1882.] Bestiarianism v. Common Sense . 455 
well-known truths overlooked, arguments systematically ig- 
nored have been the very sum and substance of the onslaught 
upon physiological experimentation. Two national pecu- 
liarities have greatly facilitated the task of our enemies. 
John Bull, in spite of his vaunted common sense and prac- 
ticality, is especially liable to be thrown into a state of 
stampedo. Like his four-footed prototype, when the buzz of 
a gadfly is heard, he gallops over any and everything, and 
will some time, in one of these fits, break his own neck, 
which will of course be a case of “ magnificent self-abnega- 
tion ! ” And such gadflies are among us fearfully common. 
We are likewise as a nation apt to listen with devout credu- 
lity to persons of rank and “ consideration,” however little 
acquaintance they may have with the question at issue. 
That by these and kindred means “ a strong and wide- 
spread public sentiment ” has been created, we do not 
dispute. But we can have no respect for such sentiment. 
We can put it on a level only with the hallucinations of a 
fever-patient or a lunatic. It must indeed be remembered 
in this connection that insanity in its formal and acknow- 
ledged shape is multiplying out of all proportion to the 
increase of the population. Serjeant Cox calculated that, if 
the growth of insanity continues at its present rate, we 
shall have, in another thirty years, a million and a quarter 
of lunatics in these kingdoms. It may be asked by some- 
one, What is the bearing of this view upon the question ? 
It is simply this : when in an unhealthy climate, or in a 
sickly season, the death-rate is high, we may be sure that 
the amount of disease and debility not proving immediately 
fatal will be much higher. In like manner, if insanity is 
augmenting in any country, we may be sure that there will 
be its increasing penumbra of semi- insanity, — of people who 
though not put under restraint, but allowed to write and 
make speeches and vote, are not guided by sound reason, but 
by passion and sentiment. Could we search the Bestiarian 
ranks we feel confident that we should find multitudes of this 
class — perhaps, even, some who might with advantage to 
their own health be put under restraint and due treatment. 
Many persons have felt staggered by the fact that a few 
physicians and surgeons have thrown in their lot with the 
enemy. The leaders of the movement are obviously aware 
of the effect which such defections produce upon the public 
mind, and lose no opportunity of parading such “doctors” 
at their meetings. We must, however, call the attention of 
our readers to certain considerations which will solve this 
apparent anomaly. Though most medical men are, in the 
