Excerpt from The Land-Marks of Snake Poison Literature: Being a Review of the More Important Researches Into the Nature of Snake-Poisons
The main objects of the publication of this sketch, which in part originally appeared in separate papers, are to assist future investigators in discovering what has already been done to throw light upon the difficult subject of which it treats, so that their time may not be wasted in useless investigations and to prevent an unnecessary and reckless sacrifice of animal life. Experiments performed upon the lower animals, either in ignorance of what has already been accomplished, or out of mere scientific curiosity, are alike inexcusable. But, unfortunately, owing to the want of some such little work as this, investigators have sometimes unconsciously travelled over the same ground, only to prove that which had already been placed beyond doubt. An old friend once remarked to the author that he thought the conduct of these researches was a useless expenditure of time and labour, for, said he, "Contra vim motris non herbula crescit in hortis."