8 ANIMAL ECOLOGY 



Some students feel that the study of individual 

 ecology should precede that of the associational. 

 Within certain limits this is true, but if our general 

 knowledge of biology had waited for the perfection 

 of our knowledge of the individual cells of animals, 

 the results would have been disastrous to all con- 

 cerned. Even now our knowledge of these subjects 

 is very incomplete. For similar reasons there 

 should be no delay in studying animal aggregates 

 and associations. 



A combination of ecological and taxonomic study 

 generally appeals most strongly to those students 

 who have made a specialty of some group of animals. 

 They are familiar with certain forms, have some 

 confidence in taxonomic methods, and frequently 

 have given some attention to habits, life histories, 

 and to collecting. To those who like the descriptive 

 aspect of taxonomy, ecological studies also offer a 

 new field for further description and classification. 

 At present perhaps the majority of ecological students 

 have entered the subject through taxonomy. It is 

 the almost universal verdict of such students that it 

 has required much effort on their part to make the 

 change in the point of view. Such a change cannot 

 be made by a simple resolve, but requires a modifica- 

 tion of the habits of the mind, which will be attended 

 by a distinct consciousness of effort. As in other 

 habits, reversion to the older attitude of mind is very 

 easy. This change in point of view is a problem in 

 habit formation, a study of the mental behavior of 

 the ecologist, which is in reality the main topic 



