8 THE ART OF MORPHOLOGY 



lost for ever in the cataclysms of the past 

 without damaging the prospects of the human 

 race. It is certain, however, that morphological 

 researches, and the speculations which proceed 

 from them, contribute to the precision of our 

 rational conceptions, and on this account they 

 cannot be neglected. Their intellectual value is 

 an indication of their art. But I will not run 

 the risk of sapping the strength of morphology 

 by enquiring too closely where it lies. 



Biometrical researches, using the expression 

 in an extended sense to include all statistical 

 studies of variation and cell-lineage, have, on 

 the whole, as little in common with morphology 

 as with parasitology. But the point of view of 

 biologists undergoes periodical change, as indeed 

 it must do, for unless the methods and the 

 outlook are varied the art will be lost. The 

 scope of any method is limited, more narrowly 

 in some cases than in others ; and after it has 

 been tested by a crowd of workers its limita- 

 tions become uncomfortably patent, and one 

 turns with relief to something altogether new. 

 At the same time it should be remembered that 

 the application of what may be termed ad hoc 

 methods to the elucidation of morphological 

 problems may only serve to demonstrate the 

 inadequacy of such methods in respect of that 

 particular application. What yields good results 

 in heredity may not be equally fruitful when 



