Page:Blackwell 1898 Scientific method in biology.pdf/46

34 out still-breathing bodies from the heaps of slain, binding up wounds, giving a draught of water, placing a rough pillow under the head, in an unselfish enthusiasm that knew neither hunger nor fatigue. The ghastly wounds, the blood, the shrieks and groans of that horrid scene, served but as fuel to the ﬁre of humanity that consumed her.

In considering the subject of experimentation, reason requires that we realize the necessary distinction between the methods employed in training students for a practical profession, and the exceptional position of the few geniuses who possess the rare combination of qualities essential to scientific investigation. In calling attention to this distinction, we do not condone torture; for this can be proved to be unscientific. But it emphasizes a growing and mischievous evil of the present day, when numbers of ordinary teachers of physiology, whose gifts are limited, and whose especial business is to instruct students in the knowledge which has been attained, consider themselves capable of original scientific research,