the most benevolent motives, has recommended the killing of cattle by a particular method. It, however, turns out, that that manner is by far the most painful to the animal. This fact I heard detailed by Mr. Everard Home, in one of his lectures on comparative anatomy; and on applying to that gentleman for an accurate account of the statement, he referred me to the Shropshire Report, by the Rev. Joseph Plymley, p. 243. "I had long wished to see the method of killing cattle, by dividing the spinal marrow, come into common use, as it seemed probable the suffering of the animal was generally prevented thereby. The method was introduced at Mr. Mellish's slaughtering-houses, by the laudable perseverance of Lord Somerville, and other members of the Board of Agriculture, and Mr. Mellish found the flesh of the beasts so killed equally good, if not better, than the flesh of those slaughtered in the usual way. And as the operation is performed quietly, and without alarm to the animal, all bruises are avoided, and such are not very uncommon in forcing them into a proper position to receive the stroke when they are to be knocked down. A butcher at Wisbech practised this mode several years ago, from the representations made to him by Captain Clarkson, of the Navy, who had seen them so slaughtered for the use of our fleet when at Jamaica. After this person's death, Mr. Smith, a butcher of the same place, adopted the same method, and in the year 1796, I procured, by favour of Mr. Clarkson (whose name accords so well with any question of humanity) the following account, which he had from Mr. Smith—" Mr. Smith informed me, that he kills all his bullocks by striking them in the spinal marrow. If a line were drawn from ear-root to ear-root (at about an inch and half distance from the horns) and the centre of this line were found, this centre would be the place where the knife should enter. The knife is not in the form of a dagger, nor is it thrust in with any force. It is rather larger than a common penknife, but the blade is permanently fixed to the handle. The handle is taken into the hand, and the forefinger goes down it towards the point, merely to direct it. The person B CORK carries on a very extensive trade, particularly in provisions, large quantities of which are required for the ships of war that frequent the harbour, and by I was person using the knife takes hold of one ear of the beast with his left hand, and with the right he strikes it with the knife. In the same instant the bullock drops, and is out of sensation of any pain. He informs me, that it is not once in a thousand times that any person misses the right place; perhaps, an apprentice may at the beginning, but the rule is so certain, that it may be said hardly ever to fail, and if it should fail, the knife is at any rate so near the proper place, that by the least alteration of the position (without even taking it out) it finds its way. In this case there would hardly be the pain of two seconds. obliged to leave Wisbech before the killing day, or I would have seen this method practised. I talked to Smith's apprentice, who assured me that he had no difficulty in finding the proper spot, and that the beast drops instantly. Though Smith kills in this manner, no other butcher of Wisbech follows the example. He says, however, that the practice obtains pretty universally on the Lincolnshire bank of the Humber, as at Barton, and several other places. Calves, sheep, pigs, &c. are killed by Smith in the same manner. I saw three sheep that had been skinned, and were hanging up in his shop, which had been killed by his apprentice in this way. He shewed me the small hole on the back of the head, or neck, which the knife had made." "Plausible, however, as these experiments are, I believe now, that they proceeded upon a mistaken principle, or rather, that the operation did not accord with the principle, so far as tenderness towards the animal is concerned: for though a beast is managed completely by this mode, it is not so certain that his sense of feeling is destroyed. The contrary, indeed, seems proved, by the meritorious pains taken by Mr. Du Gard, of the Shrewsbury Infirmary, who has shewn in the following communication, that though the spinal marrow was divided, the nerves that supplied the organs of respiration and most of the senses, were uninjured. Mr. Du Gard's experiments were communicated to Mr. Everard Home, of London, and by him, through Sir Joseph Banks, to the Board. Mr. Home afterwards sent Lord Carrington the valuable paper that follows Mr. Du Gard's, in which he has suggested a mode of performing the operation, which would answer completely, could we be sure of having operators sufficiently skilful. We may the less regret the difficulty in getting new modes established, when we thus see the superiority of an old custom under very improbable circumstances; and if well-meant reformers wanted any additional motives to eare and circumspection, a very forcible one is furnished in the instance of the time and trouble taken to introduce this operation, and which, as it has been hitherto practised, is the very reverse of what was intended. Observations and Experiments on Pithing Cattle. By Thomas Du Gard. "The subject of slaughtering cattle by puncturing the medulla spinalis, with a view of superseding the 'method generally practised in England, has lately engaged the attention of the Agricultural Board, and been strongly recommended by them. " It is, I believe, universal in Portugal and other parts of the Continent, as well as in some of our West India islands, but is only of late introduction into this country. "Pain and action are so generally joined, that we measure the degree of pain by the loudness of the cries, and violence of the consequent exertion; and therefore conclude, on seeing two animals killed, that the one which makes scarcely a struggle, though it may continue to breathe, suffers less than that which is more violently convulsed, and struggles till life is exhausted. "It appears, however, that there may be acute pain without exertion, perhaps, as certainly as there is action without pain; even distortions that at the first glance would seem to proceed from pain, are not always really accompanied with sensation. "To constitute