372 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 479. 



tion then arises: Have we really, in our 

 eager pursuit of the details, lost sight of 

 the final object of our studies, which alone 

 can justify the expenditure of brain work 

 and money; and have we thus degraded 

 our science to a mere sport or a brilliant 

 juggling with facts and words ? Have we 

 forgotten that the problems are the essen- 

 tial part of science and that the records 

 are only the tools with which to work out 

 the problems? 



Thus far there are but slight indications 

 on the surface that the higher problems 

 have attracted much attention, and I am 

 afraid that many of' us mxist plead guilty 

 to having groped in the lower regions so 

 long that we almost forgot that there is 

 something higher. Nevertheless, any one 

 who has the opportunity to look below the 

 surface must be aware that a notable 

 amount of thinking and theorizing is going 

 on without causing much outward commo- 

 tion. While this holds true to a slight ex- 

 tent for the whole range of problems, it 

 is particularly so with regard to a certain 

 limited class, referring, as I do, to the 

 problems more or less intimately connected 

 with the question of life zones or the zonal 

 distribution of life. Here, thanks to the 

 brilliant work of some of the most prom- 

 inent scientists of the American Ornitholo- 

 gists ' Union, considerable progress has been 

 made in the right direction, and more may 

 be confidently expected in the near future. 



It is not difficult to demonstrate just why 

 this class of problems should first receive 

 attention. The explanation is that not 

 only have the requisite facts been recorded 

 on an unprecedented scale and with a clear 

 understanding of the requirements of the 

 case, but nearly all the material necessary 

 for at least a pai*tial solution of the prob- 

 lems are available within the boundaries of 

 this country. The question, up to a cer- 

 tain point at least, is a local one, viz., the 

 interrelation between the North American 



biota and the various zonal areas which its 

 component animals and plants occupy. Up 

 to this point our scientists will be able to 

 solve the problems. It must be conceded, 

 furthermore, that the truly momnnental 

 way in which the material is being gath- 

 ered, recorded and elaborated makes it pos- 

 sible for them to construct upon it a philo- 

 sophic building which shall be more endur- 

 ing than the ephemeral structures of past 

 times. We may confidently look forward 

 to the establishing of proof where formerly 

 we had only uncertain theories and hy- 

 potheses. 



Just here we have reached the point 

 where we become aware of our limitations 

 and their cause. We have the means of 

 approaching and solving the local prob- 

 lems and questions in so far as they can be 

 elucidated by local work, but we are utterly 

 shut oiit from attacking the larger., more 

 universal problems, without which we shall 

 have to submit to the stigma of being mere 

 sciolists, a name applied the other day to 

 American biologists generally by a reviewer 

 of the achievements of American science. 



Whether we accept a holarctic region, or 

 recognize the nearctic and the palearctic 

 as two separate regions, no one will now 

 deny that a great portion of the biota of 

 the northern parts of the new and the old 

 world is intimately related. But when it 

 comes to the questions as to the extent and 

 the degree of this intimacy ; whether their 

 faunas and floras have a common origin; 

 or whether they are a blending of two or 

 more biotas, and in such a case, where each 

 component part originated and how the 

 blending took place, by what routes and at 

 what time— when it comes to these and 

 similar questions, we find that opinions and 

 theories are digressing in all directions. If 

 we ask ourselves, in Avhat genetic relation 

 do the animals and plants now inhabiting 

 the northern world stand to those living 

 before them in the same territory; whether 



