R. H. HUTTON AND VIVISECTION
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Now that the chorus of congratulations on the centenary of the Spectator has somewhat subsided, will you allow one of your constant readers for over half a century to call attention to an extraordinary omission in your sketch of the editorial career of Mr. R. H. Hutton ?
I allude to the leading and persistent part he played in the long fight against vivisection.
I well remember how he_ lifted up his voice,. both in the columns of the Spectator and elsewhere,against the use in the laboratories of what he well called - that " infernal drug, curare "—a drug which paralyses an animal's muscles without causing unconsciousness.
__Readers of the -Spectator. who take a painful, or painless, interest in this question of the legalized torture of animals, now politely called research, will know that you, Sir, have supported the proposal that stray and homeless dogs should be handed over to the vivisectors. But the fact of your own attitude on this subject being opposed to that of Mr. Hutton cannot justify your leaving out an essential feature in your portrait of am, Sir, &c., GRACE L. PALETHORPE.
Seathwaite, Broughton in Furness. . . .
[We can assure our correspondent that the omission of any reference to -Mr. Hutton's feelings on the subject of vivisection was not intentional. Nevertheless, we do not propose -to throw open our columns - for a discussion of the subject at the present -time.--En. Spectator.] •
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