Life, 1895-11-07 · page 7 of 18
Life — November 7, 1895 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Page 295: "Beans and Torture" This page critiques the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's cooking class curriculum. The text reports that female students were required to witness vivisection (live animal dissection) as part of their culinary education, with rabbits and cats used as specimens. The satirical point is clear: Life questions the logic of forcing cooking students to observe animal torture to learn cooking skills. The article mocks the institute's claim this teaches the "connection between cooking and vivisection," arguing instead it merely brutalized young women unnecessarily. The cartoon illustrations show domestic scenes—a woman with a man discussing his drinking habits—highlighting the absurdity: the magazine suggests husbands would prefer wives who simply cooked well, without requiring them to endure traumatic vivisection training.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-*LIFE- barbaric Scotch, that only Sir Walter could carry the load to the great lar heart. pore * * * MONG books that are calculated to give a temperate man a great thirst may be counted Dr. S. Weir Mitchell's two admirable short stories bound up in the exquisite little volume in stamped leather, entitled ‘A Madeira Party," (Century Co.) Both stories have as deli- cious an old-time aroma as the wines they celebrate. The better as a story is “A Little More Burgundy" which describes with rare inten- sity an episode of the Reign of Terror in 1794. Another beautiful book of short stories is Robert Grant's “The Bachelor’s Christmas" (Scribner's\—a volume that, with its fine paper, striking binding, and appropriate illustrations, is a fit setting for stories that have become famous as encouragers of matrimony among bache- lors who are not too old to be nice, or too young to be responsible. Mr. Grant's stories are known to have broken up club circles that were believed to be impregnable. A man who would not take the hint, if this book were presented him by the right young woman, ought to be crossed off the list of eligibles, and forever classed with the incorrigible old sticks. Droch. BEANS AND TORTURE. — Tt Boston girl is no fool 5 and can generally hold ~~ her own, but there is no reason why she should know everything. Girls have often been accused of cruelty, most frequently by rejected lovers, but rejected lovers are not always convincing. LIFE sees no good reason why the innate cruelty of girls should be developed to its fullest extent, although the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology, ac- cording to the New York Press, seems to hold a different opinion: “The girls’ cooking class at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology object to vivisection. They do not understand the con- nection between cooking and vivisection. They are compelled to go through both regularly. * Thus far in the term the live animals experimented upon have been cats and rabbits. The rabbits were brought into the class room one day this week, etherized and fastened to boards. Each of them was then cut open on the stomach side, and all of the girls were required to take parts of the exposed tissues and examine them through micro- scopes, The animals were supposed to be etherized, but the young ladies could not learn why, if this had been properly done, the animals should squirm and moan. “Several of the girls were obliged to leave the room. One was obliged to go out three times to recover herself, Several could not come back at all. “Some protested against having to witness such scenes, saying that their course was cookery, not butchery. They were informed by the instructor that unless they complete their course as mapped out they will forfeit their diplomas.” And how are these precious diplomas worded? Do they certify that the recipient's finer instincts have been thoroughly brutalized ? Come away, girls. Every decent husband in the country would rather submit to the toughest cooking than feel that his wife enjoyed the agonies of the family pets. THE COMFORTS OF STYLE. “*HER FAIR HEAD WAS PILLOWED ON HER ARM,” “T UNDERSTAND, SIR, YOUR ONLY SON 1S ADDICTED TO THE BOTTLE HABIT, AND YOU FEAR YOU CANNOT BREAK HIM OF IT. 1 FEEL THAT I CAN CONVINCE HIM OF HIS EVIL WAYS COULD I BUT HAVE A HALF-HOUR OF PRAYER WITH HIM.” “ALL RIGHT, SIR, HE ts IN —