IBature IBotes : 
XTbc Selborne Society’s abagasine. 
No. ii8. OCTOBER, 1899. Vol. X. 
SELBORNIANA. 
English Bull Fights. — One of the most depressing of 
recent incidents to any one having a love for Nature has been 
the encouragement given by hundreds of English men and 
women to the disgusting barbarities perpetrated at Boulogne. 
The only consoling thought that saves one from the conclusion 
that as a nation we have made no progress towards humanity 
is that the press has been unanimously outspoken in denounc- 
ing these spectacles. 
The Tormented Tiger. — We gladly reprint the following 
protest from The Daily Chronicle : — 
“Sir, — T he scene described in The Daily Chronicle as having taken place at 
the Alexandra Palace is a disgrace to civilisation, and should be held up as such. 
That an animal (in this case a tiger) should be whipped before the public, 
because he objects to ascend steps, &c., and attacks bis daily tormentor when 
an opportunity occurs (and how he must hate him or her I), and that the public 
should submit to be reprimanded by the exhibitor for showing their disapproval 
of the whipping, is altogether an outrage against humanity, its sense of unfairness 
and cruelty, if it has any such natural sentiments left in these days of unprece- 
dented tortures ; also it is an outrage against common sense. 
“ Are the public expected to appreciate and become used to the whipping, 
and to stifle their feelings of mercy and good will to the dumb wild creatures w’ho 
have been caught for the purpose of these exhibitions ! A writer on this subject 
says that could the public daily witness the training instead of the show, they 
would protest instead of applauding, but it seems the public is to be gradiially 
inured to any amount of torture ; hot-ironing may be done before their eyes in 
the future. And what is it that they go to see? — a wild creature do what its 
muscles and anatomy were not made by the Creator to do. Why not go to see 
men walk on the ceiling, and allow another to flog them or prong them if they 
do not perform satisfactorily ? As a matter of fact, walking on the ceiling has 
been attempted, and men have had the want of common sense to gaze at it. 
“ Shall we never have an Act passed to prevent the exhibiting of performing 
animals ? Why should human beings have the power to lower the national 
character by such means ? Why should children be brought to see and enjoy 
these senseless, cruel sights (practising a good deal of it at home on their own 
