6 ANIMAL BIOLOGY 



The contributions of the biological sciences to human welfare — 

 the rules of the game of life — we shall consider later more fully. 

 At this point it is merely necessary to emphasize that biology 

 affords certain fundamental principles which are of universal 

 application — principles of so great importance that they have 

 revolutionized modern thought and action in nearly every field of 

 human endeavor, and color civilized Man's entire mental outlook 

 on the world about him. Biology is the supreme agent of adjust- 

 ment of human life to human life-conditions, and life goes on 

 solely by reason of the adequacy of such adaptations. Specifically, 

 of course, biology forms the indispensable foundations of med- 

 icine — health, and of agriculture — food and raiment. Together 

 these spell wealth: without them we would be poor indeed. 



Thus biology meets many of the physical needs of mankind and 

 so adds enormously to the basis of human welfare, but it also has 

 another equally important aspect. The appeal of biology for its 

 high place as a contributor to the progress of humanity combines 

 its practical gifts with the more subtle development of aesthetic 

 values which naturally flow from the pregnant thought of the unity 

 of nature — the oneness of life — based on the firm and ever- 

 increasing sense of control as knowledge grows, which "robs life 

 of none of its mystery but rather serves to link it securely with the 

 larger mystery of the universe and the Infinite back of it all." 

 Man, though one with all living beings, has the unique and all- 

 important power consciously to study the ways, to direct the 

 forces of nature, and to adapt himself to them. 



