To Edward Cardwell 29 October 1875
Oct 29— | 1875
T Ld. Cardwell
My Lord.
From the strong interest which I feel with respect to experiments on living animals in the cause both of humanity & science, I shd feel bound willingly to attend the commission, if I could give evidence of any value.1 But I have never been concerned directly or indirectly with experiments on living animals. I could only express my conviction on general grounds, (firstly, that the [important] science physiology can progress only by the aid of such experiments; secondly that all Physiology wd come judging from a wide-spread analogy to confer sooner or later great benefits on mankind; & thirdly that most experiments can be performed on animals in a state of insensibility; & that to hesitate to try experiments, on animals in this state, whether for original research or for training future physiologists, is mere folly.
On the other hand to try any experiment on an animal, which causes suffering, without full deliberation & the belief that it is necessary, seems to me a great crime
Should the Commission wish me to express those opinions viva voce, I shall feel bound to attend at any time which may be appointed, though my health would suffer considerably, & it is possible I may be incapable of attending at the specific time.2
I have the honour to remain | Your Lordship | obed & obliged Servt
Footnotes
Bibliography
Report of the Royal Commission on vivisection: Report of the Royal Commission on the practice of subjecting live animals to experiments for scientific purposes; with minutes of evidence and appendix; 1876 (C.1397, C.1397-1) XLI.277, 689. House of Commons Parliamentary Papers.
Summary
CD would feel bound to give evidence to the Royal Commission on vivisection should they ask him, but he has no personal experience of the matter. Expresses his opinions on the importance to physiology of experiments on live animals.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-10232
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Edward Cardwell, 1st Viscount Cardwell
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- DAR 97: C4–6
- Physical description
- ADraft 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 10232,” accessed on 28 March 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-10232.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 23