SEPTEMBER 8, 1899. | 
primitive. Hven man himself is one of the 
best forms to study the limbs upon. As 
expressed by one of my colleagues (J. H. 
Comstock) in his papers upon phylogeny, 
the unraveling of the mysteries of ‘ descent 
with modification’ in their entirety cannot 
be worked out in a single form or group; 
the puzzle must be spelled out part by part, 
and one group will serve best for one organ 
and another for another. 
As any complete study requires much 
material at all stages the higher forms must 
be of the domesticated groups, or wild forms 
must be practically domesticated for the 
time being to supply the material. 
It may be objected, also, that in the in- 
vestigation of domesticated forms sordid 
interests will play too prominent a part. 
No doubt, to the true scientific man the 
study of zoology for its own sake, that is for 
an insight into the fundamental laws of life, 
is a sufficient incentive and reward. Judg- 
ing from the past, the study of the domestic 
animals in any other way than in a scien- 
tific spirit and by the scientific method will 
prove barren, but studied in that spirit and 
by that method the result has always justi- 
fied the effort, and has thrown as much, if 
not more, light upon biological problems 
than an equally exact study of a wild 
form. 
Therefore, while purely practical ends can 
never supply the inspiration to true scien- 
tific work, still surely no scientific man 
could feel anything but happiness that his 
work had in some ways added to the sum 
of human well being. Perhaps no one has 
expressed so well the sympathy of a scien- 
tifie man with his fellow men as Pasteur in 
the preface to his work on the silkworm 
diseases: ‘‘ Although I devoted nearly five 
consecutive years to the laborious experi- 
mental researches which have affected my 
health, I am glad that I undertook them. * * 
The results which I have obtained are 
perhaps less brilliant than those: which I 
SCIENCE. 315 
might have anticipated from researches 
pursued in the field of pure science, but I 
have the satisfaction of having served my 
country in endeavoring, to the best of 
my ability, to discover a remedy for great 
misery. It is to the honor of a scientific 
man that he values discoveries which at 
their birth can only obtain the esteem of 
his equals, far above those which at once 
conquer the favor of the crowd by the im- 
mediate utility of their application ; but in 
the presence of misfortune it is equally an 
honor to sacrifice everything in the en- 
deavor to relieve it. Perhaps, also, I may 
have given young investigators the salu- 
tary example of lengthy labors bestowed 
upon a difficult and ungrateful subject.” 
As a final word, let me summarize this 
address by saying: However necessary and 
desirable it may have been in the past that 
the main energy of zoologists should be em- 
ployed in the description of new species 
and in the making of fragmentary observa- 
tions upon the habits, structure and em- 
bryology of a multitude of forms, I firmly 
believe that necessity or even desirability 
has long since passed away, and that for 
the advancement of zoological science the 
work of surpassing importance confronting 
us is the thorough investigation of a few 
forms from the ovum to youth, maturity 
and old age. And I also firmly believe 
that, whenever available, the greatest good 
to science, and thus to mankind, will result 
from a selection of domesticated forms for 
these thorough investigations.* 
Srmmon Henry GAGE. 
CORNELL UNIVERSITY. 
* Tf the young zoologist wishes to get a clear notion 
of the meaning and value of ‘species’ in modern 
biology he is recommended to read Dr. Farlow’s ad- 
dress in last year’s Proceedings; also Dr. D. S. Jordan’s 
‘Kinship of Life’ in his ‘ Footnotes on Evolution,’ 
and Professor Bailey’s chapter on ‘ Experimental Evo- 
lution Amongst Plants’ in his book on the ‘Survival 
of the Unlike.’ 
