DEcEMBER 27, 1918] 
a number of closely related types have been 
dissected; and in the meantime the student is 
endeavoring to assimilate a classification with- 
out a knowledge of the chief practical means 
of establishing a system of taxonomy. Nor is 
taxonomy itself necessarily excluded when 
types are abandoned. An exercise in which 
the principles of taxonomy are made clear by 
illustrative material from the whole animal 
kingdom gives the student a better conception 
both of classification and of the groups of 
animals than anything less than a very long 
type course could be expected to do. And 
finally, the argument that a type course ex- 
hibits a splendid evolutionary series loses its 
force when types may be supplanted by much 
better evidence from vertebrate and inverte- 
brate fossils, from geographical distribution, 
and other sources. Moreover, certain phyla, 
as the echinoderms, never did have much evyo- 
lutionary significance, when taken in con- 
nection with other phyla, yet the usual type 
course includes at least one echinoderm. 
The objection is sometimes raised that a 
course based on principles instead of types 
gives a full knowledge of not a single animal. 
This objection, however, comes only from those 
to whom zoology has a special interest, and 
who will go on for advanced work in the same 
field; and in their second course they will get 
that complete information about some one 
animal which they desire. An elementary 
course based on principles should therefore 
be the best foundation for students of all 
grades of interest. To him who will never 
pursue another course in biology it gives the 
very things that will be of interest or value. 
To him who will specialize in the subject, it 
affords the best possible framework into which 
the details subsequently acquired can be fitted. 
Unlike courses in elementary botany, if Pro- 
fesor Davis’s paper is correctly interpreted, 
the course in zoology based on principles does 
not await the future for its realization. In at 
least one institution such a course is now in 
operation. In the University of Michigan the 
first course in zoology is of the kind described. 
Dissection of types is no longer practised, the 
entire laboratory work being collected around 
SCIENCE 
649 
principles. It is a truly general course; first 
hand knowledge of the elementary facts from 
each of the main divisions of zoology is gained 
in the laboratory and from these facts funda- 
mental principles are derived. It has been in 
operation for several years, and has more than 
justified its introduction. Such a course makes 
new demands on the text-book and on the mode 
of teaching, but these difficulties can be re- 
moved. It is likely to be a little more ex- 
pensive to install than the type course, but its 
current expenses may well be less. 
The sponsors of this course regard it as the 
best kind of course, whether after the war, 
during the war, or any other time. Whatever 
of practical or applied biology it contains is 
there, not for any benefit that may accrue to 
the nation in times of stress, but because of 
its general interest and importance. For it is 
clear that the amount of applied biology that 
could be included in a beginning course would 
not enable any one save his country, unless 
increased by practical courses to follow. 
In pedagogical method the course on prin- 
ciples need not differ from the type course. 
The inductive method may be as consistently 
employed. Accuracy in observation is just as 
necessary. Correctness of interpretation is 
quite as essential. But this difference exists: 
the thing observed is itself of interest, or the 
interpretation is important. Features of an 
animal which are not of interest or are not 
important are omitted. 
A. FRANKLIN SHULL 
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, 
Ann Arzor, MICH. 
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF SCIENCE 
To rue Eprror or Science: The statement 
adopted by the Inter-Allied Conference held 
in London under the auspices of the Royal 
Society, Scrence, November 22, page 509, as a 
preamble to certain resolutions which are to 
be made public later, directs attention to the 
serious difficulties which the recent war has 
imposed on the international scientific projects 
already inaugurated and on those under con- 
sideration. As these projects are of common 
interest it can scarcely be expected that a 
