The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-11-05
VIVISECTION.
The Sense of Pain Only Present
Where the Preservation OF the AMI
NAL is Aided by it-Instances with
Great Variety of Animals

To the Editor Of the Nelc York Tribune:
SIR-At the present time, when the hu-
manitarian Justly protests against cruelty
| towards animals, and the scientist, with
equal Justice, protests against the abroga-
ton of his necessary privilege of yiVisec-
ton, it may not be uninterestlng to the
public to know how far animals do actu-
ally suffer under mutilation.
1t is proposition susceptible OF abun-
dant proof that the sense OF pain is design
ed for the self-preservatiOn of all animals,
and that each is endowed with this sense
to an extent only sufficient to insure this
result.
l believe that the above proposition Is
applicable to all brutes; that some of them,
| when mutiIated. suffer little, and Others
not at all. But before adducing facts 10
prove this proposition, it will be well Tor
| us TO consider what the proofs OF pain are.
Some persons have enormously supposed
that commissions are a sign of pain. but
nothing could be further from the truth.
SO far from indicating suffering, they only
show that the brain has lost its control
over the rest of the nervous system.
Aside from feeling of muscular soreness.
have never known a patienG conscious OF
suffering during these terrible paroxysms.
Nor is the cry OF an animal any proof OF
pain. No uprOar can be greater than that
which pig makes, on being seized, how
ever gently, vet it would be absurd TO re-
gard this as mark of pain.
The struggling of animals has been con-
strued as sign, but this may be owing to
their natural timidity unde- restraint.
| The question can, perhaps, be better de-
cided by observing how tar animals are
disturbed BY mutilatiOn. During the
bloody battle of the Fair Oaks | saw the
! fore leo of horse carried away by solid
shot. He fell, but made no noise, and so
! far as / could see gave no evidence OF pain.
! On the contrary, he soon struggled TO his
feet and commenced feeding. In STOPPING
saw the stump frequently strike the
ground, but the horse gave no signs OF
disturbance. During the engagement the
Federal forces were driven back some two
miles before the impetuous onset OF the
Confederate army, and | lost sight OF him.
| Thirty-siX hours afterwards, the lost
ground having been recovered, was Or
| dered by Gen. Casey to scour the heId
with score of surgeons and ambulances
for the relief of the wounded abandoned
on our retreat. Among the first things
that fixed my attention was the same
horse, which had survived the battle,
quietly feeding, surrounded by the killed
and wounded as they had fallen in the
| fight. This horse looked in good condl-
! ton, and seemed to pay no attention to
the mutilated leg, although the bone pro-
| truded through the soft parts and the
wound was filled with maggotS.
A Scotch gentleman by the name OF
Rowell published an article few years
since in the Philosophical Journal, i'll which
he gives some very interesting facts bear
ing upon this question. Some OF these L
have appropriated as quite significant. A
post horse fell in harness, lacerating the
skin and tendOns over the fore fetlock
Joints. The tibia and tibula protruded the
feet turned back, and he walked on the
ends of the bones. The driver being un-
willing to take the responsibility OF killing
the horse. turned him into field near by.
Next morning the coverings were found
forced half way up the legs, holes having
been made four inches deep IN the ground
by the protruded bones, and yet the horse
looked well and apparently-telt well. An
Oxford coach-horse dislOcated both fetlock
Joints. and travelled on the ends of the
bones until they were worn smooth. In
credible as it may seem, the accident was
not discovered until the coach stopped to
change horses. In this latter instance it is
supposed that spirited horse might have
the courage TO keep up. surrounded by
other horses, but in the former instance
there was nothing to stimulate the animal
The facts in these two examples remain the
same.
Naturalists tell us that dormice frequent
ly eat off part when mutilated. Rats
when pressed by hunger, have been OBJ
served eating their own tails. The samt
fact has been remarked of monkeys, anC
at times in menageries it becomes neces
sary to dip their tails in tobacco to prevent
this. At the Jdrdin des PLantes. in Paris
an old mezena, having broken his leg
, Immediately set to work eating it off witt
great gustO. Pigs usually make grea
Outcry when killed, but this is believed t
be the result of fear rather than pain fol
if the animal is stuck unawares he FIRE
( quently remains quiet, making no nois'
! whatever. In these instances the pain il
, evidently much less than in corresponding
i injuries inflicted upon man. The DIVINE
: beneficence is conspicuous in this, becaus'
e pain is neither so necessary nor so usefu
: to brutes as to men. r....
Rabbits and hares, it is believed, are sus
ceptible to little or no pain, this sense il
i them being superseded by other senses
y They are very prolific, but it is pro obabl..
rare that one dies of old age. They ar
the natural prey and food of wild
! cats. weascls, foxes, and other car
: nivorous animals. When caught
Y thcy are incapable of resistance
i and hence pain would be of no advantag
n to them, either to warn them of danger o
= to excite them to struggle againstit. Th
lack of this sense is compensated by yer
y prominent eyes, set so far back in the sid
n of the head as to enable the animal to Sc
= in every direction. The ears are large an
~ capable of turning so as to catch the Sigh
= est sound, and innate timidity keeps tn
If creature constantly on the alert. 1t is
"a well established fact with hunters tn;
a hares do not cry out when shot, if the
~ have a chance of escape by hiding. Whei
70 however, they are pursued and in dangt
~ of being caught, or when they are el
~ shared in a net, their cries are piteOus, a
g though they cannot. of course, arise frol
. pain. When once seized they seldom or.
!. and are easily dispatched, apparen
le ly without pain. Rabbits, when pu
N sued by weasels, cry out, but vine
y. seized remain motionless, and a
S, finished without suffering. Every be
s' who has followed the woods, know
that rabbit, caught in a steel-trap, fr
-. quenUly pulls away from it, leaving te
dons lacerated, or even biting the leg o
"a A hunter once caught rabbit which HI
lost three legs in this way, but it was
and lively, and fed well. Rats also ha
been known to bite the leg off when caug
is in trap.
az Now, it is well known that beasts
nS nS prey, animals that get their living by hui
a. az ing, never do this. They may sometim
l ,nr lose a leg, cut off directly by trap; b.
eo 10 as general thing, they will never gn;
tL off an extremity. Foxes and animals o.
od ~, similar character have often been fou
'Id Td starved in traps. A rabbit, under the sal
u, uu circumstances, whould have speed
~ ~ freed himself. Such facts as these seem
81 show conclusively that the sense OF ps
+ was designed for the preservation OF a
IN N. mails, compelling them to take due care
~ themselves. The beneficence of God is
''n be remarked in this, that no animal ha
greater share of the sense of pain thar
necessary for its preservation. A rat Q
-fy rabbit, though Inconvenience by the Il
ol ola leg, can still provide itself with
edl usual food. But the loss of leg in
,ur , case of foxes and other earnivora is liza
lN -ii1 to be the signal OF starvation, unless III
..n el game is unusually plenty. So the q
i.I i mails legs are Of the utmost importan