BIOLOGY IN AMERICA 



CHAPTER I 



Work of the early biologists. Explorers and travelers^ col- 

 lectors, field naturalists and museum men. Early surveys, 

 state and national. 



The evolution of human thought parallels that of the indi- 

 vidual mind. Man sees first the effect and then seeks the 

 cause. The falling apple pointed the way to the discovery of 

 the law of gravitation; the amber wand, when rubbed with a 

 bit of fur, to the discovery of electricity, and the "pebrin" 

 disease of the silkworm to the modern science of bacteriology. 

 The story of all science is one of observation of phenomena, 

 speculation as to their cause, and finally the determination 

 of cause by means of experiment. The recording of phe- 

 nomena is not however limited to any given scientific age, 

 but necessarily goes hand in hand with philosophy and experi- 

 ment, forming with them the trinity of scientific progress. 



It is but natural, then, that the early history of biology in 

 America should be written in the bold characters of stirring 

 adventure. Across the sea in the first years of the last cen- 

 tury came adventurous spirits, keen-eyed and lusty hearted, 

 with the "call of the wild" in their souls. Some of these, 

 like the Scotch peddler Wilson, and the eccentric Audubon 

 were * * ne 'er do weels ' ' filled with the primitive instinct of the 

 nomad. Others were men of high station in the Old World, 

 like Lucien Bonaparte, nephew of the great imperialist, who 

 came to this country, like their humbler comrades, impelled 

 by a spirit of scientific adventure. There were still other 

 naturalists in the early days in America, like the Bartrams, 

 who were natives of the soil. 



These early biologists were naturally collectors and field 

 naturalists, but with the establishment of learned societies 

 they were soon joined by museum men, who worked up the 

 material collected in the field. The interest of these latter, 

 then as now, was primarily in classification and distribution, 

 but the writings of the field naturalists are replete with 

 interesting accounts of the homes and habits of the animals 



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