William A. Locy

“ When inquiries come to the universities regarding one of their graduates seeking place in the world, the chief inquiry is, what is his promise of service? We do not always mean by this the narrow idea of direct utility—the faculty to make something that will sell—but more often that capacity for usefulness to the state and to society that depends on broad education, on discernment of essentials, that has been gained by freeing the mind from hereditary hindrances and from those grosser misunderstandings of natural phenomena that we class as superstitions. ”

“ To be honest, to be kind, to earn a little and to spend a little less, to make upon the whole a family happier by his presence, to renounce when that shall be necessary and not be embittered, to keep a few friends, but these without capitulation, above all, on the same grim condition to keep friends with himself—here is a task for all that a man has of fortitude and delicacy. ”

“ It is an old, oft-repeated story, how with the overthrow of ancient civilization the torch of learning was nearly extinguished. Not only was there a complete political revolution; there was also a complete change in the mental interests of mankind. The situation was complex, and it is true that there were many influences at work, but the extinction of all scientific activity which occurred at this time was due to a complete arrest of inquiry into the phenomena of nature. The physicist no longer experimented, the naturalist no longer sought for relation and causes in living beings. ”

“ It is no longer merely a mass of knowledge that enables its devotees to name animals and to arrange systematically a cabinet. Zoology of to-day is vastly different; it has become one of the leading departments of science. While dealing with the structure, the development and the evolution of animal life, it at the same time brings one into contact with those changes in human opinion for which its own advances have been largely responsible. ”

“ The Doctrine of Organic Evolution.—The crowning service of zoology in extending the boundaries of human understanding is found, perhaps, in the doctrine of evolution. The great sweep of this doctrine makes it one of the greatest acquisitions of human knowledge. There has been no point of intellectual vantage reached which is more inspiring. It is so comprehensive that it enters into all realms of thought. ”

“ The activity of the university is a crusade not only against ignorance, but also against superstition.
It is this kind of service for which the progress of science is especially conspicuous, and this brings us naturally to the consideration of the service of one science in particular. I wish to maintain that for the past century the progress of zoology has exercised a strong and wholesome influence upon the intellectual development of the race. ”

“ One of the most notable things of the last half century has been the mental evolution produced by the great extension of knowledge of organic nature. This more intimate acquaintance with natural phenomena, and of living nature in particular, has altered our way of looking at the world, and especially of our relation to it. The whole fabric of thinking has been so profoundly changed by the biological advances to which I refer that all educated people ought to make themselves acquainted with the generalizations of biology and with the foundations upon which they rest. ”

“ This science is not a remote branch of learning; it touches every-day life at many points, and affects our well-being more closely than is generally realized.
The study of nature and the explanation of natural phenomena possess an inherent interest to which most minds respond. The physicist and chemist have for their territory the field of inorganic nature, but the biologist has the advantage of dealing with the living world. There is, in reality, nothing in the sphere of knowledge more fascinating than the study of life. ”

“ As illustrations there come to mind the horrors of the inquisition, the cruel and harmful ideas of witchcraft, the brutal and wicked persecution of men and women for holding saner views than the majority of mankind of the part played by the Almighty in his universe. It is one of the blessings of progress that mankind has been relatively freed from persecutions of this nature. These grotesque beliefs and superstitions were dispelled by advances in the knowledge of the organization of animals. ”

“ Animal organization leads up to the structure of the human body, and on this account there has always been a tender point in discussing the evidences as to man's place in nature.
This belief in the constancy of nature was a great step in intellectual development. In its broad application it means that the entire universe and all on it is the result of an orderly and well-directed progress. It leaves no room for the idea of chance. Remote ancestral man did not rise by chance from the animal series. The gill-clefts in the human embryo are not there by chance. ”

“ The Revival of Learning.—But the human mind, ever restive to discover the relation between causes and effects in the production of natural phenomena, would not permanently brook this restraint. The minds of the more energetic and independent thinkers revolted against the reign of authority, and, under the leadership of such minds, there began a reform that is known to us all under the title of the revival of learning, a reform of wide extent and of great importance to the human race. ”

“ Those who enter upon scientific investigation as a life work must forego certain material prizes in the world that await equally well-directed efforts in other lines of activity, but they will have other kinds of compensations—in living close to great truths, and realizing in their discoveries that thrill of the searcher when he has found, and after long years feeling the uplift of their occupation. ”

“ Its applications are helping man in the knowledge of himself and his destiny. Anything that throws light on man's history and his capabilities affects the question of his duty and his destiny. A prominent theologian (Bishop Creighton, of London) has said: "Religion means the knowledge of our destiny and the means of fulfilling it." I shall not attempt to qualify the statement, as I am not a theologian, but I will point out that progress in zoology has extended the knowledge of the history of man, and has thereby influenced our conception of his relation to the universe. ”

“ Isolated facts should be treated as merely specific illustrations of broad truths. The study of one stone in an edifice as to its chemical analysis, its resistance to strain and crushing weight, and its microscopic structure, will not give us an idea of the edifice as a whole. Thus it is that after our students have observed and experimented in the laboratory they must, under the guidance of the lecturer, be brought to see the relation of their specific observations to zoology as a science. ”

