An Introduction to a Biology 



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CHAPTER I 



' You who speculate on the nature of things, I praise you not 

 for knowing the processes which nature ordinarily effects of her- 

 self, hut rejoice if so he that you know the issue of such things 

 as your mind conceives.^'' — Leonardo da Vinci. 



§ 1. Man is the best starting-point for the study of life. — § 2. Scien- 

 tific investigation is the human activity, the critical study of 

 which is the most urgent. — § 3. Scientific investigation consists 

 of description and interpretation. — § 4. Interpretation. Bio- 

 logical Laws : the urgency of locating them. — § 5. Words : the 

 necessity of keeping a sharp eye on the wanderings of their 

 meanings. — § 6. A glance at our present interpretation of life 

 from the historical quarter.— § 7. On the fitting of theory to 

 the facts of life. 



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THE function of biology, if we adopt the 

 literal, etymological meaning of the word, 

 is to describe and interpret the essential 

 manifestations of life, and to extract from these 

 interpretations a conception, or theory, of life. But 

 the word " biology " has come to be used in certain 

 very much restricted senses, of which it will suffice 

 to mention two. In its commonest signification 

 it merely serves as a convenient common term 

 for the subject matter of both botany and zoology. 

 Another common meaning of it is the study of the 



B I 



