ZOOLOGY AND HUMAN WELFARE 



a habit which is an immemorial foe to human welfare. 

 Some tinge of scientific detachment is surely essential to an 

 adequate philosophy, if a reasonable contentment is to 

 flow from it, for to view nature egocentrically is to court 

 disappointment. Secondly, some definite knowledge of 

 zoological and other scientific facts is a necessary part of 

 the mental equipment of any one who cares to live com- 

 prehendingly in the modern world. It is apparently an 

 unfortunate combination of fragmentary or vestigial 

 knowledge of scientific fact — with a lingering and often 

 unconscious yearning for the mystical certainties of a 

 bygone day — that makes so pitifully inadequate the phil- 

 osophy of certain moderns who are good writers and thus 

 reach a wide audience. In his recent book, "The Conquest 

 of Happiness," Bertrand Russell has devastating things 

 to say about these vocal exemplars of maladjustment. A 

 sound, though not necessarily extensive, experience of 

 scientific work, such as is afforded by a good college 

 course or two, will help to insulate the intelligent young 

 against this form of injury to human welfare, and, at the 

 same time, it will equip them to live sympathetically and 

 safely — to feel at home — in a civilization which is dis- 

 tinctively the product of science. 



There is another, and perhaps an equally important, way 

 in which zoology contributes to the formation of an 

 intelligent mental outlook. Evolutionary philosophy was 

 developed from a condition of vague speculation through 

 the efforts of many scientists, but it remains the especial 

 glory of biology. Darwin's work made the evolution 

 theory a living reality, and it inspired other zoologists 

 and botanists to labor at the elucidation of multitudinous 

 details, with the result that any one who is to gain a 

 genuine knowledge of the principle must study the bio- 

 logical sciences. With this background it is possible to 

 view, comprehendingly, modern philosophy, sociology, 



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