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ception of ihv xaliic of our work, who arc more or less antago- 

 nistic to it, or who liavc (hrir cars on tin- ground listening' for 

 something new. 



A second aim of the course, is to emphasize tiie relation (jf 

 biology to human welfare. This brings out the commercial 

 importance of plants and animals and our dependence upon 

 them; especially upon plants. It is a re\-elation to our city 

 boys and girls to find that the annual \-alue of our corn crop is 

 greater than any liberty loan except the fourth, and to learn that our 

 wheat and oats crop in 1917 were about two billion dollars each. 

 Only after they realize the tremendous importance of our crops, 

 do they appreciate the damage done by plant diseases and insect 

 pests. One writer, for example, estimates that the hessian fly 

 and the wheat rust each destroy one tenth' of the crop. While 

 this may be an exaggeration, it nevertheless suggests the im- 

 portance of biology to our daily life. It is an introduction to 

 the study of agriculture in its various phases, to pharmacy, to 

 dentistry, and to medicine, and it also interests them in the laws 

 of inheritance and in plant and animal breeding. 



The study of bacteria gives a second important relation to 

 human welfare. The names and structure of bacteria are of 

 little importance to our pupils. But it is important that they 

 know the conditions under which bacteria thrive well and the 

 conditions that cause their death. Pupils should know how 

 abundant they are, and the common ways of distributing them. 

 These lessons are necessary to emphasize the third point in my 

 paper and that is that our biology courses are an excellent train- 

 ing for citizenship. 



Twelve years ago, when the American association met here in 

 New York, one of the foremost biologists in this city read a paper 

 in which he emphasized the importance of biology in the develop- 

 ment of citizenship. While I will confess to you that I had not, 

 up to that time, thought of our courses as especially valuable in 

 this respect, I have never since lost sight of its possibilities. 



Heretofore, I have been quite willing to let the philosophers 

 and the theorists discuss the subject matter best adapted for the 

 development of citizenship. The subject belongs largely in the 



