282 ANIMAL MORPHOLOGY 



soupc.onne'e par Lamarck, a peine aborde"e par quelques raresbio- 

 logistes, est un territoire scientifique que la plupart des naturalistes 

 de nos jours ne verront que comme Moi'se vit la Terre promise 

 seulement de loin, et sans pouvoir y entrer." 1 



My hopes have been greatly surpassed by reality. Under the 

 name of embryological mechanics (Entwicklungsmechanity , and of 

 biomechanics, of biometry, etc., the new fields toward which I 

 directed my course of scientific exploration at the beginning of my 

 career have been partly recognized and opened up by young and 

 able investigators. Scientific progress follows a geometrical pro- 

 gression, of which the ratio increases unceasingly. As a river, with 

 its impetuous waters increased by the contributions of numerous 

 tributaries whose synthesis it effects, morphology majestically de- 

 ploys its course, and the delicious aesthetic experience that the con- 

 templation of living beings procures us is the least recompense of 

 of our troubles and of our persevering efforts. 



For the realization of a work of art, what anonymous collabor- 

 ators come to the assistance of a painter or a sculptor! The artisan 

 who weaves the canvas, the quarryman who furnishes the stone, 

 have their share of merit in the final result, and we owe them also 

 a share of the recognition. It is the same in our sciences of nature, 

 where each day brings an increasing solidarity among all the workers. 

 The different branches of biology are united among themselves, 

 as we have seen, by multiple and intertwining bonds, and a special 

 branch such as morphology depends not only on the progress of 

 neighboring branches, but also on the development of other sciences, 

 even those which are apparently most distant. 



Specialization, which perforce becomes more and more intense, 

 also renders the more desirable synthetic efforts and the coordina- 

 tion of results. 



Let us hope, then, that in the near future a collective organ- 

 ization may replace the anarchical state which exists at present, 

 and which uselessly absorbs so much activity which might be 

 better employed in bringing the various sciences into a hierarchy 

 and directing them toward a common end. Scientific solidarity 

 should be the preface and the model of social solidarity. 



1 A. Giard, Cours de Zoologie (Bull. sc. Fr. et Belg., t. vin, p. 258), 1876. 



