IS NATURE_ CRUEL ?
In my letter on " Is Nature Cruel ? " to which Mr. E. C. Oppenheim replies in your issue of April 27th, my point of view was to show that whether the infliction of suffering in "evolutionary processes " can accurately be defined as cruelty —or at any rate as conscious cruelty—it does most emphatic- ally rule out humane methods in the evolution of species. I -maintain, therefore, that in the larger and ultimate sense .nature must be regarded as cruel.—P. MAUI) SIMON.
Does not the well-known account given by Dr. Livingstone of his experiences in Africa when his shoulder was torn by a lion confirm Dr. Horsfall's statement that the victims of Nature's apparent cruelty may. often be, during its infliction, insensible to pain ? Dr. Livmgstone: declares he had no sensation of- pain.—DENuAst Osnomin, Fairfield House, Highfield Road, Dublin.
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