FUTURE OF SYSTEMATIC RESEARCH 1 1 



These men, unlike many who have sponsored both government and pri- 

 vate expeditions, reah'zed the importance of providing for the care and 

 study of the collections they amassed. It is to be hoped that generations 

 to come w^ill produce more like them, but these few benefactors cannot 

 be expected to support all of the facilities necessary for an adequate pro- 

 gram of systematic research on marine invertebrates. In recent years 

 grants in aid from both government and private foundations have be- 

 come increasingly important deciding factors in the success or failure 

 of particular research programs but they are, and should be, too short- 

 lived to support the almost life-long education of the experienced tax- 

 onomist. 



It seems to me that we must look to the private institutions, especially 

 our universities, for continued and even increasing encouragement of 

 the systematic studies that are basic to all biological research. It is 

 there that we can expect to find the most immediately justifiable excuse 

 for systematic research — the thirst for knowledge. The college graduate 

 who is largely responsible for the support of our private universities is 

 likely to be more sympathetic toward a program of this kind than is 

 the person with more limited education who pays most of the bills of 

 our Federal and state governments. Louis Agassiz could never have 

 raised the private donations necessary to finance the building of the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard if his audiences had been 

 interested only in immediate personal dividends. 



Although monographic studies of large groups of animals on a world- 

 wide scale can hardly be attempted by workers at universities where 

 extensive systematic collections and libraries are lacking, real contribu- 

 tions can be made by those willing to confine their attention to smaller 

 groups or to faunal areas. It must be realized, however, that the fruits 

 of systematic research mature slowly. Any intelligent program of syste- 

 matic research must therefore be a long-range one. The goal of tax- 

 onomic stability, even in a small group, is seldom achieved through the 

 efforts of one individual. Succeeding generations, profiting not only 

 from his publications but also from the collections he has accumulated, 

 will finally attain it. Every precaution should be taken to prevent the 

 loss or deterioration of collections in spite of the demands of specialists 

 in other fields for the space and jars they occupy. 



Although many biologists in our universities have only scorn for 

 taxonomic research, there are others who sincerely regret that they must 

 dissuade promising students from continuing their interest in syste- 

 matic zoology because of the paucity of jobs in that field. This need 



