304 
ON THK DISSECTION OF 
it may be, from mere idleness. I am sorry that in onr own 
islands it is common among teachers of anatomy to recommend 
the practice of vivisection to their students; but, then, this re¬ 
commendation is merely to ^ make experiments on the lower 
animals.’ Yes; but this making of experiments includes every 
species of cruelty that the most savage ingenuity can invent: it 
includes sawing off portions of the scull and paring away the 
brain in slices, to see what effect is produced by wounding one 
part more than another !—it includes the starving of animals to 
death, for the purpose of ascertaining the appearance of their 
stomach!—it includes the tying of ligatures on the bile-duct, the 
thoracic-duct, the pylorus, and other parts, all which is accom¬ 
panied with excruciating torture to the victim operated on !—it 
includes the laying bare of the heart, to observe the strength of 
its action ; dividing nerves, cutting away viscera, and many other 
operations which are accompanied with the direst cruelty, and 
nine-tenths of which, after all, relate to matters of curiosity aionCy 
and lead to no prcictical benejit of any kind ! 
“ It may be curious enough, that, when a particular part of the 
brain is wounded, the animal has a tendency to move forward ; 
when another, to move backward; and when a third and a fourth, 
to turn round ; but I cannot think the knowledge of these cir¬ 
cumstances by any means worth the price it has cost ; and, after 
all, it merely shews what takes place when the brain is denuded, 
and wounded, and, consequently, its natural function deranged, 
if not destroyed. Putting aside the sufferings of the thousands 
of animals which have been sacrificed in experimenting and ex¬ 
hibiting these phenomena in lectures and demonstrations, I can¬ 
not but think that the witnessino; of such cruelties must have a 
very demoralizing effect. I cannot conceive how a person can 
become coolly reconciled to the sight, let alone the practice, of 
such murderous acts, and continue to retain proper feelings of 
humanity for his own species. In this I may be wrong; but 
whether or not, I am satisfied that to recommend to students 
the pursuit, or even to exhibit to them the view, of such dissec¬ 
tions as I have adverted to, is to run the risk of making them at 
once cruel and speculative, and at the same time neglectful of 
those branches of solid knowledge which will qualify them to be 
truly useful in their profession. 
“ I know it is often urged, that medical knowledge has been 
greatly improved by experimenting in this way on animals. That 
it has been a little, I w ill grant, but only a little, for the pheno¬ 
mena w'hich take place in animals will often not apply to ourselves 
in the practice or treatment of either w^ounds or diseases. Expe¬ 
riments to determine the action of poisons, and ascertain their 
