880 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 701 



open for him who enjoys this line of work 

 and who is willing to leave behind all hope 

 of opulence. 



Henry Crew 



NOETHWESTERN UNIVEESITY 



OUTLOOK FOE TOUNG MEN IN ZOOLOGY 



In the ten minutes allotted, I shall at- 

 tempt to answer six questions of special 

 interest to those who are planning to enter 

 zoology as a profession. Through the 

 kindness of Professors Mark, Minot, Com- 

 stock, Sedgwick, Reighard, Lillie, Conklin, 

 "Ward and Jennings, who have generously 

 responded to my appeal for information, 

 I am in a position to state the outlook for 

 young men somewhat from the standpoint 

 of their experience. As far as possible, 

 the answers to the questions relating to 

 the topic assigned me will be given in the 

 words of the above-named zoologists. 



1. How do the chances for getting good 

 positions compare with those of a decade 

 ago? 



All of the zoologists who have expressed 

 an opinion on this question agree that the 

 chances are much better than they were a 

 decade ago. Professor Comstock writes: 

 "I should say that they are much better. 

 It is only fair to emphasize, however, that 

 the man who takes up work along these 

 lines purely as a financial venture, apart 

 from other considerations, will be disap- 

 pointed. And I should say also that a 

 large part of the demand for entomologists 

 in recent years has been due largely to 

 the great increase of this kind of work in 

 the Department of Agriculture at Wash- 

 ington. Many men have found places with 

 Dr. Howard or have taken places vacated 

 by others who have gone to Dr. Howard. 

 If the government support of this kind of 

 work were to cease it would make a great 

 difference in the chances for getting good 

 positions. ' ' 



Dr. Mark writes : ' ' Have been surprised 



that the demand has increased so rapidly. j 



This has been more noticeable in the field ! 



of comparative anatomy than in other 

 lines during the past five or ten years." 



According to Dr. Minot, ' ' There is great 

 difficulty in getting any men for positions 

 in anatomical and zoological laboratories, 

 and I believe that for a few years the 

 opportunities will be unusually good. But 

 for heaven's sake, do not encourage any 

 mediocrities to go into science. If you 

 can, have them Oslerized at sixteen. ' ' 



Dr. Conklin thinks that the chances of a 

 young man's going at once from his 

 graduation to the headship of a department 

 are probably not so great now "as they 

 were a decade ago." 



Dr. Jennings says that "it is difficult to 

 get the men needed for positions in zool- 

 ogy, and this is true all along the line 

 from assistantships up to full professor- 

 ships. ' ' 



2. 7s it ever necessary for a man tvith a 

 doctor's degree to rest on his oars for a 

 year hecaiise no desirable college or uni- 

 versity position is open to him,? 



The reply of Dr. Lillie is typical of the 

 answers given to this question: "In the 

 course of a good many years several of our 

 doctors of philosophy have accepted posi- 

 tions in high schools and normal schools; 

 in such cases it has usually been a matter 

 of preference with them. So far as I 

 know, there has never been a ease of one 

 of our doctors of philosophy being obliged 

 to go without a position for even a year." 



According to Dr. Jennings, "many 

 excellent positions have gone to men with- 

 out the doctorate." 



3. Does the number of desirable posi- 

 tions equal the number of candidates? 



Dean "Ward writes that "there have been 

 more desirable positions in zoology "which 

 have come to my attention in the last five 

 years than I could have Slled three times 

 over if every one of my advanced students 



