THE APPARENT CRUELTY OF NATURE. 271 
day dawned and got down, the man following him amongst the 
long grass. Suddenly he became conscious that he was in the 
presence of the tiger, seeing its yellow face looking at him from 
the grass. He fired, and they fell together. He heard the bones 
of his shoulder crunch, but felt no pain. He said he was so 
stunned that he hardly knew what occurred, but remembers 
wondering whether he was going to die. He then heard a sort of 
sigh from the tiger, and his man, who was near him, pulled him 
out of the tiger’s mouth. The man said, “For God’s sake, fire, 
the tiger is moving again!” He raised the rifle to his shoulder and 
felt the crushed bones as he fired. It was all done ina dreamy, 
semi-conscious state. He was carried home, where he remained for 
months, and was at last sent to England, exhausted by suffering, 
with the shoulder crippled and a wasted arm with bone exfoli- 
ating. This is an instance of a man suffering no pain under 
severe injury; but it is not to be supposed that pain is never felt on 
infliction of a serious injury. 
I remember on a critical occasion during the siege of Lucknow, 
talking to an officer, who, half an hour after our conversation, was 
shot dead. A man had been shot somewhere in the spine, close to 
us, and his sufferings were intense. My companion said, “I hope 
when my time comes, I shall not suffer lke this,” and within an 
hour he was dead, with a bullet through the head. 
Whether it be correct to speak of cruelty in connection with 
Nature, I think is questionable. To be cruel, implies a conscious 
intention. An animal cannot be cruel, I take it; man can be. A 
wolf is not cruel; he only obeys his instincts. 
I think the Paper is most interesting, and the Author’s remarks 
on the lower animals are very true. False sentiment should not 
be thrown broadcast throughout the world; it hinders the advance 
of knowledge, and leaves our nation behind others in the march 
of science. Some persons, without hesitation, will impale one 
creature and drag it through the water till it impales another on 
a hook, then go home and sign a petition against vivisection. I 
am glad this paper has been written. People see an invertebrate 
creature writhing on the ground, and think that it suffers pain, 
when it is merely reflex action. Reflex action is often mis- 
taken for pain or suffering. After certain injuries to the spine, 
you may see a man lying in bed paralysed—you tickle the sole of 
his foot, and his leg is drawn up, but he does not feel it. The 
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