DARWINISM AND VIVISECTION 225 



Of all the petitions that he drew up and had pre- 

 sented to Parliament, none were worded in stronger 

 and more characteristic language than those which 

 related to vivisection. His reasons against it were 

 clearly stated, and every argument he could think 

 of that would tell against it he made use of. The 

 cowardliness of it, its diabolical cruelty, its com- 

 parative uselessness, its exemplification of the 

 thoroughly unsound position that, even granting 

 untold blessings resulted to the human race from 

 it, we may do evil that good may come. He would 

 say that those should allow themselves to be 

 operated upon who, admitting that they themselves 

 were descended from lower forms of animal life, 

 believed that there was much to be said for the 

 notion that such animals are mere machines and 

 have no feelings. He held, with Professor Newman, 

 that vivisection "cannot be justified without justify- 

 ing the scientific torture of men ; that to torture a 

 man is not wrong on the ground that he is intel- 

 ligent or immortal, but only because he has a 

 sensitive body ; and the same is true of all verte- 

 brated animals." He entirely disbelieved in the 

 idea that any valuable discoveries had been made 

 by means of vivisection that might not have been 

 reached in other ways. In 1878 he drew up a peti- 

 tion couched in these words : 



"The Petition of the undersigned Rector of 

 Nunburnholme, in the East Riding of the County 

 of York, showeth That licenses for experiments 

 on living animals were granted only on the re- 



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