“ That is, modern biology concerns itself not only with the elements of structure in the organism, with the means it has of performing its varied functions with the aggregate of individuals which constitute its species, but goes on to its relations to all the influences and forces which have made it what it is and which sustain its specific existence. Less than this is too narrow a view of the province of biology. Here is unlimited scope for the student who pursues knowledge for love of knowledge. ”

“ But, evolution known, and vast arrays of structure become intelligible. Without the knowledge of organic distribution no laws of distribution could be framed, but without the explanation of distribution afforded by evolution the facts are an unmeaning puzzle. So, too, without an effort at systematic arrangement of plant and animal forms no fundamental law of relationship could have been discovered, but given a law of relationship and systematic biology assumes a totally different aspect. ”

“ But it is evident that the modern biology is much less concerned in the mere recognition of these innumerable forms of life, these remotest expressions of the force of evolution, than in the gaining of some adequate conception of their relations, the forces of adaptation that have fitted them for their particular niche in the realm of nature, their relation to the other organisms with which they are associated and which constitute for them a source of support or a menace to existence. ”

“ It is not that “honesty is the best policy,” but that in science honesty is the only possible policy. Hence, scientific training should give to every student this one at least of the cardinal virtues, and we may claim with justice this advantage as one of the results to be derived from pursuing scientific studies. In fact the relation of science and biological science, no less than any other, to general schemes of education, has been one of its most important contributions to humanity.
Biology has influenced modern education both in the matter taught and the method of its presentation. ”

“ Isolated work is often necessary, often the only way in which certain data can be secured, but if isolation be permanent, if it means to be cut off from the records of what has already been done in one’s line of study, progress is painfully slow and results of little value. Access then to the world’s storehouses of knowledge, to libraries and museums where one may determine the conditions of progress on any given problem is an imperative condition to satisfactory research. ”

“ The determination of the zones of greatest productivity for different crops, their soil requirements, the introduction and acclimatization of species belonging to other faunal or floral regions, the essentials of animal and plant nutrition, the control of disease or abatement of noxious forms of plant or animal, all these and more are embraced in the service of biologic science to agriculture in its various forms and thus to human interests. ”

“ Its immense profits are attested by the square miles of advertisements that disgrace the modern newspaper and magazine. Fortunes made from the fortunes spent in such advertising, along with the commissions to the lesser dealers, are drawn from a credulous people who not only receive no value in return, but in most cases doubtless are actually injured as a result.
That no student of biology can be deluded by such preposterous claims as characterize these compounds, in fact by any system of cure not based on sound biological principles, seems only a logical result of his training. ”

“ It has gone farther and farther into the mysteries of nature and opened up wider fields of knowledge. It has insisted that the student should be trained not only in the facts and the accurate interpretation of facts, but in the methods by which facts may be obtained, thus providing for the continuous growth of the substance from which its principles may be verified and definite conclusions reached.
In recent years there has been a wide demand for the more general distribution of knowledge of nature, and “nature study” has had a prominent place in the discussions of educators. ”

“ In the first place the mouthparts of the two sexes are different—the male lacks the mandibles which are present in the female. This makes it necessary for them to procure their food from different sources, the male obtains his from flowers, while the female lives by puncturing the skin and sucking the blood of warm-blooded vertebrates. Thus it is evident that during the time spent in procuring food the sexes cannot remain together. From an economic standpoint the female most concerns the student and she is often taken for study without an attempt being made to procure the male. ”

“ The parts of biology which we may make thoroughly our own are very few. It may be profitable, therefore, occasionally to take a general survey of the field to see what its sphere of influence may be, what phases of life are being advanced by its discoveries or by the distribution of knowledge which follows. ”

“ That the modern physician must have a thorough knowledge of biology has become more and more apparent. He has to deal with life, and life thus far at least cannot be rendered into mere mechanical, physical or chemical factors. The activities of the human machine have much that must be studied from the basis of organic nature. If we do not know all the factors or forces of life we do know that there is a complex or combination of forces radically different from any single force of inorganic nature. ”

“ While biology has been the foundation of all rational systems of medicine and the constant servant of this most beneficent of human professions, the forms of its uses and the wide reach of its service have so increased in recent years that we almost have excuse in feeling that it is a modern acquisition. ”

“ But I would like to call attention here to what appears to me a fundamental condition of scientific work and thereby a necessary result of scientific training. Science is naught if not exact. Accurate observation, accurate record, accurate deduction from data, all of which may be reduced to simple, plain honesty. Anything else is error, not science. ”

“ As an inspiration to the general student the field of biology has always held an important place, and in these modern times its fascination is as potent as ever. Men have attacked the problems of life from many different viewpoints with greatly different aim and great difference in preparation and method in their work. ”

“ Imagine, you who have never seen it, a trunk thirty feet tall surmounted by a crown of a dozen or fifteen great leaves made up of a score or two pinnae of the size and grace of ordinary ferns and you have the components—not the ensemble—of the tree fern.
This red clay region is the land of coffee. Everywhere the novice thinks the hillside covered with jungle, which turns out to be only poorly kept coffee plantations. The coffee region is coextensive with the range of several plants. Two or three species of the pepper family, with large peltate or round leaves, are found only here ”

“ Chemical affinity, physical attraction and repulsion, mechanical forces may furnish many aids, but the study of life activities must go still further. To do this we must recognize the laws of organic life, the forces of growth and nutrition, of reproduction, of evolution, in fact a host of forces which have no counterpart in the inorganic world.
Modern agriculture and horticulture are so dependent on the principles of biology that to dissociate them does violence to thought. ”

