New-York tribune., 1881-12-26
VIVISECTION IN ENGLAND.
PROFESSOR FERRlEBs CAsE-sTATE OF
OPINION AND LAW.

~. Terrier case rather nkindly. They dragged
prof.ssar Fcrrier disingu Shell physiOoglst, INTO
fine tolice court. When they got him there theS
were unable to prove anything against him. Ihtir
own witnesses on The other hand, testified 'h' ''o
exuefimcnts which Professor crrier wa SuPFos'u
70 have performed had in fact been peIior'ug" ny
Dr Gerald Yeo; and performed in accordance
with tho provisions Of the Act and the terms oi ms
license. The Anti-Viviscclion Society, which took
,,r..,afincs went out Of court IN confusion ana
,ut T. n,rst have been in consequence of this
Ii.tprlauce of mind thBt they forgot 10 ober an
aoology to Professor Ferrer fo the indignity they
lad sought 10 impose upon him. They have hteh
tco busy in writing angry letters to the newspapers
10 find time 10 write a civil ono to the man they
had insultcd. They seem moreover 10 suspect
that a practical joke has been played on them. Inc
reports of these experiments. winch appeared I'D the
two leading medical journals of London gave
credit for them to Professor Ferrer The anu
yivisectionIsts snapped at the story. and took out
a summons without troubling themselves to get any
evidence. Now ore of their organs hints that the
medical Journals wiully made the mistake, sub
stiiutipr Professor Ferrers name for Or. lcos.
don't know whether they did or not III Is not
likely but. If it were done, the ivIviNechonsts
would have little to complain of. People who lie
in wait for victims, and seize greCdy upon pre-
text for putting the criminal law III motion against
men of science for pushing scientific researches
need not expect pity if they in their turn are VIC
tmized.
Miss Frances Power Cobbe is the leading spirit Of
this anti -vivisectOn society," She Is Honorary
Secretary of IT, and no small part OF her sccrearial
duties seems to consist in writing letters TO the
papers Since the acquttal of Professor Frrrer her
Pen has been very active indeed Miss Cobbe looks
with disfayor not Oh vlvsecrors only, but on the
whole mnAical profession. She at its alleged
humanity She cannot bear TO be reminded that
the recent Medical Congress in London adopted
unanimously resolution that vyisectlOn is indls-
pensable to the progress of medical science
81 beg TO ask cries she, Z" W neither, if such
q thing as a great legal congress had taken
place at any period of English history. down
10 the latter half Of the seN Neutcenth century, 1t
would not have boen likewise unanimously re
solved that judicial torture was indispensable to
the safety of the State aud the promotion OF the
sacred ends of jusiice'" And Miss Cobbe, who
never shrnks from a strong statement, assures us
that the Whole LEGAL profession in former times
backed up its members who devoted themselves to
tcrturing men, precisely the doctors now do
their comrades :" who devote themselves to the
loathly task of yIvisection'
This is sonoruus and triumphant. but unlucky on
the historical side writer who chooses to OBJ
scare his IDENTITY under Gre itial. hut who is
a lawyer Of eruditIon, answers Miss Cohhe with
painful precision IL is true. he says that the officers
OF State who inflicted torture were sometimes law
vers. The preIogatives OF the Crown were then
underlined and torture allowed TO pass aS one OF
lis supposed incidents by lawyers and laymen
alike But there never was any formal legal ap
proval such a. Miss C0bbc fances On one occasion
ami one only was the duty est upon English law
yers of declaring the law with regard to torture
That was the FELTON, case The judges were cen
shifted on that occasion, and their unanimous and
unqualified answer was that the practice was
wholly Illegal aud the purpOS" OF putting FELTON, to
the torture was abandoned. " Ii is no business of
mine." concludes this lawyer, {" 20 defend the ply 81
clans and Psychologists against Miss Cobbc, but
really think she might be content with hbellihg
one profession at time"
II is doubtful whether this society of anti-vivi-
eectors Is not doing moro harm than good to ITS
own cause Such blunders as those of the Ferrier
prosecution disgust the public People may not like
cruelty animals, but neither do they like cruelty
70 men; even to men of science. Mss Cohhe is
writer of some rhetorical ability. but she is not
iudcious advocate. 1t is question whether
women do often appear to advantage IN public
controversies. Tney animated by praseworthy
sentiments but they are not always accurate, and
are sometimes shrilL The Irish cause, for example,
has not perceptibly gained in popularity since Miss
Anne Parnell and MISS Helen TAYLOR took to scold-
ing Mr. Gladstone the platform.
VIyisection or anti-vivisectiOn is not n subject on
winch care TO dispute. But have heard it good
deal discussed from time to time by men whose
eminence in science is Of the highest. and whose hu
uanity | should value as highly as Miss Col be's :;
men who abhOr cruelty as mneh as thev love scien-
tiGc research The substance of their talk on this
part Of the matter may be briefly stated. They do
regard vivissction as absolutely essential to the
4 1,g,t.a ,ioalE Enn laIr
They do consider that vivisection has conf nrlbnted
largely to the increase of such knowledge. They
agrce that experiments living animals ought TO
be so conducted that suffering shall be reduced 20
minimum. They say that il England such expert
ments have generally been conducted. In 80 far
as il has been otberwse-here or On the Continent
they regret it and condemn it and gather they
are disposed TO admit that some foreign physiolo
cists have shown an indifference to animal suffering
and even a readiness to intict needless pain; which
thev deplore as much as Miss Cobbe could.
With respect TO the present state of tho law in
England. they hold pretty strong opinions. The
VIvisection Act is the result of a compromise IL is
not 40 STRINGENT as Miss CObbe and her party
wanted and It is much more stringent than men OF
science think necessary or, from any point OF view,
expedent. Much depends on the way in which 1t Is
worked. The Home Secretary has pretty large
discretion under the statute. Ii he were OF the
Cobbs party. he could make vlvsection all but i'm
possible II he be a moderate and reasonable man.
lie may interpret he Act as to allow physiolo-
eist 10 pursue particular line of inquiry, aud per-
form without much hindrauce one class or set Of
experiments at time. But license must be
granted in each case and for specified object. The
license is for year only. and must be renewed an
nualy, provided the Home Secretary thinks fit to
renew it, The application for a license must
specify infinitely the object of the experiments and