X INTRODUCTION 



digest and condense the results of research, and 

 thereby provide a short cut to the fruits of the labor of 

 generations. At the same time the educational process 

 is not complete unless the student has patiently trodden 

 some path of discovery of his own, and has thus come 

 to appreciate the methods of science. In a democratic 

 society, no citizen can afford to remain ignorant. The 

 democracy of this country still remains largely an 

 ideal, only to be realized when the average level of 

 intelligence has been raised through education. We 

 are like young persons expecting to inherit a great 

 estate, to the management of which we must bring 

 the best powers we are capable of developing. The 

 essential facts of biology, the science of life, should 

 surely be known to all, and we believe that some 

 course embo'dying them should be obligatory for 

 every student. If this is granted, some revision of 

 current methods appears to be required. The biology 

 or zoology for the average individual who has no 

 thought of specializing in the department should not 

 be too morphological, too rich in detailed facts of 

 structure and classification. Experience shows that 

 such minutiae are not remembered, and do not neces- 

 sarily leave as a residue any broad and useful con- 

 ceptions. The working out of a single problem or 

 small group of problems in detail is a different matter, 

 as it teaches of methods and points of view in a manner 

 never to be forgotten, and may well open the way for 

 an amateur interest which will remain a blessing 

 through life. 



On the other hand, we cannot shirk the essential 

 problems because they are hard. Each generation 

 of men has to wrestle with the angel, and deal in some 

 manner with matters which it can never more than 