pain, there must be a communication between the injured organ and the brain. "The heart of a viper pulsates after being taken out of the body; and that pulsation is increased if it is the West India fleets that touch here, and sometimes remain several weeks either wind-bound or waiting for convoy. It exports more salted beef than any town in is goaded with a pin. Limbs suddenly separated from the human body sometimes start and twitch for a few moments. The viper cannot be said to feel pain on its heart being pricked with a pin nor would any man who saw his own finger contract from electricity, or heat, after it was cut off, fancy it suffered pain. The pain in both instances is in the part only from whence the separation took place. Perception, and the power of exertion, are derived from the brain in the skull, and back-bone: That part which lies in the skull seems principally to supply our senses and appetites with nervous energy; and that part which lies in the spine, and is called marrow, is more particularly appropriated to the action of the large loco-motive muscles. "An injury to the skull, not sufficient immediately to take away life, often leaves the patient with the power of moving his limbs, though without any feeling or perception, lying in a profound apoplectic sleep. "On the contrary, an injury to the spine leaves the power of perception perfect, though the limbs are immoveable; but as life depends more on the functions of the brain, and of the lungs, than on the spinal marrow and its dependent loco-motive muscles, the animal feels and lives longer on its sustaining a given injury in the spinal marrow, than on a fracture or concussion of the head.* "J. B. fell in the Summer of 1801 from a load of hay; he was bled, and brought to the Infirmary at Shrewsbury, which being my residence, gave me hourly opportunities of examining him: he complained of great pain in the upper and back part of his neck, but of none lower down: he had not the power of using the least motion with any of his limbs. His arms, body, and legs, were all quite insensible to any pain, or feeling from pricking, or pinching, and therefore all sensation below the injured part of the spine was destroyed. In this state he languished a week, being apparently in full possession of the feelings and faculties of his mind, and of his senses of hearing, sight, smell, and taste. He took food for two or three days, though the power of retaining, or protruding his evacuations was lost. On examining the neck after death, the second cervical vertebra was found fractured. "On reflecting on this case it occurred to me, that a dumb animal, if reduced to the state of this poor man, would not have the power of expressing the pain it endured, for J. B. had great pain above the injured part, though all power of moving, as well as feeling, was destroyed below; and in the brute creation, we * That perception may remain in the head, and respiration be continued after the division of the medulla spinalis, will be evident to any one who consults the anatomy of those parts. In the human subject, the par vagum, or eighth pair of nerves, arises from the corpora olivaria of the medulla oblongata, and passes out of the cranium through the foramena lacera into the neck, thorax, and abdomen, sending off branches to the tongue, larynx, pharynx, lungs, and abdominal viscera. Cuvier, in his Leçons d' Anatomie comparié, after stating the course of this nerve in the human subject, observes also, "Dans les mammifères. "Cette distribution du nerf vague êtoit a peu prés la même dans quatre ou cinq espices demammifères sur lesquels nouse avons fait des recherches à cet egard. Les veau seul nous a offert une particularité que nous avons indiquée à l'article du nerf facial; mais les anatomoses avec le grand sympathique, les nerf récurrens, les plexus cardiaque et pulmonaire ne nous ont présênte de difference que dans le numbre des filets, ce que peut dépendre de l'addresse du prosesteur, des espéces que nous avons desséquées sont le chien, le raton, le cochon, le porc-epic." I have examined the head and neck of a sheep killed by the puncture, and found the par vagum uninjured. Ireland, and all the linens from the southern districts destined to a foreign market are shipped at this port. The case is the same with woollen goods, and the large we judge of pain by the muscular efforts of the animal. I, therefore, by means of a dagger, punctured the spinal marrow of a cow according to the new method of slaughtering, and having divided it as much as possible after she fell, reduced her to the same state as the poor man whose case I have related. The animal breathed with freedom, and perception in the head continued, as was evinced by the eyelids closing on the approach of my hand, till the butcher struck a blow near the horns, when her breathing ceased, and the eye became fixed with immediate death. "In all the experiments I have hitherto tried, the animal has suddenly dropped, and has been slightly convulsed, but has not died immediately. In sheep, after puncturing the medulla spinalis in the new way, I have seen their eyes close and open, on the approach and withdrawing of my hand, for twenty times successively, and the pupil as much contracted as in health, till I was anxious to terminate their misery by having the blood vessels of the throat divided. From the loss of blood their eyes have then soon become dilated and insensible. "In the old method of slaughtering, a concussion of the brain takes place, and therefore the power of feeling is destroyed. The animal drops, and although convulsions take place generally longer and more violent, than when the spinal marrow is divided, yet there is, I think, reason to believe that the animal suffers less pain. "The immediate consequence of the blow is the dilatation of the pupil eye, without any expression of consciousness or fear on the approach of the hand. "In this state of insensibility, which in man would be called apoplexy, or extreme stupor, the blood is always drawn off by the butcher cutting the throat, and the animal dies without the least sign of feeling or uneasy faintness. "In severe epilepsy the brain suffers a temporary suspension of power, in many respects very similar to the concussion of the brain from a