X ON THE STUDY OF BIOLOGY 263 



to give you some answer to these four questions 

 what Biology is ; why it should be studied ; 

 how it should be studied ; and when it should be 

 studied. 



In the first place, in respect to what Biology 

 is, there are, I believe, some persons who imagine 

 that the term " Biology " is simply a new-fangled 

 denomination, a neologism in short, for what used 

 to be known under the title of " Natural History ; " 

 but I shall try to show you, on the contrary, that 

 the word is the expression of the growth of 

 science during the last 200 years, and came into 

 existence half a century ago. 



At the revival of learning, knowledge was 

 divided into two kinds the knowledge of nature 

 and the knowledge of man ; for it was the current 

 idea then (and a great deal of that ancient con- 

 ception still remains) that there was a sort of 

 essential antithesis, not to say antagonism, between 

 nature and man ; and that the two had not very 

 much to do with one another, except that the 

 one was oftentimes exceedingly troublesome to 

 the other. Though it is one of the salient merits 

 of our great philosophers of the seventeenth 

 century, that they recognised but one scientific 

 method, applicable alike to man and to nature, 

 we find this notion of the existence of a broad 

 distinction between nature and man in the writings 

 both of Bacon and of Hobbes of Malmesbury ; and 

 I have brought with rne that famous work which 



