92 REPOET— 1870. 



indispensable, as it seems to me, as a preliminary to an adequate and intelligent 

 comprehension of the problems of biology ; or, in other words, to an adequate and 

 intelligent comprehension of the discussions which will take place in this room 

 and in the two other rooms which will be assigned to, and occupied by, the de- 

 partment of Ethnology and Anthropology, and that of Physiology pure and pro- 

 per, with Anatomy. 



Having made these observations, I propose, in the second place, to enumerate 

 the subjects which appear likely to occupy prominent places m our forthcoming 

 discussions ; and thirdly, I will, if your patience allows me, conclude with some 

 remarks as to certain of the benefits which may be expected, as having been con- 

 stantly observed to flow from a due and full devotion to biological study. 



In the first place, then, I wish to say that though the problems of biology have 

 much of what is called general interest (that is to say, of interest for all persons) 

 attaching to them, — as, indeed, how could they fail to have, including as they do 

 the natural history of our own and of all other species of living organisms, whether 

 animal or vegetable ? — some special preparation must be gone through if that gene- 

 ral interest is to be thoroughly and intelligently gratified. I would compare the 

 realm of biology to a vast landscape in a cultivated country of which extensive 

 views may be obtained from an eminence, but for the full and thorough appreci- 

 ation of which it is necessaiy that the gazer should himself have cultivated some 

 portion, however small, of the expanse at his feet. It is, of course, a matter of 

 regret to think that persons can be found who look upon an actual landscape with- 

 out any thought or knowledge as to how the various factors which make up its 

 complex beauty have come to cooperate, how the hand of man is recognizable 

 here, how the dip of the strata is visible there, and how their alternation is 

 detectable in another place as the potent agency in giving its distinctive features ; 

 but I take it that real and permanent, however imperfect, pleasure may be drawn 

 from the contemplation of scenery by persons who are ignorant of all these things. 

 I do not think this is the case when we here deal with coup d'ocil views of biology. 

 The amount of the special knowledge, the extent of the special training need not 

 necessarily be great ; but some such special knowledge and training there must be 

 if the problems and argumentations familiar to the professed biologist are to bo 

 understood and grasped by persons whose whole lives are not devoted to the sub- 

 ject, so as to form for them acquisitions of real and vital knowledge. 



The microscope has done very much (indeed I may say it has done almost all 

 that is necessary) for enabling all persons to obtain the necessary minimum of prac- 

 tical and personal acquaintance with the arrangements of the natural world of 

 whichi am speaking. The glass trough used in Edinburgh, the invention of John 

 Goodsir, whose genius showed itself, as genius often does show itself, in simple in- 

 ventions, can be made into a miniature aquarium (I purposely use a word which 

 calls up the idea of an indoors apparatus, wishing thereby to show how the means I 

 recommend are within the reach of all persons) ; and in it, lying as it does horizon- 

 tally and underlain as it is by a condenser, animal and vegetable organisms can bo 

 observed at any and at all hours, and continuously, and with tolerably high mag- 

 nifying-powers even whilst undisturbed. Thus is gained an admirable field for the 

 self-discipline in question. The microscope which should be used by preference 

 for exploring and watching such an aquarium should be such a one as is figured in 

 Quekett's work on the Microscope (p. 58, fig. 36), as consisting of a stem with a 

 stout steadying base, and of a horizontal arm some 9 inches long, which can carry 

 indiflerently simple lenses or a compound body. I think of the two it is better 

 that the aquarium should be horizontal rather than the microscope ; and those who 

 think with me in this matter can nevertheless combine for themselves the advan- 

 tages of the horizontal position of the instrument with those of the horizontal posi- 

 tion of the objects observed by modifying the eyepiece in the way figured by Quekett 

 (p. 381, fig. 266). It would be a long task to enumerate fully all the scientific 

 lessons which may be gathered, first, and all the educational agencies, secondly, 

 which may be set and kept in movement by a person who possesses himself of this 

 simple apparatus. The mutual interdependence of the animal and vegetable king- 

 doms, then- solidar lie as the French have called it, and as the Germans have called 

 it too, copying herein the French, is one of the first lessons the observer has forced 



