52 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS | xxxii, '21 



were interpreters of the Divine Will, and dispensers of religious con- 

 solation. 



As civilization advanced and knowledge accumulated, the several 

 vocations practiced by the priests gradually segregated, resulting in 

 Ihe establishment of the three so-called "learned or liberal" professions. 

 They were called "learned" because in ancient times most of the learn- 

 ing was confined to the priests. They were called "liberal" because the 

 priests rendered their services without fees, obtaining their living from 

 the church. ... In process of time medicine and law were sep- 

 arated from the church,* 



but the priestly ideal of consecrated service still clung to them. 



In process of time also various lines of professional work 

 split off from medicine and Entomology may truly be said 

 to have originated thus. Most of the great names associated 

 with the early developments of Entomology were those of 

 physicians. Malpighi held a medical degree from the Uni- 

 versity of Bologna ; Swammerdam, author of the famous 

 "Anatomy and Metamorphosis of Insects," was both physician 

 and naturalist. The great Linnaeus himself received a medical 

 education, t 



Analyzing various definitions of the term "profession" in 

 the light of what has just been said we may affirm that there 

 are at least three important characteristics which distinguish 

 a profession from a trade or commercial vocation. 



First: A profession is "learned/' i. e., it presupposes an 

 accumulation of knowledge based on critical rather than super- 

 ficial observations and classified as a science. This is em- 

 bodied and preserved in scientific literature using an exact 

 nomenclature or terminology. 



Second : A profession is "liberal" in the sense that money- 

 making is a minor consideration, and necessarily so because 

 the value of professional services cannot be measured in terms 

 of money. A physician may save the life of a child sick with 

 diphtheria by the very simple act of giving an adequate close 

 of antitoxin, but in no case does he receive full value for 

 this service. The professional men who proved that malaria 

 and yellow fever are mosquito-borne diseases rendered serv- 



* Stewart, F. E. Journ. Am. Pharm. Assn. IX, No. 3 (Mar. 1920), 

 p. 263. 

 tLocy. Biology and Its Makers. Henry Holt & Co., 1908. 



