jANU.UiY 31, 1919] 



SCIENCE 



107 



searching questioniug and review of our ac- 

 cepted beliefs in organic evolution, to discover 

 if possible whether there is any warrant for the 

 claim that they can be made to support and 

 justify, even in distorted form, such unspeak- 

 ably inhuman activities as have followed in 

 the wake of the attempt to establish domina- 

 tion for a self-styled superior race. Of course 

 we may now interpret the result if we choose 

 as establishing the place of the triumphant 

 side in the contest, but I do not think we need 

 stop to argue concerning the "fittest" in this 

 " struggle for existence." There is too much 

 to be done, too many vital issues at stake for 

 human progress in the immediate future and 

 all our resources in thought and action will 

 be demanded in their solution. But. granting 

 all this, must we not face the cold fact that 

 our basic principle in organic evolution is 

 capable of misinterpretation or misapplication 

 when it is in any way possible for it to be in- 

 voked as the justification for starting such a 

 train of misery and death to the nations of 

 the whole world? It takes remarkable op- 

 timism concerning the betterment of mankind 

 as the results of this war (and unquestionably 

 betterment may come in many regards) in 

 order to feel that the evolution of our human 

 family to higher conceptions of order and 

 cooperation in national affairs could not have 

 been achieved without the tremendous, mon- 

 strous cost of such a war. 



Ought we not in all fairness to a biological 

 principle which we believe to have been the 

 basis of all our achievements in morality, 

 altruism and ethical standards of human so- 

 ciety to see if possible that its basic principles, 

 its proper interpretations and its proper re- 

 sults are so impressed upon our biological 

 thought and policies of education that zoology 

 as a science can never again be charged witli 

 such infamous doctrine as a support for the 

 divine right of kings or the origin of a world 

 war such as has agonized the nations of the 

 present day. 



The growth and progress of science itself 

 has so much at stake that, even with a narrow 

 selfish interest in the advancement of our 

 special branch of study, we can not be in- 



different, but as part of a greater educational 

 world and a still greater world of human 

 activity we owe it to ourselves and our science 

 that our principles be not only well established, 

 but that they are correctly interpreted to the 

 world at large. We have here not only a 

 great aim but a great and most significant op- 

 portunity. If our statesmen can be brought 

 to think and act on the basis of a most en- 

 lightened biological interpretation of the world 

 and himian society, I believe we need have 

 little fear for the safety of future generations. 



AGESCJES FOR RESEARCH 



In organized agencies or zoological research 

 we certainly have reason to be proud and to 

 feel that we have the basis for extensive en- 

 terprises and rapid development. The gov- 

 ernmental bureaus of Biological Survey, Fish- 

 eries, Animal Industry and Entomology, which 

 have been contributing very largely to the 

 growth of zoological science in recent years, 

 are facing new opportunities and will have 

 had their activities stimulated by recent 

 events. While they have no doubt been 

 haudicapijed by the temporary or permanent 

 loss of many of their workers it is certainly 

 to be expected that they will resume their 

 work with renewed zeal and efficiency. 



In the universities, colleges and experiment 

 stations where there has been perhaps the 

 heaviest drain on the younger workers, who 

 naturally form a very large per cent, of the 

 active force, there should be prompt resump- 

 tion of activity and researches along many 

 lines that have been suggested b.v problems 

 faced during the war, which will offer un- 

 limited opportunity for ingenuity and original 

 investigation. So to the museums, state acad- 

 emies, surveys and all the institutions inter- 

 ested in exploration or research will spring to 

 renewed activity. 



In view of the many agencies of this kind 

 and the large support given to zoological re- 

 search it is fair to ask whether we are getting 

 the utmost in return and whether there are 

 any tendencies in these organizations inimical 

 to the most effective results? It is perhaps 

 hardly to be expected that we have an ideal 



