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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. LIV. No. 1408. 



opened up positions in medical faculties for 

 trained workers in these subjects. 



The history of a professor of zoology at 

 present would run some such course as this. 

 While an undergraduate he might show a 

 special interest and ability in the subject 

 leading to an appointment as assistant of 

 some kind in the laboratory. Upon gradua- 

 tion he might receive a scholarship in the 

 graduate school and later a fellowship, these 

 various appointments making him somewhat 

 self-supporting. Having obtained his Ph.D. 

 degree and developed a special interest in 

 some phase of zoology he could expect to be 

 appointed an assistant or instructor taking 

 part in the laboratory instruction of the ele- 

 mentary courses. After a time he would be 

 given charge of a class in the particular sub- 

 ject in which he had specialized and with it 

 the rank of assistant professor. After a num- 

 ber of years he would attain the rank of as- 

 sociate professor or its equivalent. Finally 

 after a period of about fifteen years he might 

 be made a full professor. During the pre- 

 liminary years of his career his salary might 

 range from $1,000 to $3,500 per year, while 

 as full professor his income would be from 

 $4,000 to $6,000. Within recent years salar- 

 ies have advanced and in a few places reach 

 from $8,000 to $10,000. While from the 

 financial standpoint not much can be said 

 for such a prospect there are many additional 

 compensations which are worthy of consider- 

 ation. Chief among these is the opportunity 

 for constant mental growth and development, 

 and the contact with young and inquiring 

 minds which keeps the mind active and ad- 

 aptable. Constant association with the best 

 products of human thought, and with pleas- 

 ant and congenial fellow-workers, together 

 with opportunities for travel and study in 

 the summer vacation constitute arguments 

 of great weight for any one whose tastes in- 

 cline to a scholastic life. 



The added attraction of a career in a chair 

 of science is that one deals with matters 

 which are essentially of interest to our pres- 

 ent civilization. The contributions made to 

 human knowledge are now almost exclusively 



in science. Other civilizations have equalled 

 or excelled us in many lines of endeavor, but 

 in coming to an understanding of the real 

 nature of ourselves and of the universe in 

 which we live, we stand apart. An opportu- 

 nity to take part in enlarging the bounds of 

 human knowledge and in gaining control 

 over the conditions of human existence must 

 appeal to the imagination of any young man, 

 who really has ambition to leave the world 

 better than he found it. The teacher has 

 the additional satisfaction of contributing to 

 the forces that will continue the attack upon 

 Nature's secrets because his students live 

 after him. 



Added to the attractiveness attaching to 

 any scientific position the zoologist finds a 

 compelling interest and satisfaction in study- 

 ing living things and in learning from them 

 secrets which profoundly affect his own ex- 

 istence. It is only necessary here to recall 

 that Darwin, in establishing the theory of 

 evolution, supplied a philosophy which has 

 dominated every phase of human affairs in 

 the last half century. Every year sees ad- 

 ditions to our knowledge of life and its proc- 

 esses which make for a better and fuller 

 human existence. The subject of zoology is 

 so young and fertile that any capable person 

 may hope to make a worthy contribution to 

 it. Because of this he may well forego op- 

 portunities more attractive in a worldly way. 



But should there exist a taste for scientific 

 pursuits and a disinclination for scholastic 

 life there are many ways in which a scien- 

 tific training can be utilized outside the 

 school room. The national government main- 

 tains extensive laboratories among which are 

 those dealing with the applications of zoologi- 

 cal knowledge. At present these are largely 

 concerned with parasitological questions, but 

 in the study of these there open up fascina- 

 ting life histories of animals, and their pur- 

 suit involves travel and investigation in many 

 lands. To one interested in fishes and their 

 ways the Bureau of Fisheries offers many 

 opportunities, some of which lead to ocean 

 voyages and experiences with the mysteries 

 of the sea. 



