OCTOBEB 28, 1921] 



SCIENCE 



397 



able persons will consider the progress of man- 

 kind, not by the years of generations merely, 

 but by centuries or millenia. We may learn 

 by the history of mankind in the last 20,000 

 years how near it has come to extinction ; and 

 we must recognize that it will take only a 

 little interference with natural instincts and 

 a little interference with natural selection 

 during a few generations to bring the species, 

 or one race of it, rather abruptly to an end, 

 just as other human races have come to an end 

 in historical times. The human species must 

 eventually go the way of all species of which 

 we have a paleontological record ; already there 

 are clear signs of a wide-spread deterioration in 

 this most complex and unstable of all animal 

 types. A failure to be influenced by the find- 

 ings of the students of eugenics or a continu- 

 ance in our present fatuous belief in the 

 potency of money to cure racial evils will 

 hasten the end. But if there be a serious sup- 

 port of research in eugenics and a willingness 

 to be guided by clearly established facts in this 

 field, the end of our species may long be post- 

 poned and the race may be brought to higher 

 levels of racial health, happiness and effective- 

 ness. 



Charles B. Davenport 



JOEL ASAPH ALLEN 

 Through the death, on August 29, 1921, of 

 Dr. Joel Asaph Allen, science has lost a 

 pioneer and a most devoted servant. A 

 memorable career, filled with achievement and 

 marked by years of unflagging application 

 and energy, has been closed in its eighty- 

 fourth year. 



Joel Asaph Allen was born in Springfield, 

 Massachusetts, July 19, 1838, of New Eng- 

 land parentage. Through his father, Joel 

 Allen, he traced his descent back to an Allen 

 who came to the Colonies about 1630, while 

 the maternal line of descent was from John 

 Trumbull who settled in Massachusetts in 

 1639. The eldest of five children, his early 

 life was spent on the paternal farm in an 

 atmosphere of puritanical strictness. His 

 schooling began with attendance at the rural 

 school, generally in the winter only, because 



of the demands of the farm for the summer 

 months. The boy very early displayed an in- 

 tense love of nature and a keen interest in 

 all its manifestations. While this did not 

 meet with the wishes of his father there was 

 no active or unkind opposition, and from his 

 mother he met only sympathy. 



Dependent at first solely upon his own ef- 

 forts, without the aid of books or the ac- 

 quaintance of naturalists, the boy showed a 

 great determination to interpret the life about 

 him. Later, when his attendance at Wilbra- 

 ham Academy led up to Cambridge and the 

 opportunity of studying under Louis Agas- 

 siz, he was prepared to make the most of 

 every opportunity. However, this zeal for 

 the constant study of nature, in addition to 

 the work necessary in helping on the farm, 

 resulted in the overtaxing of his strength and 

 the impairment of his health, a condition 

 which gave him much trouble throughout 

 his lifetime and finally put an end to all 

 field work. 



His association with Agassiz began when 

 he entered Cambridge as a special student 

 and lasted until the latter's death. Among 

 his associates in these classes conducted by 

 the great teacher, were men destined to be- 

 come famous, authorities in their special 

 fields. The names of Alpheus Hyatt, E. S. 

 Morse, A. S. Packard and A. E. Verrill are 

 to be found on the rosters of those days at 

 Cambridge. 



The story of his schooling at Wilbraham 

 Academy and later at Cambridge is that of 

 a young man anxious for knowledge, but es- 

 pecially eager for the subjects bearing upon 

 the natural sciences. With an ardent desire 

 to do editorial work, young Allen found dif- 

 ficulty in composition and set himself to ac- 

 quire this facility by keeping a daily journal, 

 among other items making note of current 

 weather conditions. When a summary of 

 these weather reports were handed in as a 

 composition at the academy, the boy was de- 

 lighted to discover that Professor Marcy, his 

 instructor, thought them worth publication. 

 The summary came out in the New England 

 Farmer and was the first of a long series from 



