REPORT OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 41 



aud under such promising auspices the Hght can not fail to increase 

 and soon to shine brightly all about. 



A second lighthouse is being established to-da3\ It is to be a 

 beacon in quite another territory, illuminating the far more arid 

 problems of the origin of species. It is surrounded by a denser 

 darkness, for there is less previous knowledge in this field. It re- 

 quires the care of a keeper thoroughly prepared for the work and of 

 large experience. With him it will open up wide fields of unex- 

 pected facts, bringing to light new methods of improvement of our 

 domestic animals and plants. The care of the lighthouse is given 

 into the hands of Mr. Davenport and his staff, and many details of 

 its internal affairs are looked after bj'^ the kind care of Mrs. Daven- 

 port. Thus provided, it can not fail to fulfil its mission, aud to yield 

 the results expected from it, and even more. 



What these results will mean is as yet impossible to predict. Dis- 

 coveries come unexpectedly ; but as a rule they fall into the lap of 

 those onl}^ who are prepared to make the most of them. Expecta- 

 tions, on the other hand, may be elaborated, and I consider it my 

 duty to explain to you the nature of the expectations that the foun- 

 dation of this laboratory is awakening in me. Of course only gen- 

 eral outlines can be given, and the picture is to be painted with a 

 broad brush in order to give an adequate image of w^hat may some 

 time be ; but in the meantime I am fully convinced that the future 

 will largely exceed even our highest hopes. 



In conformity with the idea of the twofold methods of scientific 

 progress, I imagine that this station, too, will work after these 

 principles. The territory around the new center of light must be 

 more and more completely illuminated. Besides that, beacons have 

 to be carried forward into the darkness, aud search-lights have to 

 guide the progress along new paths. 



What may be discovered by such search-lights can hardly be 

 guessed at. It is quite a dream, a mixture of hopes and possibili- 

 ties, of facts and hypotheses. What is real is the endeavor to get at 

 the most intimate causes of evolution. I have indulged in this most 

 delightful dream, and if you will allow me to give you a sketch of 

 what I have seen, I may perhaps succeed in conveying to you an idea 

 of what seems to me the farthest limits of inquiry for the present. 



My dream started from the old question, What is that in the egg 

 which enables it to develop all the qualities of the bird ? Some- 

 thing must be there, and we may even assume that all the separate 

 qualities displayed by the bird have their representatives in the egg. 



