The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1874-11-01
yIvISECrION.


vIvISECrION.
Do9AS1AA1skssyyxs U1DKa x.1nAz1osE
Dr.. Crosby says, in the New York Tribune
Rabbits and harss, it Is believed, are suscepti'
BILE to little or no pain. this sense In them be-
ing superseded by other senses. They are
very prolific. but it is probably rare that one
dies Of old age. They are the natural prey
/ and food of wild cats, weasels, foxes and other
i carnivorous animals. When caught, they are
incapable of resistance, and hence pain would
be OF no advantage to them, either to warn
them of danger or to excite them to struggle
against it The lack of this sense is compen-
stated by very prominent eyes, set SO far back
on the side Of the head as to enable the ami
NAL to see in every direction The ears are
large and capable of turning SO as to
catch the slightest sound, and innate timidity
keeps the creature constantly on the alert 1t
is well established fact with hunters that
hares do no. cry out when shot if they have q
chance to escape by hiding. When, however
they are pursued and in danger OF being
caught, or when they are ensnared in net,
their cries aye piteous, although they cannot,
Of course, arise from pain When once
seized they seldom cry and are easily dis
patched, apparently without pain. Rabbits,
when pursued by weasels, cry out, but when
seized remain mOtionless, and are hnlshed
without suffering. Every boy who has fol-
lowed the woods knows that rabbit caught
in steel trap frequently pulls away from it,
leaving tendons lacerated, or even biting the
! leg off A hunter once caught rabbit which
| had lost three legs in this way, but 1t was tat
and livelv. and fed we'll Rats also have been
known to bite tie leg off when caught IN a
trap.
animals that get their living by hunting, never
do this They may sometimes lose leg, cut
off directly by q trap but as q general thing
will never gnaw off an extremity. Foxes and
animals of similar characted have often been
found starved in traps. A rabbit under the
same circumstances would have speedily freed
himself Such facts as these seem to show
conclusively that the sense Of pain was de-
signed for the preservation of animals, COM
pellino them to take due care them selves. The
benefcence of God is to be remarked in this
that no animal has o greater share OF the sense
of than is necessary for its preservation. A
rat or rabbit, though Inconvenience by the
loss of leg, can still provide itself with lta
usual food But the loss Of a leg in the case
| of foxes and other carnlvora is liable to be the
signal of starvation, unless their game is I'M
usually plenty. So these animals legs are OF
the utmost importance, and hence they are
endowed with q sense Of pain proportionate to
their preservation.
| Crabs and Holsters throw off claws after
fright or injury with Indifference. Their
sense Of pain is very slight, nor is that sense
essential to the crustaceous tribes. Coated
with armor strong enough to resist all minor
enemies, the sense of pain would be OF no
value to them, because any animal that had
the power to crush their shell must inevitably
destroy They evidently suHer great pain in
| L L,~$ of iii
has furnished covering protective against
injury but as they may range all parts OF the
sea- sense Of temperature is probably essen
tial to keep them in those parts which they
are formed to inhabit. It may be that this
sense of temperature tells them not only the
part, but the depth Of the sea necessary
| for their young to reach maturity. Sir Hum
phrey Davy, who devoted much time and re-
search in investigating the habits and pecull-
les of fishes, came to the conclusion that
their sense of pain is trifling. celebrated
naturalist affirms that a single cod deposits
H. OOO. 900 eggs. OF these only q few hatch,
and out of my RAIDS perhaps four reach ma
turty. As the rest Of these are eaten, it
seems probable that Divine goodness has rem
dered them little susceptible to pain.
As far as insects are concerned, the sense of
pain is obviously slight. Thus o wasp has
been observed to eat fly Immediately after its
own abdomen had been cut away. Cockcha-
fers have been seen crawling about and eating
| voraciously after the same injury. 1t is Q
common fact IN entomology that the dragon
| fly will eat for long time after being fastened
down with pin. That God should have rem
dared these creatures only slightly susceptible
| to pain seems all the more probable when we
take into account the slaughter constantly
going on among the lower classes of animals.
| The number of flies destroyed by single pair
of swallows must beenormous. In proof Il
| this law of destruction, the author already
quoted relates the folio wing incident: 1 once
observed rather extraordinary illustration OF
the law of nature to eat and be eaten. l
kept in glass globe variety Of the smaller
aquatic animals, such as the Larvae OF the dra-
gon fly, ETC., and one day introduced among
them q few of the common water nevis and
water bee les, one Of which was the DHiscus
| nsorgindl;s.
The dragon-fiies had been living on the ami
malcule, etc.; the nevis attacked and de-
voured the dragon.fy. The next morning l
found one of the nevis lying at the bottom Of
| the vessel, half eaten, and while looking on
saw the ditiscus attack another newt Not
wishing to have them all destroyed, took the
dtiscus ont of the water and put it in the sun
shine few minutes, when it few away, and
| had not gone more than thirty or forty yards
| constant destruction of lite would be fearful
| to contemplate if there is truth in the quota
ton often made that the poor beetle that
we tread on in corporal sufferance finds pang
Us great as when giant dies"
| The above considerations and others that
| might be adduced seem to show that the hui
| manitarian, in Directing to vivsections, is SEN
timental rather than rational The fact that
! vivisections are practiced with the animal
even the last vestige of sentiment An :,
finally, to the humanitarian and scientist alike,
the facts adduced above cannot fail to bring
peace when they indulge in the matutinal
South-down or the midday toast beef
GROWTH OF THE HEBEEws.-Rev. DR.. Lii
lienthal, of Cincinnati, consecrated new
Jewish Temple at Macon, GA, few days ago.
and remarked AS follows of the prospect y Of