Page:The Scientific Monthly vol. 3.djvu/255

 THE ZOOLOGY OF TO-DAY 249

��A GLANCE AT THE ZOOLOGY OF TO-DAY

Bt Pbofisbob H. y. WILSON

THB UNIYUBSITT OF MOBTH CASOLINA

WHEN zoology is mentioned, our first thoughts turn to the differ- ent kinds of animals, to the so-called species; to the birds and insects ronnd onr homes, to the fish we have caught; to the less familiar forms of the coast, the sponges, medussB and corals; to the beasts we have seen in zoological gardens, to the specimens esixibited in museums. This richness in yariety is pleasing to most of us, and it is small wonder that the work of collecting and describing has been so actiyely pursued. The forms of animal life sufficiently different to be enrolled as separate species now number about half a million.

Strange as it may seem, one still at intervals hears the question, what is the use of aU these creatures ? meaning their use to us, to man. Perhaps the question is never very seriously asked to-day. For we all know a long list of organisms who, if they bring us tribute, bring a strange kind. We think of that prince of evil, the tiger ; of the cobra ; of parasitic worms that bore through the living flesh; of bacilli that bring disease after disease; of protozoa that cause malaria and sleeping- sickness. And we recognize that the material world is not obviously anthropocentric.

Modified, however, the question is a very rational one : what forms are inimical to us, what forms directly or indirectly useful ? This ques- tion, essentially economic and hygienic, tends greatly to increase our interest in natural history, in the knowledge of the kinds of animals, and the changes of form, habit and home which they undergo during individual life. We become aware how complex are ihe interdependen- cies of organisms, how interwoven are their life-histories. We find that it is largely on such knowledge that the medical scientist and the sani- tary engineer draw when they seek to combat the infectious diseases, and how vitally helpful such knowledge is to the various branches of animal industry.

These considerations show us plainly enough that biology is useful, and in making this statement we perhaps express the real nature of our knowledge in general, as something not final and comprehensive, but detailed and practical. Let us, however, not confound this aspect of the nature of knowledge with the method of science. Because the world is 80 ordered, and its ways so interconnected, that any or all knowledge may after a time prove useful, is no reason why we should concentrate

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