JANUARY 11, 1901.] 
your minds eye the keen struggle for exist- 
ence. * * * 
* kk Here you have before you the 
methods and present aims of paleontology; 
it is the history of the world in the period 
which is mistakenly called prehistoric; it 
‘is your history and mine when our ancestors 
were struggling upwards in the long ascent 
ofman. LHvery broad, serious, honest con- 
tribution to paleontology will constitute a 
word, a line, a chapter in the final history 
which our descendants will complete. 
Henry FAIRFIELD OSBORN. 
CoLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. 
BIOLOGY AS AN ELEMENT IN COLLEGE 
TRAINING.* 
CoursEs in natural science under the 
head of biology are a comparatively recent 
feature in our college programs. They 
may be described in general terms as con- 
sisting of a comparative study of certain 
types of animal and vegetable life with 
reference to their functions as well as their 
structures. Strictly speaking biology is in 
no essential respect a new subject. Never- 
theless the term is a useful one, and courses 
in general biology differ in several impor- 
tant, if not essential respects, from those usu- 
ally given under the title of zoology or bot- 
any or natural history. In the first place, 
these courses, as given in our colleges, en- 
deavor to present the salient facts with re- 
gard to the properties of living things from 
a common or general standpoint. They at- 
tempt to bring into the foreground the re- 
semblances as well as the differences in 
structure and function among varied forms 
of life belonging to both the plant and the 
animal kingdom. The intention is to give 
a bird’s-eye view in which the general plan 
shall be made evident, and fundamental re- 
lationships shall be emphasized. A student 
* Address delivered at Trinity College, Hartford, 
Connecticut, on the occasion of the opening of the 
Hall of Natural History. 
SCIENCE. 
49 
who has acquired this point of view is pre- 
pared to appreciate discussions of the great 
general laws of biology, or, if need be, to en- 
ter more carefully upon a closer study of de- 
tails. 
But, in addition to this feature, courses 
in general biology are characterized by the 
emphasis laid upon the functional manifes- 
tations of living matter, by a presentation 
and discussion of the great questions of nu- 
trition, heredity and reaction to environ- 
ment. 
In other words, the physiological point of 
view is brought out more prominently, if I 
mistake not, than is the case in the cus- 
tomary courses in botany or zoology. For 
these reasons a course in elementary biology 
has a special value, which has been recog- 
nized and has led to its very general intro- 
duction into our colleges. In a proper 
sequence of biological studies its place falls 
naturally in the college period. It should 
be preceded, preferably in the secondary 
schools, by an out-door study of the forms 
and life-histories of familiar plants and ani- 
mals, and, on the other hand, should itself 
precede courses in botany or zoology or 
special professional training. 
It is in this last respect that the impor- 
tance of collegiate training in biology has 
been most widely recognized, that is, as a 
preparation fora future professional career, 
particularly the profession of medicine. 
Medicine on its scientific side falls into the 
group of biological studies, but as taught 
in the professional schools it concerns itself 
almost exclusively with a single, and that 
the most highly developed, form of life. 
The intelligent members of the medical pro- 
fession have recognized freely that a general 
survey of the whole series of living types 
forms an excellent basis for the more spe- 
cial work of medical schools and medical 
practice, in that it gives a wholesome 
breadth of view and an educational train- 
ing that may save its possessor from many 
