SOMERVILLE HALL : A MISNOMER.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:]
SIR,—I regret to be compelled to verify my letter of December 27th, by explaining that Mr. Pelham's autograph letter to me of December 4th differed essentially in the most important sen- tence from the version of it which appears in your current.
issue.
In Mr. Pelham's autograph letter, which lies before me and
which is accurately printed in the Zoophilist for January (posted by to him on December 31st), Mr. Pelham wrote as. follows :- "That for several years past, those female students who take up. Physiology,—whether belonging to Somerville Hall, Lady Mar garet Hall, or resident elsewhere in Oxford, have—under the arrangements made by the Central Association—attended Professor Sanderson's lectures. These arrangements have worked well, in the opinion of every one concerned with female studies here,. whether anti-vivisectionist or not. These arrangements, though not made by our Council, have been implicitly sanctioned by them,_ and have been set forth year after year in the Annual Report, without eliciting any unfavourable comments."
In the Spectator, the passage which I have italicised,.
" attended Professor Sanderson's lectures," appears thus t. " been able to use the Physiological Laboratory at the Museum." In making this change (as it seems to me, un- warrantably) in a letter delivered a month ago, Mr. Pelham
has overlooked the circumstance that on his original statement he had based his argument on behalf of the election of Pro- fessor Burdon-Sanderson's wife to the Council of the College, . —namely, that these arrangements " have been set forth year after year in the Annual Report, without eliciting any unfavour- able comments." The non-appearance of such unfavourable comments was not remarkable when, as a matter of fact, the name of Professor Burdon-Sanderson never occurred, either. "year after year," or in any year in the last six annual re- ports of Somerville Hall. As I mentioned a fortnight ago; Mr... Pelham states that no students of Somerville have taken up- physiology, but several have taken up animal morphology, in which study they enjoy one term's instruction in elementary • physiology, generally given by the assistants, rarely by the Professor. In one case, in the Report for 1890, the name of Professor Ray Lankester occurs as a lecturer on animal morphology to the Somerville students.
Mr. Pelham asserts that, "in the museum laboratories,_ which were, by the courtesy of the Professors, open to all female students, whether belonging to Somerville Hall or not, no vivisection is allowed." If this be strictly true, it is singu- lar that in last year's Parliamentary Returns the inspector should have registered (p. 19) Dr. Francis Gotch as licensed to vivisect at " Oxford Physiological Laboratory, University Museum." Be this as it may, I trust, Sir, that, as Mr... Pelham has obtained the full publication of his letter to me (with variations), you will do me the favour to publish the, single paragraph of my reply to the same, wherein lies the, gist of my contention :- " Like most persons who have not given special attention to' this painful controversy, you,.and probably many members of the Council, are impressed with the idea that it is merely against the actual participation of students in the practice of cruel experi- ments that we protest. Allow me to assure you that our animosity goes much deeper—oven to the entire character of the mortal principles by which vivisection is, and can only be, defended,-:- principles which assort the limitless rights of strength over weak-. nese, which rank knowledge above goodness, and make the syste- matic suppression of the instincts of compassion in man—and even in woman—a glory instead of a disgrace. It is these prin- ciples which we must now regard as tolerated, if not adopted, by the authorities of the institution which bears the name of a. woman who regarded thorn with reprobation and abhorrence ; and herself led the first organised attempt to put down the cruelty which is their natural outcome'
I shall be happy to give copies of the correspondence from
the Zoophilist to any one taking interest in the subject.-1 Hengwrt, Dolgelly, January 4th.
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