CHAPTER XXV. 



THE HISTORY OF BIOLOGY 



It is generally conceded that those who have been with a business 

 organization throughout its growth period know most about that busi- 

 ness. Such men not only understand a thousand details of the work 

 that others do not, but they know why they do what they do. The 

 same truth holds good in science. But as none of us was present when 

 science began, the only way we can obtain such an understanding is to 

 read the story of those who were present ; as a consequence, the history 

 of any branch of science becomes an important study in the college cur- 

 riculum. 



In reading history we are always inclined to pass some sort of a 

 judgment on the characters there found. This judgment is, however, 

 quite likely to prove erroneous, unless we first know something of the 

 times in which they lived, the obstacles they had to overcome, and the 

 reasons they had for beginning work in new fields. 



We must weigh the evidence on all sides of a question very care- 

 fully, so as not to confuse conspicuousness with importance. For exam- 

 ple, an inventor is likely to be widely known because men at large can 

 see, use, and understand his invention ; but, as soon as another inventor 

 improves, or brings about another apparatus which takes the place of the 

 first invention, the first inventor ceases to interest men, and is then soon 

 forgotten. 



Such a state does not apply to the real scientist the discoverer of 

 a new principle for, every invention and every application that his 

 principle brings about in future time, proves that principle to be just so 

 much the more important, and causes the scientist to be considered 

 greater and greater through onflowing years. 



It is therefore the real scientists, the true originators and discov- 

 erers of principles who must be known and honored. 



First, then, let us try to catch a glimpse of the times in which men 

 of past ages worked. 



From the very earliest period of which we possess records, men have 

 been interested in agriculture and medicine which means, botany and 

 zoology. Botany, in so far as a practical knowledge of food-plants was 

 essential to successful agriculture, and in so far as a practical knowledge 

 of medicinal plants was essential for the health of man and his animal 

 servants. Zoology, in so far as a practical knowledge of the breeding of 

 cattle and sheep was essential to a successful livelihood, and in so far 

 as a knowledge of the human body was essential to prevent wounded 

 men from bleeding to death. 



