing process. It was a simple re- 

 past, and yet to suppW it required the sacri- 

 fice of a thousand or more individual lives, 

 exclusive of the yeast and bacteria. 

 Was there anything wrong in this destruc- 



