ical laboratory in
this country." The experimenter is undoubtedly correct. Neither he
nor anyone else in or out of a laboratory has ever "SEEN PAIN."

Some of Dr. Starling's testimony on the subject of pain is very
curious. Pain, he tells the Commissioners, "would spoil the
experiment," and "A PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT WHICH IS PAINFUL IS
THEREBY A BAD EXPERIMENT." He is asked whether "there are any
operations performed under circumstances in which the animal is
necessarily and intentionally sensitive to some pain?" Without any
apparent hesitation he replied: "NO, NEVER." Surely this is a
remarkable assertion. He is not speaking, so far as one can see, of
his own laboratory, but of all the laboratories of the world. If,
since the discovery of anaesthesia over sixty years ago, there has
been painful physiological experimentation in England, in America, or
on the Continent of Europe, IT HAS BEEN BAD EXPERIMENTATION. THE PAIN
INFLICTED HAS SPOILED THEIR WORK. One may not be inclined to dispute
this opinion, and yet be quite certain that some very eminent
vivisectors in Europe and America would question its accuracy so far
as their own work is concerned.

It is interesting to compare these assertions with the testimony given
by another physiologist--Dr. Pembrey, the lecturer on physiology at
Guy's Hospital in London. He tells the Commission that "a common-
sense view should be taken of the question," and then makes a definite
admission that by no means bears out the contention of the
physiologist of University College. "I ADMIT," said Dr. Pembrey, "THAT
I HAVE DONE PAINFUL EXPERIMENTS, and I am not ashamed of admitting
it." He goes yet further, declaring that if you caused an animal to
suffer extreme agony, the pain itself might be so severe as to render
the creature unconscious. It is probable that the physiologist could
not have foreseen the results of his candid admissions. When the
Commission made their final report, they expressed unanimously the
opinion that "to grant a licence to any person holding such views as
those formerly expressed by Dr. Klein and as those entertained by
Dr. Pembrey is calculated to create serious misgiving in the mind of
the public."

Closely allied to this question is the problem of anaesthesia. Fifty
years ago ether and chloroform were administered to animals very much
as they were given to human beings undergoing operations in surgery.
An animal returning to consciousness gave