Jdnk 20, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



975 



ology,' especially as the German usage of 

 'biology' among English or American zool- 

 ogists is almost without precedent. 



The word 'ethology' is singularly happy 

 in its derivation from ^Oo<s, which embraces 

 in the wealth of its connotations, all the 

 aspects of the zoological discipline for 

 which a concise and appropriate name is so 

 much needed. The origin of the word v^o? 

 from el?"?, custom, usage, is clearly given 

 in Aristotle.* The general Greek usage 

 of '/^o? , especially in the plural rjdTj , as 

 the accustomed seat, haunt, habitat or 

 dwelling of men or animals, admirably ex- 

 presses the chorological aspect of 'ethol- 

 ogy'; its usage in the sense of habit, 

 manners, etc. (Lat. consuetudo, mores) ex- 

 presses what we mean by animal behavior, 

 while the signification of ^0<><; as character, 

 disposition, nature, etc. (Lat. indoles, 

 ingenium, affectus) is well suited to ex- 

 press the psychological aspects of 'ethol- 

 ogy.' Certainly no term could be more 

 applicable to a study which must deal 

 very largely with instincts, and intelli- 

 gence as well as with the ' habits ' and 

 'habitus' of animals. It is apparent from 

 a moment's reflection that the term may 

 be readily made to include all and more 

 than is meant by ' Biologic ' in the German 

 sense, or ' cecology ' in the Haeckelian 

 sense. 



There may be a possible objection to the 

 use of 'ethology' on the ground that it has 

 been employed in English in two senses 

 besides the one here advocated, viz., as the 

 name of the science of ethics and as mim- 

 icry, or pantomime.f But the latter usage 

 appears to be quite obsolete, and an author- 

 ity on moral philosophy informs the 

 writer that he has never encountered the 



* ' * To yap rjdo^ airb rov Wovg exet tj/v ewuvvfiiav, i/diK?/ 

 yap KaXe.'iTai did tov cdi^eaBai." ' Ethica Magna,' II., 

 6.2 ; ' Ethica Endemia,' II. , 2.1. Ed. Bekker. 



I Century Dictionary. 



word ' ethology ' in the sense of ' ethics.' 

 Hence this usage must be too uncommon to 

 prevent the zoologist from appropriating 

 the term for technical purposes. 



Father Wasmann {loc. cit., pp. 398, 399) 

 defines 'ethology' (or rather its equivalent, 

 'Biologic') as 'the science of the external 

 conditions of existence which pertain to 

 organisms as individuals and at the same 

 time regulate their relations to other or- 

 ganisms and to the inorganic environment. ' 

 It therefore embraces in its restricted sense : 

 "first, a knowledge of the mode of life of 

 animals and plants, their nourishment, 

 dwelling, mode of propagation, the care of 

 offspring and their development, in so far 

 as these present external manifestations; 

 hence also, second, a knowledge of the life- 

 relations that obtain between individuals 

 of the same and different species (includ- 

 ing all the phenomena of parasitism, sym- 

 biosis, etc. ) , and hence also, third, a knowl- 

 edge of the conditions of existence which 

 are essential to the life and maintenance of 

 animals and plants." It occurs to the 

 writer that it would be better to substitute 

 'general' for 'external' in this definition. 

 Of course, 'general and special' are open to 

 the same objections as 'external and inter- 

 nal' on account of the impossibility of 

 drawing a hard and fast line between the 

 two alternatives. But it seems better, on 

 the whole to emphasize the former alterna- 

 tives on account of the large element of 

 general comparative psychology, physiol- 

 ogy, morphology and embryology, which 

 must enter into ethological investigation. 

 'Generality' also expresses in a more satis- 

 factorj^ manner the central position of 

 'ethology' among the remaining zoological 

 disciplines. Whenever we undertake the 

 detailed or exhaustive study of an etho- 

 logical problem we are led imperceptibly 

 into the details of physiology, psychol- 

 ogy, morphology, embryology, taxonomy or 



