The Vivisectors' Directory Being a list of the licensed vivisectors in the United Kingdom, together with the leading physiologists in foreign laboratories

The volume presents a painstakingly assembled register of every individual holding a vivisection licence in the United Kingdom, alongside the most prominent physiologists working in foreign laboratories. Each entry records the scientist’s name, professional titles, address, published works, and the number of licences or certificates granted by Parliament. Compiled in 1884 for anti‑vivisection advocates, the directory was intended as a quick‑reference “map” for anyone needing to cite a practitioner’s credentials during debate. Its style is deliberately austere, offering only factual details and occasional verbatim citations without editorial comment.

Beyond its practical purpose, the work unintentionally charts the sheer scale and diversity of animal‑based experimentation across Europe in the late nineteenth century. By laying out the full roster of researchers and the range of procedures they pursued, the directory supplies historians and activists with concrete evidence of the pervasiveness of the practice. Readers gain a sobering glimpse into the professional networks that sustained laboratory cruelty, making the book a valuable, if chilling, snapshot of scientific culture at the time.