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" On the question whether the Lower Animals jmses* ike 

 feeUng of Paiu. 



" The object of the present essay is to inquire into the truth 

 of the generally received opinion, that all animals, whether they 

 may be possessed of a highly organized nervous system, or of 

 a simple and rudimentary one, have precisely analagous sensa- 

 tions produced by external agencies — whether the feeling that 

 we are familiar with under the name of pain has an existence 

 wherever there is life. 



" The affirmative to this has beeu considered to be held by 

 our immortal poet, who says — 



" ' The poor beetle that we tread upon 



In corporal sufferance feels a pang as great 

 As when a giant dies.'* 



But if we examine the context we shall find that he is referring 

 only to the sense of death — ' Dar'st thou to die ; the sense of 

 death is most in apprehension/ &c. ; and we may safely con- 

 sider that the meaning is, that death is not more accompanied 

 with a sense of pain or suffering in the giant, than in the 

 beetle. 



" Independent of our knowledge of the poets, wc have, 

 most of us, been led to beheve by our parents and teachers, 

 that it is cruel to kill a fly, or to run a pin through a cock- 

 chafer ; that the gentle angler, who uses a lively worm as a 

 bait for a hungry fish, deserves a far different epithet ; and we 

 have had our sympathies roused by the very natural question, 

 how should we like some giant to run a hook through us, and 

 use us for a bait to some tremendous shark ? 



" These considerations having been instilled into our minds 

 in early youth, before we have had opportunities for examining 

 for ourselves, are usually deemed conclusive in after years ; 

 and all our prejudices being on the side of humanity, we look 

 upon the question before us as one which cannot admit of a 

 doubt. 



♦ Measure for Measure. — Act 3rd, Scene 3rd. 



