So MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



The people at large care but little about tbe structure even of man; 

 they will know only what is necessary to care for the machine, and 

 most of that they leave to the doctors. To know the origin of the 

 various structures of man does not greatly interest them. How over- 

 whelming on the other hand is their interest in man's actii-'ttics. No 

 other human interest transcends it. 



But just as the structure of man has had a history: just as we may 

 trace the development of his heart or brain through various stages 

 which exist in the lower animals, so have the activities of man also had 

 a history. The germs of his doings are to be found, perhaps all of them, 

 among the lower animals. The social instinct, the home-building in- 

 stinct, the instinct to i-are for the young, and how many others do we 

 find in the lower animals. That these activities of the lower animals 

 have given rise to those of man there seems little room to doubt. Just 

 as the structure of man must be viewed against a background formed 

 of the structures of lower animals, in order that it may be understood, 

 so must man's activities be viewed against the backgTouud formed of 

 the activities of lower animals. 



Zoologists are only slowly coming to realize this fact, and in the 

 study of variation and its causes, in the study of the relation between 

 the animal and its environment, in the study of ecology, or experimental 

 zoology, we see evidence of this realization. 



In this movement, indeed, the popular interest and the popular wisdom 

 find theii- justification. In so far as zoology affords an explanation of the 

 origin of human a<-livities, it becomes important in the ((^fuduct of life, 

 in so far it justifies itself in the eyes of the people. Zoology is now 

 I>assing rapidly out of the ultra morphological and ultra systematic 

 jihase, into a idiase where it will concern itself more with the activities 

 of living animals and with the relation of these to the environment. 



In these matters it will again appeal to the popular interest. Students 

 from our colleges and universities when they have quitted the labora- 

 tory will no longer feel themselves strangers to nature. When they go- 

 among the people they will stimulate the study of a rational natural 

 history. 



From this cause and from the final lapse of the now nearly extinct 

 opposition of the church we may exjiect a popular revival of interest 

 in natural history subjects. Indeed, the introduction of nature study 

 into our schools, the increasing number of popular books and magazine 

 articles on natural history indicate that this revival is already at hand. 



In the days before I>arwin natural history societies contributed no 

 inconsiderable part to th'e advancement of the sciences of zoology and 

 botauA. This they did through their collections and through the dis- 

 covery by their members of new species, new localities and hitherto 

 unknown lialiits of animals. May not the revival of ]»o](ular interest 

 which seems to be at hand again contribute to the advance of zoology? 

 Observations on the daily life of animals, on their distribution and 

 variations, on related subjects, may be made without the elaborate 

 e(p]ipnient of laboratory and libi-ary that is necessary for morphological 

 work. Such observations are well jiossible to isolated members of a 

 societv like this one, and carefullv made and well thought out, become- 

 real contributions to our science. 



