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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIII. No. 1103 



can be kept and bred successfully), it seems 

 eminently desirable to test the matter thor- 

 oughly before locating an institute in any less 

 accessible or climatically less favorable part 

 of the world. 



Given adequate provision in the shape of a 

 scientific establishment for the study of the 

 primates in their relations to man, the follow- 

 ing program might be carried out: (1) syste- 

 matic and continuous studies of important 

 forms of behavior, of mind, and of social re- 

 lations; (2) similar studies of physiological 

 activities, normal and pathological, with ade- 

 quate provision for medical research; (3) 

 studies of heredity (genetics), life history, 

 embryology; (4) research in comparative 

 anatomy, including gross anatomy, histology, 

 neurology and pathology. 



Each of these several kinds of research 

 should be in progress almost continuously that 

 no materials or opportunities be needlessly 

 wasted. It would be necessary to provide, first 

 of all, for those functional studies which de- 

 mand healthy and normally active organisms 

 whose life history is known intimately and 

 completely. Simultaneously with observations 

 on behavior, instinct and social relations, and 

 often upon the same individuals, genetic ex- 

 periments could be conducted. After the use- 

 fulness of an animal in these psychological, 

 behavioristic, or genetic lines of inquiry had 

 been exhausted, it might be made to render 

 still further service to science in various med- 

 ical, physiological or pathological inquiries. 

 And finally, the same individual might ulti- 

 mately be used for various forms of anatom- 

 ical research. Thus the usefulness of a 

 lemur, a monkey or an ape, as research mate- 

 rial, might be maintained at a high level 

 throughout and even beyond the period of its 

 life history, that is, for several years. 



The necessity of some such economical use 

 of primate materials as has been suggested is 

 due, clearly enough, to the high cost of 

 breeding and maintaining the animals. It 

 would be inexcusably wasteful to maintain a 

 primate or anthropoid station for psycholog- 

 ical observations alone, or indeed for any other 

 narrowly limited biological research. 



The establishment under consideration 

 should be permanent, since for many kinds of 

 investigation it would be necessary that the 

 life history of individuals be intimately known 

 for many generations. With the lower pri- 

 mates, a generation might be obtained in two 

 to five years; with the higher, not more fre- 

 quently than ten to fifteen years. It is there- 

 fore probable that the value of the work done 

 in such an institute would continue to increase 

 for many years and would not reach its maxi- 

 mum short of fifty or even one hundred years. 

 Ultimately, the interests of the institute might 

 come to include other organisms in addition 

 to the primates, and thus in the end, the most 

 varied sorts of biological information might 

 be brought to bear, from the broadly compara- 

 tive point of view, upon the problems of human 

 life. This would mean a gradual transforma- 

 tion of what was originally founded as a sta- 

 tion for the special study of the primates into 

 an inclusively psycho-biological institute. 



Adequate provision in a research institute 

 for the study of the various types of primates 

 would demand a stafi of several highly trained 

 and experienced biologists. The following 

 organization is suggested as desirable, al- 

 though, as indicated below, not necessarily 

 essential in the beginning: (1) an expert espe- 

 cially interested in the problems of behavior, 

 psychology and sociology, with keen apprecia- 

 tion of practical as well as of theoretical prob- 

 lems; (2) an assistant trained especially in 

 comparative physiology; (3) an expert in gen- 

 etics and experimental zoology; (4) an assist- 

 ant with training and interests in compara- 

 tive anatomy, histology and embryology; (5) 

 an expert in experimental medicine, who could 

 conduct and direct studies of the diseases of 

 man as well as of the lower primates and of 

 measures for their control; (6) an assistant 

 trained especially in pathology and neturology. 



To this scientific staff of six highly trained 

 individuals there should be added a business 

 manager, a clerical force of three individuals, 

 a skilled mechanician, a carpenter, and at 

 least four laborers. 



The annual expenditures of an institute with 

 such a working staff would, in Southern Call- 



