HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ZOOLOGY 449 



Practically every educational institution of any size and 

 importance has made contributions to the advancement of 

 zoology through its teachers and its students. In addition 

 to these, many privately controlled and endowed labora- 

 tories have furnished the facilities for some of the funda- 

 mental contributions to zoology. The International Health 

 Board has been very active in public health work both here 

 and abroad. Much of what we know of human heredity has 

 come from a laboratory at Cold Spring Harbor, New York, 

 under the direction of Dr. C. B. Davenport. Marine labora- 

 tories where teachers and students may spend summers in 

 study and research have been great factors in zoological 

 progress. The pioneer laboratory at Woods Hole, Massa- 

 chusetts, and several on the Pacific coast deserve mention. 



In the foregoing paragraphs some of the many agencies for 

 the advancement of the zoological sciences in this country 

 have been passed in hasty review. These serve only as ex- 

 amples to show what diversity of interest and what variety 

 of means have been enlisted in directing the growth of zo- 

 ology in America. A complete list of the factors would re- 

 quire a large volume. 



Science and Human Welfare. We live in an age which is 

 commonly referred to as the Age of Science. Man has 

 learned how to make use of and to control the forces of 

 nature. No other beings have ever been able to make 

 nature serve them in such manner. Most of the things 

 which we have come to consider as conveniences or even 

 necessities in our everyday life were unknown to our fore- 

 fathers of a few generations ago. In most of the countries 

 of the earth we find evidence that our civilization and our 

 culture have extended back only a few thousands of years. 

 Before that period most of our ancestors were what we 

 today should call savages. All of us are aware that in 

 America our modern civilization dates only from the seven- 



