•Ian., 1910.] A Natural History Survey Needed in Ohio. 263 



SOME REASONS WHY A NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY 



IS NEEDED IN OHIO. 



The bill to be presented to the General Assembly pro\dding for 

 a Natural History Survey specifies in part the purposes of such a 

 Survey, but some notes concerning the scope of such work, the 

 reasons why it is needed and the extent to which such work is in 

 progress in adjacent states may be desirable. 



It will be generally rccDgnized that the i)]ant and animal hfe 

 in a region such as Ohio must undergo marked changes as the 

 result of the settlement and cultivation of the state, and some 

 reflection upon the character of these changes must make it 

 apparent that the record of the kinds of animals and plants that 

 exist and that may be disappearing is desirable. Such forms 

 have a distinct place in nature and the conditions under which 

 they can flourish must be such as to affect other organisms of the 

 same nature, and the recognition of these conditions may have the 

 greatest importance in reference to the introduction of crops or of 

 animals for economic purposes. Aside from this consideration, 

 however, a knowledge of what has actually been in existence in 

 the state has distinct scientific importance, and such knowledge 

 may at any time be found to have a most important bearing on 

 some questions vital to human interests. We know for instance, 

 that the life of many of our streams is being greatly depleted 

 either as a result of the contamination of water from the refuse of 

 factories or other sources, or to other conditions less evident, and 

 the disappearance of these forms of life in streams and lakes has a 

 most important bearing u]3on the possibilities of growth for fishes 

 and some other forms which have distinct importance to mankind. 

 A careful survey and record, therefore, of what forms are now 

 found in our streams, and comparison, so far as previous records 

 makes it possible, with what has been present in the past, and 

 careful future records as to the changes which may occur in the 

 aquatic life of the state, u-ill have a value that may be beyond 

 estimate. 



Aside from this economic feature, however, we may particularly 

 consider the value that such a knowledge has in the educational 

 work in every school in the state, and hence to the future citizens 

 of the state. Without such knowledge teachers must depend 

 upon statements made regarding the animal life of other localities, 

 and even where this applies very closely to the conditions in our 

 own state, the difficulty of securing the works in which such 

 records are to be found makes it practically out of the question 

 for the majority of teachers to take advantage of them. If all the 

 teachers of Ohio could be furnished with definite information con- 

 cerning the kinds of animals, birds, insects and plants that are 



