_ APRIL 5, 1901.] 
chology were, so to speak, spontaneous 
inevitables. The course in nature study, 
introduced for the first time last summer, 
furnished a typical illustration of the con- 
vergence of interests now cooperating at the 
Laboratory. Although the class only num- 
bered fifteen members, over thirty investi- 
gators contributed to the instruction given, 
and a large share of the lectures, laboratory 
work and field studies were of the nature 
of research. Indeed, problems and demon- 
strations drawn from original work actually 
in progress, and presented by the investi- 
gators themselves, characterized the course 
throughout. 
In the further development of this course 
in natural history, we are looking forward 
to hoped-for facilities far beyond our pres- 
ent realizations. The creation of a Natural 
History Farm at Wood’s Holl may be 
somewhat remote still, nevertheless the pro- 
ject is entertained, and a small step has al- 
ready been taken in anticipation. The 
columbarium now under cultivation is, I 
venture to hope, the first instalment of such 
afarm. This collection of pigeons, already 
the largest of the kind in existence, and 
rapidly increasing by accessions from all 
parts of the world, was undertaken with 
several ends in view. The pigeon group, 
containing between four and five hundred 
wild species, and not less than one hun- 
dred and fifty domestic species or vari- 
eties, offers one of the most favorable fields 
for the comparative study of variation and 
for experimentation in dealing with the 
problems of heredity and evolution. While 
the principal aim in making the collection 
was the investigation of problems, the farm 
project has been kept steadily in view. 
The columbarium would form one section 
of the farm, and exemplify its uses and 
unique advantages for every side of natural 
history. 
Ever since the second birth of natural 
history in Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species,’ 
SCIENCE. 
539 
the need of experimental work on living 
animals has been clearly seen. The two 
elements of success in such work are con- 
trol and continuity. Both elements would 
be secured in an institution that combined 
efficiently organized laboratories and a 
farm stocked, manned and equipped for ex- 
perimental research. 
The idea of such an institution was elab- 
orated a long time ago in the ‘New Atlantis,’ 
in which is described a model college and 
farm instituted for the experimental study 
and interpretation of nature. This model 
was esteemed too vast and high for 
imitation, and the great and marvelous 
things it promised only served to empha- 
size its dreamland picturesqueness. It was 
only after the doctrine of Natural Selection 
had taken a deep hold of the scientific 
world, that Lord Bacon’s dream found an 
echo in the schemes proposed independ- 
ently by Romanes and Varigny. 
The question of the transmutation of 
species stood foremost in the minds of 
these naturalists, and it seemed as if the 
world would never be quite convinced with- 
out experimental tests of a crucial kind. 
For such tests is was obvious that plants 
and animals must be studied as living 
things; that the conditions of life and 
propagation must be such as could be pre- 
cisely defined and made to vary in ways 
admitting of control; and that the work 
must be carried continuously forward from 
year to year. Out of these requirements 
arose the idea of an experimental farm. 
General biology, or modern natural his- 
tory, is now seen to stand in pressing need 
_of something like the model college of 
Bacon’s Nova Atlantis, embracing not only 
an experimental farm, but also laboratories 
and a strong body of investigators with a 
competent staff of assistants. Naturalists 
everywhere appear to be fully awake to 
this important need, and Professor Mel- 
dola (Nature, Feb. 13, 1896) did not ex- 
