BIOLOGY 



university teaching and research, for those who 

 know nothing of it can have no proper insight 

 into the endless diversity of the workings of nature 

 or into the true meaning of organic evolution. 

 The universities must co-operate with the museums, 

 and I may take this opportunity of expressing my 

 satisfaction that here in London such co-operation 

 forms a vital part of our zoological organisation, as 

 exemplified by the welcome presence of distin- 

 guished representatives of the Natural History 

 Department of the British Museum on the Univer- 

 sity Board of Studies in Zoology. 



Great as have been the labours of the systema- 

 tist in the past, they will have to be greater still in 

 the future if he is to cope with the material so 

 bountifully provided by nature. The number of 

 different kinds of plants and animals already named 

 and described runs into millions, and each new 

 exploring expedition adds to the list. It is still 

 far easier to discover new species than to find 

 systematists willing and able to describe and 

 classify them. As a consequence of this state of 

 things much of the work in this department has 

 been left in the hands of amateurs or of inade- 

 quately trained zoologists, whose lack of insight 

 and experience has often produced disastrous 

 results and only added to the difficulties of their 

 fellow-workers. Some kind of museum training is 

 almost essential for successful systematic work, the 



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