50 MODES OF RESEARCH IN GENETICS 



depended upon to give correct results invariably, 

 regardless of how it is handled or applied. Biom- 

 etry is no worse off in this regard than is the ex- 

 perimental method, the position of which in biolog- 

 ical methodology is now so secure. 



The real purpose of biometry is the general 

 quantification of biology. Its fundamental view- 

 point is that without a study of the quantitative 

 relations of biological phenomena in the widest 

 sense it will never be possible to arrive at a full and 

 adequate knowledge of those phenomena. This 

 viewpoint insists that a description which says 

 nothing about the magnitude of the thing described 

 is not complete but, on the contrary, lacks an 

 element of primary importance. It insists, also, 

 that an experiment which takes no account of 

 the "probable error" of the results reached is 

 inadequate and as likely as not to lead to incorrect 

 conclusions. Further, and more broadly, it is 

 certain that not only are quantitative methods 

 needed in biology, but also that a far more serious 

 need is for something of the methodological view- 

 point — the mode of thinking — which is charac- 

 teristic of the exact sciences. What the writer 

 conceives to be the true and basic standpoint of 

 biometry cannot be better expressed than in the 

 following remarks of that master of an exact 

 physical science, Lord Kelvin, in an address on 

 Electrical Units of Measurement. 1 "I often say 



1 "Popular Lectures and Addresses," Vol. I, p. 73. 