“ For convenience in arrangement we may group this survey along the lines of practical applications of service to mankind, such as occur in medicine, agriculture and kindred industries, domestic and social life, and those which have to do with the acquisition of knowledge and with education.
Applications of biology in medical science, in agriculture and in domestic life have in many cases assumed such intimate and essential character that we often look upon them as applied sciences more than in any other way. ”

“ The student must use the key to the females as far as possible and guess at the rest. In very many cases the male is not even described, so that sometimes, when the sexes are unlike, they can be associated only by observations in the field. By careful collecting and observation we have procured practically all of our local species in both sexes, and the derived benefit, satisfaction and enjoyment have paid us fully for our time and pains. ”

“ The rights of property in the migrant or semi-migrant forms of life have biologic as well as legal basis and some quite peculiar legal decisions would doubtless have been very different had the biology been appreciated. The classification of turtles as ‘vermin’ since they are neither fish nor fowl may be given as a case in point. Equally absurd and sometimes more disastrous are some of the rulings by customs officers whose knowledge of biology was doubtless derived from a Greek lexicon or some equally good authority. ”

“ Evidently a publication fund is one of our pressing needs.
Opportunities for research have been much increased within recent years, and now it is possible for one to look forward with some assurance to a career in research pure and simple if that is his desire. As many of those present doubtless anticipate such career, it may not be amiss to mention some of the opportunities that now present. ”

“ I recall meeting some years ago in an obscure little village, with a young man who was following a trade, but whose ardent love for nature had brought him to take up the study of a certain group of insects, and in this group he had conceived the idea of preparing a work covering the geographical distribution for the world. ”

“ Many government positions in Department of Agriculture, Geological Survey and Fish Commission demand a high degree of training and offer exceptional opportunities for research.
The first few years following graduation are golden days of opportunity in the way of research. For the majority, perhaps, these are the days when the greatest amount of original study may be possible and under conditions favoring the greatest productivity. As time passes and duties and responsibilities increase the opportunity for uninterrupted work grows less and less. ”

“ The habits of flies belonging to the family Tabanidæ, commonly called horse-flies or gad-flies, furnish much material for study and observation. I take this opportunity to record some of the notes which I have taken in the last few years while endeavoring to collect and study the local species of the family. Although the eggs, larvæ and pupæ of many species have been studied, what I have to say in this paper pertains wholly to the adults. Members of the family are usually taken by every entomologist who does general collecting, but as a usual thing males are seldom taken ”

“ I believe that educated men owe some measure of effort toward the abatement of this plague. Naturally the medical profession is thought to be the rightful source for action, but among the uninformed any effort there is attributed to selfish motive. Certainly some 150measure of reform in this direction would be a service to mankind, and while no sensational crusade may be necessary, each one who knows enough of the laws of life to appreciate the monstrous folly of this business has it in his power to discourage it within the sphere of his individual influence at least. ”

“ Other species of Tabanus come near enough that the sound of their wings is recognizable, but are so active that it is almost impossible to procure them.
168During the time the female is ovipositing the male is often sitting near by on the foliage. At Georgesville, Ohio, June 4th, I observed C. mœchus ovipositing on foliage overhanging a mill-race; soon after specimens of the male sex were observed resting on the upper leaves of the same plant on which females were ovipositing. In a few minutes collecting, a dozen or more specimens of each of the sexes were procured. ”

“ Its members may be known anywhere by their three-nerved leaves, many of which are beautifully patterned and marked so that even among other tropical plants they are conspicuous for their beauty.
When we cross the summit we come upon a different sort of vegetation; cacti take the place of tree ferns, and instead of wet jungles we have dry scrub brush full of spiny and thorny shrubs with almost every sort of prickle one can think of. One who has never encountered them can scarcely appreciate the abundance and effectiveness of tropical thorns. ”

“ Studies of some of the simpler processes of life may be successfully carried on with barely any apparatus whatever, while others require the most costly and complex of machinery. Deep sea investigations, for example, are possible only with a suitable vessel and elaborate apparatus for dredging and other operations, and such expeditions as that of the Challenger, the Blake, the Albatross and others involve such vast outlays that only the liberality of nations or of the very wealthy render them possible. ”

“ There is no grass (turf-making grass is almost unknown in the tropics) , neither are there large trees. Everywhere are low bushes not much more than ten feet tall. The sand beneath them is bare in many places, but is covered in others with various forms of herbage, most of which, instead of being composed of desert forms, as would be expected, is made up of the most typical water-loving plants, among which, Sphagnum (two species) and Utricularia are noteworthy. ”

“ Scientific Taxidermy. EVERY SCHOOL should have a collection of Natural History specimens. Why not
START A COLLECTION
of the Birds or Mammals of your county or state, or enrich a present collection by the addition of some well mounted specimens? Costs so much? Perhaps so, but WRITE TO ME FOR PRICES and you will be surprised how little such a collection will cost after all. Think of the interest that will be awakened in your school in the
STUDY OF NATURE to reward you for trouble and outlay. ”

“ All through this dry region agaves or century plants are very common. There seem to be several species, but they are such terrors to botanists that it is hard to tell anything about them.
From this brief sketch it will be seen what a diversified flora Porto Rico offers to the student. There are opportunities for several ecological studies of surpassing interest, and on the systematic side the work has only been begun. ”

“ But there is another phase quite distinct from the purely utilitarian. Biological science opens up to us the facts of life and solves some of the questions of the greatest interest to mankind. What is life? ”

“ Aside from the sources of food supply, which come under the general term of agriculture, we derive many articles of diet from sources dependent on animal or plant life. The various fishery industries and oyster culture which have been so wonderfully promoted by biological investigations are excellent examples of the service of science to mankind. Game laws for the protection 151of certain forms of life of utility to man and the possible sources of food from various animals or plants not yet utilized may be mentioned here. ”