The New Natural History —Ecology 



By CHARLES C. ADAMS 



Professor of Forest Zoology. The New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse University 



THE study of the natural history of 

 animals always has interested ob- 

 serving and thoughtful men who 

 know nature at first hand. The degree of 

 health and sanity shown in zoology can be 

 measured accurately by the amount of inter- 

 est taken in this sort of animal study and 

 the respect and encouragement shown it. 



The Old and the Neiv 



The older naturalists were interested 

 mainly in the activities of living animals, 

 especially those in the wild state. These 

 men were usually what might be called 

 "spontaneous naturalists" ; they were 

 largely self-trained, that is, they were intro- 

 duced to animals for the first time not in 

 schools or in museums but by direct contact 

 with them as they tramped the fields and 

 woods or while hunting or fishing. With the 

 rise of modern laboratory instruction and 

 research, and with the accumulation of larger 

 collections in museums, another type of 

 naturalist developed, the "closet natural- 

 ist." He was busy with laboratory studies 

 in physiology, anatomy, development, beha- 

 vior, and taxonomy. Here fragments of ani- 

 mals, biochemical problems, experiments on 

 animals in "unnatural" controlled conditions, 

 and the "skins and skulls" of the taxonomist 

 were the objects of his study. This gave us a 

 period of analysis, which has resulted in very 

 important advances. The field naturalist 

 was frequently only a collector, often an 

 amateur taxonomist who did Bot take to the 

 sedentary life, or one who dared to keep up 

 his interest in live wild animals in spite of 

 the prevailing fashion for other lines. With 

 this specialization there developed class feel- 

 ings ; often the individuals of each class were 

 inclined to feel that their group only was 

 concerned with "fundamental" problems, and 

 that the others perhaps might be "all right" 

 personally, but unfortunately were on the 

 wrong trail! The closet student often felt 

 that he only was doing the careful "perma- 

 nent" (is there such?) scientific work, while 

 the field worker was sui^erficial and un- 

 trained, and therefore his results were of 



little value. The field worker was also often 

 inclined to look upon his closet friend as one 

 who devoted his time to trifles, as one who 

 talked much and loudly of evolution, and 

 yet had no real first-hand experience with 

 the conditions in nature which most animals 

 must endure. This has been the status now 

 for nearly a generation. 



During the last ten years, however, a 

 marked change has become more and more 

 evident. Some of the older dominating 

 ideals of the laboratories and museums are 

 now in the background. Public interest has 

 asserted itself; some of the zoological fash- 

 ions have changed to new ones ; economic 

 problems have become more prominent ; some 

 of the older dominating men with the older 

 ideals are losing influence as leaders; some 

 universities which at first would not endure 

 the newer ideas of work, later tolerated, and 

 finally encouraged them. Thus a greater va- 

 riety and a broader outlook have resulted. 

 A student is now permitted to study, in ad- 

 dition to anatomy and histology (which 

 crowded aside taxonomy for a time), taxon- 

 omy, physiology, behavior, heredity, ecology, 

 and even the application of these to human 

 affairs. This development has not been sym- 

 metrical, but it has become vastly more 

 varied, and permanently so, it is to be hoped. 



The museums have undergone changes 

 similar to those of the universities, because 

 the ideals both as to study collections and 

 as to the exhibits have changed. The "habi- 

 tat" groups, particularly, show this, as well 

 as the character of the members of the mu- 

 seum staff, who as a class have a much 

 broader training. With this general liberal- 

 izing of our universities and museums the 

 student and the public are getting a broader 

 idea of animals in the economy of nature 

 and of their relation to man. 



Disadvantages of the Old 



One of the unfortunate results which at- 

 tended this period of discouragement of 

 natural history in our universities, museums, 

 and schools, was that many persons who al- 

 ready had developed an interest in live ani- 



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