15° The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. II, No. 2, 



measure of reform in this direction would be a service to man- 

 kind, and while no sensational crusade may be necessary, each 

 one who knows enough of the laws of life to appreciate the mon- 

 strous folly of this business has it in his power to discourage it 

 within the sphere of his individual influence at least. News- 

 papers are mostly choked off by the immense revenue derived 

 from advertising, iji fact I have known some which depended 

 upon this as their main source of support, and have heard the 

 candid statement that the}' could not have existed without it. All 

 the more honor therefore to the few, and there are a few, which 

 absolutely refuse to allow such advertisements in their columns. 



That the modern physician must have a thorough knowledge 

 of biology has become more and more apparent. He has to deal 

 with life, and life thus far at least cannot be rendered into mere 

 mechanical, physical or chemical factors. The activites of the 

 human machine have much that must be studied from the basis 

 of organic nature. If we do not know all the factors or forces 

 of life we do know that there is a complex or combination of 

 forces radically different from any single force of inorganic 

 nature. Chemical afffnity, physical attraction and repulsion, 

 mechanical forces may furnish many aids, but the study of life 

 activities nuist go still further. To do this we must recognize 

 the laws of organic life, the forces of growth and nutrition, of 

 reproduction, of evolution, in fact a host of forces which have no 

 counterpart in the inorganic world. 



Modern agriculture and horticulture are so dependent on the 

 principles of biology that to dissociate them does violence to 

 thought. Indeed this delation has existed through all recorded 

 history, but in no period has the utility of biologic laws been so 

 intimately blended with all the processes of cultivation. 



The determination of the zones of greatest productivit}' for 

 different crops, their soil requirements, the introduction and 

 acclimatization of species belonging to other faunal or floral 

 regions, the essentials of animal and plant nutrition, the control 

 of disease or abatement of noxious forms of plant or animal, all 

 these and more are embraced in the service of biologic science to 

 agriculture in its various forms and thus to human interests. 



Among special cases cited, but which cannot be printed here 

 in detail, were various plant disea.ses, and particularly various 

 insect pests, and the discoveries which have brought them more 

 or le.ss under control. 



Aside from the .sources of food supply, which come under 

 the general term of agriculture, we derive many articles of diet 

 from sources dependent on animal or plant life. The various 

 fishery industries and oyster culture which have been so wonder- 

 fully promoted by biological investigations are excellent examples 

 of the service of science to mankind. Game laws for the protec- 



