MR. ROMANES ON VIVISECTION.
[re THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] S1R,—As a member of the Society for the Protection of Animals liable to Vivisection, I crave the insertion of a few lines in vindication of my "reason " and "sincerity." so rudely ques- tioned. in the Times of last Monday by its correspondent, Mr. Roinanes. Because a form of' cruelty exists in which rabbits arc tortured by spring-traps, he cannot conceive that anti- vivisectionists can be reasonable or sincere in becoming " agita. tore" against the cruelties perpetrated by certain physiologists,
This is as unreasonable as it would be to question the con- sistency of a man who subscribes to the Hospital for Sick Children, while far greater suffering is endured in the Cancer Hospital, to which he is not a subscriber. The subject of rabbit-traps comes within the scope of the Society for the Pre- vention of Cruelty to Animals the subject of vivisection does rot. Hence I, for one, became a member of the Anti-vivisection Society.
And, Sir, I indignantly repudiate the accusation of compara- tive indifference to the wide-spread cruelty he alludes to, and I cannot allow to this self-styled " lover of animals" the monopoly of sympathy with their sufferings which he seems to claim.
So strongly do I feel upon the subject, that were I and my fellow-members exposed to tenfold the injustice conveyed in the sneers of our "vituperator," I should still rejoice that he has, though in a manner so uncanny, directed public attention to the sufferings of these unfortunate rabbits. And if he can see his way to prove his " sincerity" by organising any plan for the mitigation of these sufferings, I can promise him that no con- tempt that he may show towards them will render the members .of the Society for the Protection of Animals liable to Vivisection the less forward to co-operate with him.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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