86 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VIII. No. 186, 



induction of general laws from known facts. 

 The actual form is a certain product of these 

 two factors. Each biological system has to 

 answer two questions : How are the quali- 

 ties of the individual related to one an- 

 other? And, How do the qualities exist by 

 reason of their significance ? " The various 

 sj'stems are complete and final in them- 

 selves and are mutually exclusive. " There 

 is complete independence of one another 

 and almost complete independence of re- 

 search. If it were not so they would com- 

 bine and research would discriminate be- 

 tween them. There are twenty good 

 theories of the development of the individ- 

 ual, but I cannot say that any one seems 

 to be better or worse than all of the rest. 

 A certain controversy with regard to na- 

 tural selection and use inheritance lived 

 long and was discussed in every public 

 place and with the aid of hosts of detailed 

 observations. Yet it was never cleared up 

 and neither side had the advantage ; but 

 because men become weary of it, it has now 

 been allowed to rest. It is not otherwise 

 with the history of biology. New systems 

 supersede old ones and the latter are not 

 disproved but forgotten. * * * These are 

 sonje of the features of the inner confusion. 

 They have made the very name of biologj' a 

 by-word. And though the anarchy may not 

 be obvious to a people delighting in formula 

 which may be applied with equal facility and 

 barrenness to everything which is organic, 

 it is so present to men of research that they 

 leave the whole matter on one side as sim- 

 ply not pertinent to their occupation, and 

 are not patient to bear even the mention of 

 what they repudiate with more justice than 

 they are always aware, as metaphysics." 



Such a criticism is plausible and mislead- 

 ing. In biology, as in other sciences, there 

 is a field of well ascertained facts and of well 

 grounded theories, and outside of this there 

 is a region of hj'pothesis which, as in chem- 

 istry and physics, extends out beyond ob- 



servation and experiment and thus enters 

 the sphere of metaphysics. Because popu- 

 lar interest is so largely drawn to the bor- 

 derland problems, our author seems to 

 assume that the whole science is merely an 

 aggregation of crude, pioneer hypotheses. 

 It will astonish many persons to learn that 

 the theories of biology are completely in- 

 dependent of each other and of research, 

 that they cannot combine and that research 

 cannot discriminate between them. There 

 was once held a doctrine of preformation 

 which taught that the homunculus existed 

 as such in the egg or sperm. Does any one 

 hold that view to-day ? There was once 

 an opposing doctrine of epigenesis which 

 taught that the egg or sperm is unorganized 

 matter. Does any one still hold this view, 

 and has research had nothing to do in set- 

 tling this famous controversy ? This single 

 instance, and many others could be cited, 

 proves that what appear to be contradictory 

 views may be harmonized when research 

 has made our knowledge of the subject 

 more complete ; and in this biology does not 

 differ from any other science. Other pi'ob- 

 lems, though not absolutely settled by re- 

 search, are out-grown and forgotten ; we do 

 not care to seriously discuss the circuitus 

 gallinaceiis to-day ; the narrow limits of the 

 old problem have been outgrown, and it is 

 not otherwise with any science : " The old 

 order chaugeth, yielding place to new." The 

 ideas of many people are hazy as to the 

 significance of the word biology; by some it 

 has been regarded with suspicion ; by others 

 it has been used to conjure with, but who 

 will not be surprised to learn that the name 

 biology is a by -word? To be sure, it does 

 have the same sound, but the spelling ought 

 to save it. 



Another subject of the author's criticism 

 is the vagueness, ambiguity and self-contra- 

 diction of the most important terms and 

 conceptions of biology ; e. g., function, ac- 

 quired character, inherited character, etc. 



