AIM, CONTENT, AND POINT OF VIEW 13 



Whether sociology is regarded as a response of 

 man to his fellows or to the whole of his environment 

 is inconsequential in its bearing upon whether or not 

 it is ecological. The response of man, as an animal, 

 to a part or the whole of his environment is strictly 

 ecological. Huxley recognized one relation very 

 clearly, and that is that the ecological relations of 

 individuals do not currently include the higher syn- 

 thesis which deals with them as associations, or 

 " aggregates "as he terms them. So far as known to 

 the writer, human activities in general have never 

 been fully and comprehensively oriented from the 

 ecological standpoint, even by the humanitarians 

 themselves, although some important preliminary 

 steps have been taken. It looks as if such a view- 

 point might give a new unity to all studies of human 

 relations. 



There is still another class of persons, particularly 

 teachers and isolated students, who desire first of 

 all to understand and interpret their own vicinity, 

 and who will inquire which of the three plans their 

 work best fits. If such a one begins with the detailed 

 study of each species, the general survey will not be 

 completed during his lifetime. If he uses the larger 

 taxonomic units, he may survey the field by going 

 over the same ground again and again, with each of 

 the different groups successively in mind, until the 

 entire field has been surveyed. Or, lastly, he may 

 divide the area into associations and study the animals 

 which are found living together, and by studying one 

 association after another he may cover the entire field. 