blow, only that the convulsions and expressions of pain seem greater: yet the patients uniformly agree, that they do not recollect any pain; the reason is obvious, the disease is a suspension of the power of feeling. "From all these circumstances, I conclude that the new method of slaughtering cattle is more painful than the old. The puncture of the medulla spinalis does not destroy feeling, though it renders the body. quiescent, and in this state the animal both endures pain at the punctured part, and suffers, as it were, a second death, from the pain and faintness from loss of blood in cutting the throat, which is practised in both methods." "My Lord, Copy of a Letter from Everard Home, Esq. to Lord Carrington. "I had the honour of presenting to your Lordship, through Sir Joseph Banks, some experiments and observations made by a surgeon at Shrewsbury, to shew that the mode adopted in this country of killing animals by wounding the spinal marrow, is less humane than the more common one of knocking them down. "I have, at your Lordship's request, repeated these experiments, and find the results agree with those of the author of the paper in every respect; but the want of success appears to arise entirely from the operation having been performed in a very imperfect manner. "On Thursday the 15th of July, 1802, the following experiment was made at Mr. Giblet's, in Bondstreet. A very fine ox was pithed, as it is termed, by Benjamin Bartholomew, who has performed this operation more than twenty different times, and is considered to be very expert in the mode of doing it. I begged that he would take some pains, so as to do it in the most effectual manner. "The instrument he used, was in the shape of a bricklayer's trowel, made sharp at the point, and having a guard at the shoulder, to prevent the blade from being buried in the neck. "He distilleries established here send a great part of their spirits to England. Some inland trade is also carried on with the surrounding country, but the wretched state "He plunged it, with great dexterity, into the canal containing the spinal marrow, and the animal instantly dropped, but the breathing continued, the motions of the eye and eye-lids were perfect, and the whole face lost no part of its animation. "This being ascertained by observation for ten minutes, and the animal not being sufficiently quiet to admit of the throat being cut, it was knocked on the head, and every appearance of animation in the countenance immediately ceased, and the breathing stopped. "The spinal marrow was afterwards examined; it was found completely divided, but too low in the neck, the wound having been made one inch and a half below the origin of the nerves that supply the diaphragm. "That a division of this part of the spinal marrow does not deprive an animal of life, has been known to anatomists for many years; and the causes of its failure cannot be better explained, than by extracting an account of some experiments made by Mr. Cruikshank, in the year 1776, at which I was present, and gave my assistance. They are published in the 85th volume of the Philosophical Transactions. "Experiment VI. April 19, 1776.-I divided the spinal marrow of a dog, between the last vertebra of the neck, and first of the back. The muscles of the trunk of the body, but particularly those of the hind legs, appeared instantly relaxed: the legs continued supple, like those of an animal killed by electricity. The heart, on performing the operation, ceased for a stroke or two, then went on slow and full, and in about a quarter of an hour after, the pulse was 160 in a minute. Respiration was performed by means of the diaphragm only, which acted very strongly for some hours. The operation was performed about a quarter of an hour before twelve at noon; about four in the afternoon, the pulse was 90 only in a minute, and the heat of the body exceedingly abated, the diaphragm acting strongly, but irregularly. About seven in the evening the pulse was not above 20 in a minute, the diaphragm acting strongly, but in repeated jerks. Between twelve at night and one in the morning the dog was still alive: respiration was very slow, but the diaphragm still acted with considerable force. Early in the morning he was found dead. This operation I performed from the suggestion of Mr. Hunter. He had observed in the human subject, that when the neck was broke at the lower part (in which cases the spinal marrow is torn through), the patient lived some days, breathing by the diaphragm. This experiment shewed that dividing the spinal marrow at this place, on the neck, if below the origin of the phrenic nerves, would not, for many hours after, destroy the animal; it was preparatory to the following experiment. "Experiment VII. April 26.—I divided the par vagum, and intercostal nerves, on both sides, in a dog. Soon after, I performed on the same animal the operation of the last experiment, and the same symptoms took place. His respirations were five in a minute, and more regular than in Experiment III.; the pulse beat 80 in a minute. Five minutes after, I found the pulse 120 in a minute, respiration unaltered; at the end of ten minutes, the pulse had again sunk to 80 in a minute, respiration as before; at the end of fifteen minutes, the pulse was again 120, respiration not altered. The operation was performed about two in the afternoon, at Mr. Hunter's in Jermyn-street. At three quarters of an hour after five, the respirations were increased to fifteen in a minute: the pulse beating 60 in the same time, and very regularly; the breathing seemed so free, that he had the appearance of a dog asleep. At a quarter before eight, the pulse beat 80, respirations being ten in a minute. At three quarters of an hour after ten, respiration was eight in a minute, the pulse beating 60. The animal heat was exceedingly abated: I applied heat to the chest, he breathed stronger and raised his head a little, as if awaking from sleep. At half after twelve Mr. Hunter saw him; the breathing was strong, and twelve in a minute, the heart beating 48 in the same time, slow, but not feeble. He shut his eye-lids when they were touched; shut his mouth on its being opened; he raised his head a little, but as he had not the use of the muscles which fix the chest, he |