Under the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876, the President was one of only a few people authorised to certify that a particular experiment on an animal was justified, and in addition he acted as the government's chief (albeit informal) advisor for scientific matters.
Under Cruelty to Animals Act 1876 var præsidenten en af kun få personer, der var autoriseret til at certificere, at et bestemt dyreforsøg var berettiget, og derudover har han fungeret som regeringens chefrådgiver (omend uformelt) i videnskabelige spørgsmål.