Page:Bird Haunts and Nature Memories - Thomas Coward (Warne, 1922).pdf/242

184 Maybe man has the right of might, whether by strength or learning, of cultivating certain plants and animals at the expense of others, and condemning those which are in his way as "weeds" or "vermin," but he is apt to overlook a very important point. Knowledge is progressive, and, as the historian knows, the acme of knowledge is a matter of the age; what is wisdom to-day may be foolishness tomorrow. The learning of the past, in some cases at any rate, is ridiculous in our twentieth-century eyes; in each era there were philosophers who believed that they had reached the top of the tree. Alas for their folly!

Just as the scientific manufacturer, generally through the chemist, constantly finds fresh use for his by-products, the rejectamenta of former years, so the economic zoologist finds value in the condemned weed or vermin. Furthermore, there is at the present time a growing belief in the interrelation of all life, and though the study of ecology is in its infancy. and so far has failed to throw strong light upon the so-called balance of nature, it is on the right track. When it becomes the life work of many more philosophical naturalists, and is not merely treated as something to dabble with during years of preparation for some more lucrative career, we shall have discoveries which will make us very diffident about destroying or even attempting to destroy organisms which at the present time we think are in our way.

What is the object of protection or preservation? Why do we endeavour to maintain one plant or animal, or urge that all should have consideration? There are four main arguments brought forward in support of protection. and though the first three are for specialising, or selecting individuals or groups of individuals for care, the last applies to creatures as a whole. The one which perhaps appeals to the largest number, and which gets most support in that agent of popular propaganda, the Press,