“ In this movement were embraced all the benefits that have resulted from the development of modern science. The invention of printing, the voyages of mariners, the growth of universities, all helped in a general way, but just as the pause in science a thousand years or more earlier had been owing to the turning away from nature and to new mental interests, so the revival was a return to nature and to the method of science. ”

“ Renewal of Observation.—It was an epoch of great importance, therefore, when men began again to observe, and to attempt, even in an unskilful way, hampered by intellectual inheritance and habit, to unravel the mysteries of nature and to trace the relation between causes and effects in the universe. ”

“ UNDOUBTEDLY the progress of zoology has played an important part in the intellectual development of civilized mankind, but the way in which it has moulded thought is but vaguely appreciated by most people. ”

“ Wherever traditional opinion has been uprooted something more helpful to humanity has been planted. When rightly understood, we see that this freer life of thought has been constructive and helpful, not merely iconoclastic. ”

“ Scientific knowledge is not advanced by happy guesses in moments of inspiration, but only by continuous and well directed effort. He who would wrest from nature her secrets must prepare for the struggle by long training and must follow his calling with intense devotion. ”

“ Man has once again taken his high place in the world as the interpreter of nature, and as investigation widens his comprehension of the laws of natural phenomena, he is extending his control in the sphere of nature and turning natural forces to his advantage. ”

“ But let us open our hearts freely, without fear, to the extensions of truth and let us continue in the belief that the knowledge gained by investigation of nature will be helpful to all departments of human endeavor and aspiration. ”

“ The studies of heredity in animals embrace many practical hints to stock breeders and to medical men.
But we can not make a comprehensive list of the large number of practical applications that come from zoological investigation. The illustrations already given are sufficient to indicate that studies in pure science often become of the highest practical value. The practical applications will follow fast enough upon the heels of advancing knowledge. The essential thing, as well as the difficult thing, is, by research, to uncover the facts and to make the first demonstrations. ”

“ If we look into history we shall see that there has been a ruling power in the mental life of different peoples characteristic of every age, such as the mental devotion of the Romans to law and government, of the Greeks to art and philosophical disquisitions, of the people of the middle ages to mystical metaphysics and theological dogma, and so on. ”

“ The Widening Horizon.—The reign of authority in intellectual matters lasted for twelve centuries, and then gave way gradually to the reign of observation and reason. Under the influence of the new method we have been moving generation by generation into a state of clearer discernment and into an intellectual atmosphere of wider horizon. ”

“ Perhaps great material prosperity is the most evident aspect of life to-day, but in the mental sphere there is certainly a disposition to analyze, to experiment and to arrive at conclusions by the method of observation and reasoning. ”

“ The eyes were closed to nature and the mind was directed towards spiritual matters, which truly seemed of higher importance. Presently the observation of nature came to be looked upon as proceeding from a prying and impious curiosity—as an attempt to search out the concealments of the Almighty. ”

“ One circumstance that played a considerable part in the cessation of scientific investigation at this time was the rise of the christian church and the dominance of the priesthood in intellectual as well as in spiritual life. The world-shunning spirit, so scrupulously cultivated by the early christians, promoted a spirit that was hostile to observation. The behest to shun the world was acted upon too literally. ”

“ Encouragement of Scientific Research.—I wish to speak just a word in appreciation of the men who extend the boundaries of knowledge, and a word in favor of the encouragement of pure research. The investigators are necessarily somewhat removed from their fellows and, therefore, often misunderstood. ”

“ Men of proved capacity who are willing to devote themselves to research will enter upon it with no selfish motives. They should be classed among the benefactors of mankind, engaged in a useful service. ”

“ The constantly increasing collections of fossil remains of animals are enabling us to understand something of the momentous changes that have passed over the succession of animal forms that have lived upon the globe. ”

“ Many people think of zoology as it was in the time of Linnæus, or, at best, as it was in the early part of the nineteenth century, when the spiritless activity of species-making was its prominent feature. ”

“ This view was demonstrated to be untenable by Vesalius, the reformer of anatomy in the sixteenth century and the forerunner of the morphologists of zoology. Other points about the structure of man and animals, equally fantastic, were upheld, and against one who ventured to disbelieve in them the cry of heretic was raised. We may at first sight think that crude misunderstandings are harmless vagaries, but when viewed as to their consequences we see that this class of superstitions has led to intolerance and persecutions. ”

“ To any in the rising generation of students who have the internal leading to follow a career devoted to scientific investigation, if they are gifted and energetic, let them without hesitation enter upon this career. ”

“ The accounts of the discoveries of prehuman remains, connecting by gradations with races now living, are extending into remote periods our conception of the antiquity of man. These matters arouse interest and discussion, and the sweep of all these discoveries brings with it a widening of the horizon of human understanding. ”

“ The historical relations of fossils have been established by a great number of talented observers. Without any disparagement to other men who have done notable work in this field, I mention but one, Henry F. Osborn, of New York, who is one of our most distinguished American zoologists. With the enormous collections at his disposal he has devoted himself with marked success to making out the relations of fossil forms to living forms and he has succeeded in tracing the remote ancestry of a number of living races of mammals. ”