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Letter to Arthur Helps March 1873
Author: G.H.Lewes
Recipient: Arthur Helps
Date: ??/03/1873
Collection: The Helps Letters
County Record Office Ref: CR3989/3/1/4
Nuneaton Library Facsimile: yes | | |
Description
G H Lewes’s letter to Arthur Helps tells him he has finished 'the book'. G H Lewes suggests 3 amendments to the work produced by Helps, the third encouraging an alteration to Help's observations on vivisection. Written from The Priory, Regent's Park. Library index attaches date of 2 March 1873. Signed G H Lewes.
Facsimile
pages 1 and 4
pages 2 and 3 | |
Transcript
The Priory,
21, North Bank,
Regents Park.
Sunday
My dear Helps
I have now finished the book, and have only one regret - that it was not longer! A good fault. Apropos of fault, I noticed two trifles, and one serious - 1st Tellamiad was not an Arabian Author, but the anagram of De Maillet one of Darwin's absurd predecessors. 2nd It was Dr. Johnson who supposed some men's nonsense suited their arrogance.
3rd What you say on Vivisection though excellent in spirit proceeds on two misconceptions. First that it has not led to discovery, secondly that it is necessarily accompanied with pain. All physiological discovery was made through experiment, and of experiment a greater part is Vivisection. Since the discovery of anaesthetic almost all experiments render the animals unconscious, not only for the sake of sparing pain, but for the precision of the operation.
I have performed hundreds, and never once, except in very trifling cases, operated without anaesthesia. Nor indeed could I see another operate without it. There are some experiments which do not admit of the application of anaesthesia, but these are few & one of the very greatest living experimentors Schiff always narcotizes. In France they are culpably reckless on this point - a tradition with them. Now it would make your indignation all the more effective if it were to be thrown solely on the gravamen of the case - the needless vivisection and the carelessness as to pain. In the way you state the case only those who know vivisection from indignation pamphlets can agree with you. Pray see to this in a second edition, as you, one of the justest of men, would certainly not be cruel to animals nor to vivisection.
Ever faithfully yours
G.H.L.
If you had ever stood bye & seen a rabbit wake up after an operation (the mere pain) of which would have killed him had he not taken chloral or chloroform and begin to munch his cabbage just as if nothing had occurred you would have no doubt about the comparative indifference to him of having been experimented on.
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