24 APPLIED BIOLOGY 



33. Nature-Study of Frog and Toad. Readers of this 

 book who have not studied, perhaps in elementary-school 

 nature-study, the habits of life of the common toad and frogs 

 should read at least one of the following : " Usefulness of 

 the American Toad," in Farmers' Bulletin No. 196 (free 

 from U. S. Dept. of Agriculture) ; " Life History of the 

 Toad," in Cornell Nature-Study Leaflets; or Chapter 16 

 in Hodge's " Nature-Study and Life." 



34. Justifiable Use of Animals for Science Study. Some 

 people think it wrong to kill frogs or other animals for scien- 

 tific study, but such persons do not seem to have considered 

 points 1 to 6 as follows: (1) Much useful knowledge can 

 be obtained from such study. (2) It is no more wrong 

 to kill a few frogs painlessly with chloroform than to kill 

 cattle, sheep, and pigs for our use as food. It is not absolutely 

 necessary that we should have meat for food ; for thousands 

 of people living healthy lives use only plant materials, 

 milk, butter, eggs, and similar foods. This is not to be taken 

 as meaning that animals should not be used for human food ; 

 that is entirely another question which must be answered 

 by the tastes of individuals. But one who favors killing 

 animals for food purposes cannot sincerely oppose scientific 

 study of animals, for the scientific use is no less necessary than 

 the use as food. (3) Killing a few animals painlessly for 

 scientific study does not tend to make the student and teacher 

 cruel and hard-hearted. On the contrary, people who have 

 studied zoology extensively are usually very kind to animals 

 and would not brutally kill a toad with a stone or step on an 

 earthworm. (4) So few animals are required for scientific 

 study that it does not tend to exterminate any species. (5) 

 It is certainly far more justifiable to kill a few animals pain- 

 lessly for the purpose of scientific study than to kill or in- 

 directly to hire others to kill animals for the sake of articles 

 of decoration, such as bird plumage for millinery. No 

 sensible person who wears aigrettes (heron plumes) or seal 



