TOOTH AND CLAW 



There is blood and death in the jungle, but no 

 lust of pain; but in the German prisons, and in the 

 path of Germany's armies, there was the deliberate 

 infliction of suffering and agony for their own sakes, 

 so that for generations to come the name of Ger 

 many will stand for all that is selfish, cruel, un- 

 chivalrous, ignoble, insulting, and bestial in human 

 history. The Prussian officer spat in the face of his 

 prisoners of a like rank, and followed this with in- 

 sulting epithets and blows, seeking in every way to 

 bring them down to his own bestial level. The Prus- 

 sian nurse brought to a wounded British soldier the 

 glass of water he begged for, held it close to his face 

 then poured it on the ground, handing him the 

 empty glass. 



ii 



Nature has an anaesthetic of her own which she 

 uses in taking life. The carnivorous animals inflict 

 far less pain than appearances would seem to indi- 

 cate. Tooth and claw usually overwhelm by a sud- 

 den blow, and sudden blows benumb and paralyze- 

 Violence in this light is the handmaiden of Mercy 

 If the surgeon could perform his operations in the 

 same sudden and violent manner, an anaesthetic 

 would rarely be needed. Livingstone was conscious 

 of but little pain when in the jaws of a lion, and its 

 prey no doubt feels as little. The human criminal, 

 electrocuted or hung or beheaded, probably experi- 



165 



