next,whichcausedafurtherroarofmirth,andacry “And
cats!” sent the House into convulsions.^35
This bill failed too, but in the following year Martin
succeededwithabillthatmadeitanoffense“wantonly”to
mistreatcertaindomesticanimals,“thepropertyofanyother
personorpersons.”Forthefirsttime,crueltytoanimalswasa
punishableoffense. Despitethemirthoftheprevious year,
asses were included; dogs and cats, however, were still
beyondthepale.Moresignificantly,Martinhadhadtoframe
his billsothat itresembled a measureto protect items of
privateproperty,forthebenefitoftheowner,ratherthanfor
the sake of the animals themselves.^36
Thebillwasnowlaw,butitstillhadtobeenforced.Sincethe
victimscouldnotmakeacomplaint,Martinandanumberof
other notable humanitarians formed a society to gather
evidenceand bringprosecutions.Sobeganthefirst animal
welfareorganization,latertobecometheRoyalSocietyfor
the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Afewyearsafterthepassageofthisfirst,modeststatutory
prohibitionofcrueltytoanimals,CharlesDarwinwroteinhis
diary: “Man in hisarrogance thinks himself a great work,
worthyoftheinterpositionofa deity.Morehumbleand, I
believe, true, to consider him created from animals.”^37
Anothertwentyyearsweretopassbefore,in1859,Darwin
considered that he had accumulated enough evidence in
supportof histheorytomake itpublic.Eventhen,in The
OrginofSpecies,Darwincarefullyavoidedanydiscussionof
theextenttowhichhistheoryoftheevolutionofonespecies
fromanothercouldbeappliedtohumans,sayingonlythatthe
workwouldilluminate“theoriginofmanandhishistory.”In