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Every boy who has ever fished with half a worm for a bait, 

 knows that, as regards the matter of writhing, the tail when 

 separated from the head wriggles as much as the upper half of 

 the body. How then can we, with anything like reason, 

 attribute the apparent struggles to an intensity of suffering ? 

 They are simply convulsions of the muscular system, conse- 

 quent upon irritation of the nerves ; and as such, analogous 

 to the spasms that may be produced by galvanism in the 

 thigh of a frog, or the paralytic limb of a human being. 



"Let us not, however, be content with argument alone, 

 which may, at the best, deceive us. Let us turn to the wide 

 book .of nature, and observe what is taking place constantly 

 around us. Let us see if there are not instances of creatures 

 naturally, and we may almost say voluntarily, performing feats 

 which, were they to be done by others, would be supposed to 

 subject them to intense pain? 



" Do we not see insects fly to a bright bght, burn their 

 wings, and yet continue to nutter about it till they are wholly 

 consumed, or are, at any rate, incapable of further flight — an 

 observation that has not escaped one of our living authors, 

 who makes one of liis finest characters remark — 



" ' We are lite the insects 

 Caught by the glittering of a gayrish flame. 

 But oh ! the wings once scorched, the brightest star 

 Lures us no more — and to the fatal light 

 We cling till death.' Lady of Lyons. 



"It is true, that the unfortunate creatures fly, buzz, or 

 creep about as if in agony ; but this does not cease when the 

 head has been cut off, and so may fairly be presumed to arise 

 from direct irritation to the nervous system — to be, in fact, a 

 species of convulsions altogether independent of consciousness. 



" If we handle a leech or a caterpillar, no matter how gentle 

 the touch, they will appear, from the violence of their efforts 

 to escape, to be suffering severely. They writhe and twist 

 themselves aboui in every way, and show what are called 



